Because installing Windows Home Server is largely an automated process this post is going to be longer than it really needs to be. Instead of describing the process in detail I’ll mention a few tips I discovered, as well as answers to certain questions I had about Windows Home Server.

Also, while it can seem intimidating building a PC from components is actually pretty easy. Modern hardware is designed so there are few cables that can be inserted into the wrong slot or upside down!

For Windows Home Server there are a few important BIOS options to be aware of though. Firstly ensure all options related to RAID are turned off. Secondly, make sure the amount of memory reserved for any onboard graphics chip is set to the minimum amount possible. 128Mb may be a fine choice for a desktop system, but it’s total overkill for a machine that will be running headless!

Lastly, unless you have a PS2 keyboard make sure USB keyboard support is enabled. On many motherboards the keyboard will work in the BIOS menu without this setting, but you won’t be able to press a key when prompted to boot from disc! I, of course, have never made this mistake, nor have I subsequently spent 10 minutes burning new discs when they failed to boot. Ahem.

Anyway, onto the actual install..

As I mentioned the Windows Home Server install process is mostly automated. After booting from the DVD you are prompted to set language options and enter your product key. Next you are shown the physical drives in your system. If your drives are not recognized you will have the option to provide the drivers that came with your motherboard. Support for IDE/SATA drives seems to be pretty good though and I had no such problem.

At this point you must chose your install type. A fresh install will cause all drives in your system to be formatted, A reinstall/upgrade will install a fresh copy of the OS but leave your shared data and backups intact.

The drive configuration for Windows Home Server has been designed to make upgrades/reinstalls as painless as possible. The OS is installed in a small partition of around 10GB on the primary drive, with the rest of the primary drive and subsequent drives reserved for data. This allows the OS to be replaced or upgraded at any time without affecting any valuable data.

With respect to harddrives there are two small caveats to be aware of. Firstly, the OS will be installed on the first drive listed by the BIOS. If you wish to use a specific drive you must ensure it’s reported first by the BIOS, either by using the first disk channel (SATA port 0 for example), or by moving it to the top of the drive order if your BIOS supports such functionality.

Secondly, as of the CTP release, Windows Home Server has a limitation where only files smaller than the primary drives free space can be copied to the server. For example; If the primary drive is 80GB and contains the 10GB system partition and 65GB of data, the largest file you would be able to copy to the server would be 5GB - regardless of the free space on any additional drives. If your drives are sufficiently large (say 320GB & 500GB) this is unlikely to be a problem, but if you plan to use a HDD with relatively low capacity then ensure it is not the primary drive.

Once the install has completed you are taken through a simple 6-7 step process of naming and configuring several settings on your server, after which you are prompted to activate Windows. Beforehand however, you may need to install drivers for any hardware that isn’t recognized, such as onboard audio or NIC’s. Doing so is as simple as inserting the relevant CD, then going to Device Manager and selecting each device in turn then choosing “Update Driver”.

The only remaining task is to install the Windows Home Server Connector on your household PCs. To do so you can either use the Connector CD that comes with WHS, or browse to the server on your network and install it from the software directory (when prompted for credentials just enter the login/pass of any user on the server).

Common tasks such as configuring backups or adding shares can be accomplished through the Windows Home Server Console that’s available from machines connected to your home server. If you need to get really hands on then you can use Remote Desktop to connect to your server and twiddle with settings to your hearts content.

The next step? Finding a nice well-ventilated cupboard for your Windows Home Server to live in