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Published: August 12, 2009

Applies To: Windows SBS 2008

Before you set up Windows Home Server to back up client computers in the Windows SBS 2008 network, consider the following:

  • Windows Home Server can back up computers that are running the following operating systems:

    • Windows 7 (including the 64-bit editions)

    • Windows Vista (including the 64-bit editions)

    • Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or later

    For more information about the operating systems that Windows Home Server can back up, see “Supported Operating Systems for Home Computers” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=89784).

  • Windows Home Server can back up as many as 10 computers.

    If you need to back up more than 10 computers, you can run more than one server running Windows Home Server in the same network.

  • Windows Home Server must be on the same logical subnet as the client computers that it backs up.

    If you have multiple logical subnets, place a server that is running Windows Home Server on each logical subnet that has client computers that you want to back up.

  • To plan the capacity that you need for your storage, consider the following:

    • You can monitor and add additional storage by using the Server Storage tab on the Windows Home Server console.

    • Windows Home Server uses a single instance backup strategy, which means that it does not store multiple backups of identical data from multiple client computers.

    • Begin with at least two internal hard drives, with the primary (system) drive having at least 300 GB.

    • You can expand the storage as follows:

      • Internal hard drive technologies (such as SATA or SCSI): Add additional internal hard drives, or connect them by using external connectors such as eSATA connectors.

      • External hard drive technologies: Add USB 2.0 hard drives or FireWire (IEEE 1394) hard drives.

    For more information about expanding the storage, see the Windows Home Server Drive Extender technical brief (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=148554).

    For more information about how Windows Home Server Backup is implemented, see “How Backup Is Implemented” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=144340).

  • You cannot restore backups to dissimilar hardware.

  • Windows Home Server has a Remote Access feature that you can configure through the Settings tab on the Windows Home Server console. But you should leave this turned off and continue to use Windows SBS 2008 Remote Web Workplace for remote access. If you turn on Windows Home Server Remote Access, it attempts to re-configure your router and it interferes with your current settings so that Windows SBS 2008 Remote Web Workplace stops working.

  • Do not join the server that is running Windows Home Server to the Windows SBS 2008 domain.

  • Do not use Windows Home Server to store files. Your users may be confused if they can store files in two separate places.

    You can discourage users from using Windows Home Server to store files by disabling access to shared folders. To disable access to shared folders, do the following:

    • Delete the desktop shortcut for the Windows Home Server shared folder from the client computer.

    • Do not create any user accounts in Windows Home Server.

    • Remove all existing shared folders.

  • Windows Home Server runs a user name and password synchronization check to ensure that user names and passwords match on the home server and the client computers. In a home environment, this makes it easier for client computers to access the shared folders on the home server. In a small business environment, these checks are not necessary and you can ignore the notifications for them. As implemented in this article, the home server is not used as a file server for your client computers.