Build Your Own Windows Home Server System

Table of Content

• Tech 101: How to record your computer screen
• Building a Home Server
• Build Windows Home Media Server

In my case, having a monitor on the box saved me more than once when an install went awry. Either way, connecting this device to one of these programs mean your media server is almost up and running. This free and open-source software is perfect for people who want personalization power. You’ll find a ton of add-ons, but you can’t access your content when you’re away from the house, and it’s not as easy to start using as Plex is. If you’re new to lingo like LAN, check out our easy guide to internet connectivity.

I have predominantly X10 modules which I installed in my home over the course of several years. Most of them are dimmable light switches, with some inputs (doorbell, motion sensors etc.). I purchased a Z-wave interface is it is supported by the Logitech Harmony 890.

Tech 101: How to record your computer screen

Tune in again next week when we’ll explore how to set up WHS clients, add storage to your server, and configure many of Windows Home Server’s key features. Windows Home Server isn't sold as a retail product, but that doesn't mean it's not available to consumers. You can buy a "system builder" copy from many online retailers for about $100. You should be aware that Microsoft does not allow you to reuse this license if you migrate to different hardware down the road. You state to connect the NAS to the router via Ethernet, but will I access this home server wirelessly with my various devices?

I was forced to go downstairs and connect a monitor and keyboard to my box to sort out the install. I’ve read of a number of HP customers who weren’t so lucky with their headless boxes. The VMC PC outputs both audio and video through HDMI to drive a Panasonic AE3000U 1080P projector via an Onkyo SR875 AV receiver and a 7.1 channel sound system. I’ve used HDMI wherever possible which has significantly reduced the cable clutter. Another challenge I faced after I outgrew the 4 on-board SATA II ports was finding a controller card that worked reliably.

Building a Home Server

Plus, once a server is set up, it can operate without a screen or keyboard. We put together a server using a mother­board and dual-core chip we had lying around in our lab. This is an excellent backup if you ever deal with cloud storage issues or lost thumb drives. All you need is the right free software and a little ingenuity.

Price – A NAS Media Server comes with a price tag of $300+. This is more expensive than repurposing a decent desktop computer. Low Profile – The enclosure is much smaller than a standard desktop computer or server. Connect the media server to the network via an Ethernet cable.

Build Windows Home Media Server

Installing WHS from a DVD is the easiest method; if the computer you're using doesn't have a DVD drive, your next best option is to use an external DVD drive that attaches via USB. Alternatively, you can copy the required files to a USB hard drive or USB flash drive and install WHS from there. See "No DVD drive? Installing WHS from a USB drive" for more information. Several manufacturers currently offer prebuilt servers based on WHS, but you can also buy the operating system by itself and easily build out your own server.

You could also set up a dedicated server system to run the server, of course. That’d be a computer you could leave running all the time and even access your media server remotely over the Internet. It doesn’t have to be a full, high-powered computer — it could be a low-power, small-form-factor NAS device with a large hard drive for holding all those media files. You’ve probably heard about home media servers or media centers.

Less Processing Power – A beefy dedicated computer/server will outperform a NAS enclosure easily. If you plan on having a few users stream at the same time then a dedicated computer is likely a better option. Limited Customization – Some NAS enclosures have a limited amount of features and software available. If you are a super-user that really wants to customize every singles aspect, then you may feel slightly limited. Some are extremely versatile in what they are capable of doing.

The outdoor model features a spotlight and siren that can be triggered when motion is detected, deterring potential intruders. The indoor model pans around to give a full 360-degree view of any room and tracks motion. One of the great things about WHS and VMC is the number of community developed add-ins which have been developed. I’ve talked about a number of them already that I rely on heavily. Get tech updates and breaking news on the go with the Komando.com App, available in the Apple and Google Play app stores. Setting up a computer with FreeNAS is quite easy, and you will need to reserve an hour to complete the following steps.

You can view your photos, stream your music library and movie collection, you can also record shows for later viewing, and do much more with the server. This can be done from any of your clients (phone, computer, tablet, etc.) with a media player installed on the device. Some desktop computers and all NAS casings use 3.5-inch HDDs. Most of these hard drives, especially WD drives, will be color-coded as follows;Blue and Green HDDs are mostly for general use such as gaming and browsing. Disk bay capacity– This can vary from 1 to 16 slots for the hard drives.

Plex and Media Browser both offer servers that run on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, BSD, and various NAS devices. You can install it on a desktop computer, a dedicated server, or get a pre-made NAS device that supports the server software. Sure, you could just connect a PC to your TV, but these provide convenient interfaces across all your devices. That means apps for TV streaming boxes, smartphones, tablets, and web-based interfaces for everything else. Microsoft no longer makes Windows Home Server and is phasing out Windows Media Center.

Some very costly, specialized or hard to configure services might actually be better of with an external provider. If you only use your services very rarely or are not at all willing to dive into some of the knowledge needed for hosting this might also not be the right place for you. October 14, 2025 is the general end-of-support date for Windows 10. Specific versions and editions of Windows 10 have different end of support dates; see Windows 10 version history for a breakdown of dates by version and edition.

How to Set Up a Media Server for a Home Theater

Table of Content

• Home Server – Everything you want to Know!
• BEST Media Server Software for Windows 10 PC (Free/Paid) in 2022
• How to build a Windows Server 2022 home lab and why
• Why should you build your own server?
• What is NAS (Network Attached Storage) and why is it important?

You can however replace the fans with quiet models, like these from Noctua. Keep in mind that you will need a decent internet connection. Mainly the upload speed of your internet connection is import to run a website.

Most premade NAS enclosures come with a free lightweight OS enough for your needs. For repurposing an old computer into a NAS server you will need to install an OS that you can also use a free OS such as FreeNAS or invest in one for better performance. Hard drives for the NAS system will cost around $80 per 2 TB drive. An 8 TB hard drive will go for around $200, a 10 TB for around $250, and a 14 TB for around $360 give or take. You can use 2 or more drives depending on the number of HDD bays on the enclosure.

Home Server – Everything you want to Know!

A Media Server is an application software that stores digital media like audio, video, and images and makes it available over a network. It is important that if you are using your desktop computer as a media server you avoid using it for other tasks. Your server will also be live only when the computer is turned on just like with any dedicated media server.

On the WHS side I’m usually cautious in terms of only installing add-ins I truly need and to install them one at a time and only after they’ve been out in the community a while. On the VMC side I have the added insurance that’s provided by the daily backups to WHS. More than once I’ve been able to restore the system from backup to a stable state after something went wrong. If you want to stream video, you’ll want to use a newer computer. If you wish to stream podcasts, though, you might eke by with an older computer.

BEST Media Server Software for Windows 10 PC (Free/Paid) in 2022

Red HDDs are the ones that are mostly used for Network Assisted Storage . This is the one you will need to use, hard drives that are made specifically for NAS networks. If you are going to use a desktop computer enclosure, consider the same specs as they are the most important for a home media server. The shape, size, cooling mechanisms, and other form factors can affect the performance of the enclosure. A tower-type enclosure will be great for a home theater media server for general entertainment and small business. That may take longer, though, as you will have to make many decisions usually made for you , but with the time and will you'll get there and probably learn a lot along the way.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when connecting the media server to your network. Realistically, you should get a fairly large amount of storage. Once you have everything set up properly and it’s working well, you will start to use it more than you initially thought.

How to build a Windows Server 2022 home lab and why

Although enterprise hardware has a reputation for being pricey, a home lab does not have to break the bank. All you need is one or more machines capable of running Hyper-V and some virtual machines. Many IT pros build home labs from old PCs or even from outdated servers that they were able to get at a good price. The advantage of the 2.5 inch hard drives is that they use way less power than the 3.5-inch models. If you just need local services I recommend in most cases to get a newer Raspberry Pi and possibly an external SSD for data.

A home server shouldn't have to cost you more than a few hundred pounds, depending on the number and capacity of the hard drives you choose to fit. Another possibility is that you can put an old, forgotten PC to good use by assigning it to server duties. That just leaves the home server in need of a case and a power supply unit . When it comes to a case, I'll let you choose based on style, price and how many drives you want to fit into it.

You could buy a dedicated smart home hub, like a Homey, which may have some advantages. But if you have a server available then you can also install your own Home Automation Platform. I love creating a smart home, I have written a lot about it, including this list with smart home ideas. When you want to create a smart home you will need a central place to manage your smart home devices. If you are working in IT you may want to test scripts or programs in a safe non-production environment.

While you can set these VMs manually, there is an easier way such as the Hydration Kit for Windows Server 2022. This is a GitHub project with a repository that provides an automated way to produce a lab environment based on Windows Server. This avoids any problems of accidentally harming your employer's production environment if you're attempting to learn on the job with a system connected to the network. There are a couple of options when it comes to building your own home server.

What is NAS (Network Attached Storage) and why is it important?

Getting started with your Home Media Server is really simple. Install the software of your choice and add your library with movies to it. Plex made it really easy to stream media, they have apps available for pretty much every device on the market, inc Chromecast, Roku, Apple TV, etc. The most common use case for a home server is to use it for streaming media. With a home media server, you can watch movies directly on your Smart TV, mobile phone, or computer from your own library. Besides movies, you can also stream music from your home media server.

Just ensure it has an appropriate amount of processing power, RAM, and hard drive storage. NAS servers also allow you to access the stored files from any location with internet access. What is the most reasonable way to store data for now and even future families? Generally speaking, many people think of cloud storage first. Many websites have launched a cloud storage business for individual users, which shows that everyone is optimistic about this prospect ... Streaming media is actually a kind of multimedia file, which is used in the process of network transmission.

One of the advantages of cloud storage is that you can access your data from anywhere in the world, even from your mobile phone. With a home cloud server, you can get the same features as with other cloud solutions, only based on your own storage. In the following posts of this series I will explain how I set up the file system, users, samba shares as well as Docker and the Traefik reverse proxy.

The other issue I encountered was instability with my HDDs – I would get a drive error every 1-2 days and the server would stop functioning. A lesson learned from this was to make certain that the MB manufacturer provided explicit support for Windows 2003 Server . When I bought a replacement MB I decided to switch to Intel because people seemed to be having better experience with driver support. It also gave me an excuse to upgrade my desktop to a quad core, so my WHS ended up with a fairly beefy processor that has worked very well. Fortunately, you don’t really need to have a crazy-powerful system lying around unused to run WHS, because its hardware requirements are pretty modest.

What is Windows Vista? What is Windows Vista?

There are different models in the market, The D364x-B line comes with 6 SATA connections, and the -H line with 4 SATA connections. But for most home server configurations, these kinds of models are a bit overrated. An old laptop or desktop, however, are a great way to get started. You can use a hypervisor, like Vmware or HyperV to easily deploy servers and create a small network to play with.

Essentially, any computer that "serves" data to other machines on a network is a server. And as American households become populated with multiple PCs, the idea of a central hub that can be used for backup, storage and even remote access becomes reasonable, even essential. Anticipating a household server market, HP recently launched its HP MediaSmart Home Server ($599), using Windows Home Server software as the operating system. The HP server comes with a single 500 GB hard drive , and can automatically back up computers on the network, as well as store and stream media. Cheaper if using a Repurposed Computer – A lot of people have switched from using typical desktop computers to laptops. It likely you can repurpose your semi-old desktop computer to be used as the media server.

The 10 Best Laptops of 2016

Table of Content

• Top 6 Laptops for Working from Home
• The Best Laptops for 2022
• Microsoft Surface Pro 8
• If you want the best business laptop, Lenovo's ThinkPad T450s is a reliable fan favorite among professionals.
• Best budget gaming laptop

As more people work from home full time or on as-needed basis, a fully functional home office has grown in importance. If you have a bit more to spend, you might want to check out the Lenovo Yoga 900, which supercharges the performance for $1,199. Asus' ZenBook UX305 is thinner and lighter and has a better screen than the MacBook Air. This year, the MacBook Pro didn't get a huge change, with a little more power under the hood and a new "Force Touch" trackpad that can detect how hard you're pushing.

Other highlights include a bundled pen for taking notes and full Google Play compatibility for downloading Android apps. The HP Pavilion 14 isn’t the type ofsexypowerhouse that will change your life. However, it is a stable everyday performer that won’t blow your budget and will keep you pushing documents out at a good clip. It ticks off a lot of the boxes for students and workers participating in remote or in-person learning. The HP Envy 16 is a stellar premium laptop for work, personal use, or even casual gaming.

Top 6 Laptops for Working from Home

Every manufacturer and reseller has different standards for refurbishing previously used laptops. A slight discount on a rigorously tested MacBook Pro that Apple sells with the same warranty as a new one might be worth the cost savings, while a laptop refurbished by a third party you’ve never heard could be chancy. It’s best to buy any refurbished machine directly from the manufacturer’s online store as opposed to from a reseller, especially a reseller that may be hawking refurbs from “marketplace" sellers or third parties on its platform. The latest Wi-Fi standard is 802.11ax (also dubbed “Wi-Fi 6”), and is a good feature to look for in a premium machine to ensure the fastest Wi-Fi connectivity in the future. The older 802.11ac, though, is just fine for mainstream and budget systems. Steer clear of the older 802.11b/g/n standards that are still available on some budget machines, if you can, as those can result in lower throughput speeds and less reliable connections.

As I mentioned, some of these machines may get updated internals with either new Intel, NVIDIA or AMD silicon on board for new features and even better performance and battery life. Paying a little extra for more power or capabilities now will save you headaches down the road. The added value of a longer warranty , specialized tech support, and a more ruggedized frame are some of the extra benefits you may get with a business laptop. When evaluating graphics solutions, it's easy to tell what tier of business laptop you're looking at.

The Best Laptops for 2022

You need something that's durable, secure, powerful, light, and capable of lasting through a long workday—and you have countless options. We've scanned our recent business laptop reviews and winnowed down our favorite models for getting work done, but as we'll explain in detail after the following picks, selecting from even this subset requires care. Not every laptop matches how you or your employees work, or what you do.

If you're looking for a laptop that offers a 13-inch screen, that's good enough to fit into your backpack. But if you're looking for something bigger, like 15.6 inches or more, you might need to look elsewhere. Powerful Performance – Take on everything from professional-quality editing to action-packed gaming with ease. The Apple M1 chip with an 8-core CPU delivers up to 3.5x faster performance than the previous generation while using way less power. To help you find your perfect laptop, we've assembled a list of the best laptops for all preferences and budgets. We've included high-end powerhouses with stunning displays, gorgeous works of design, and inexpensive options that give you the basics without breaking the bank.

Microsoft Surface Pro 8

The latest MacBook Pro opens this list of the most useful laptops for those who work from home. The predecessor of this computer was already good enough, but this model is even better. It has been upgraded, and now the keyboard is much more comfortable than the previous one. The sound quality was improved as well, so it’s really outstanding now.

That said, what games you play and what content you create -- and the speed at which you do them -- is going vary greatly depending on the components inside the laptop. MacOS is also considered to be easier and safer to use than Windows, especially for people who want their computers to get out of the way so they can get things done. Over the years, though, Microsoft has done its best to follow suit and, withWindows 11 here,it's trying to remove any barriers. Also, while Macs might have a reputation for being safer, with the popularity of the iPhone and iPad helping to drive Mac sales,they've become bigger targets for malware. Just ask and Alexa can check your calendar, create lists, play music, answer questions, read the news and more. REVOLUTIONARY ENTERTAINMENT – Enjoy ultra-wide viewing angles and seamlessly perform multi-monitor set-ups with a 15.6-inch, Full HD, IPS, micro-edge, and anti-glare display .

A traditional hard drive disc has better storage capacity, but it is much slower. Some laptops use Intel Optane Memory to enhance the hard drive performance. Originally it was used with HDDs, but now it can be seen in laptops equipped with SSDs.

Bear in mind, you might want to get an external hard drive if you plan to install a lot of games. It offers 9 hours and 23 minutes of battery life, an awesome keyboard, and, when you need it, a SureView privacy display to keep strangers from checking out your screen. At $4,559, HP ZBook Create G7 is pricey, but you’re getting premium performance, so it’s money well-spent production pros. Still, for all the money you’re forking out, I would prefer a brighter display and the battery life could definitely be longer. If you're willing to pay a premium for your next Chromebook, the HP Chromebook x2 will definitely satisfy.

Compare SpecsThe Best Laptops for 2022

Although the higher price tag may drive some away, the considerable hardware upgrades make this 2-in-1 just as compelling. Look for aWindows tablet if you need to run in-house or third-party apps that were originally created for PCs. True enterprise-class tablets running Windows are still evolving, but most business users expect their work computers to behave the same as their personal tablets.

In a nutshell, the new MacBook Pros come with an adaptive touch strip called the Touch Bar, the latest Intel Core i5/i7 processors, super fast SSD, a super slim and light design, Touch ID and FOUR Thunderbolt 3 /USB C ports. Laptops in 2016 have brought us more interesting form factor experiments, new technology like OLED screens, and fresh ideas about touch interfaces. It’s all proof that laptops are where a lot of the best future consumer technology is being implemented.

Best Laptop for 2022: The 14 Laptops We Recommend

Table of Content

• Compare SpecsThe Best Business Laptops for 2022
• HP ZBook Firefly 15 G8
• Best Budget Gaming Laptop
• If you're looking for the best all-around Windows laptop, go with Dell's XPS 13.
• Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2022, M
• The 7 Best Dell Laptops of 2022
• Which Graphics Chip Should You Get in Your Laptop?
• Dell XPS 17 9720

But if you can get used to it, you'll have a great laptop with awesome performance and great battery life that can also turn into a tablet. All that is a pretty enticing package, which is why the XPS line is one of our favorites. It's a versatile and powerful laptop that will do anything you need it to. But overall, the Intel Core i5 and GPU will give you really good gaming performance in a pretty slim package.

While a laptop’s SSD stores your data, its system memory works with the CPU to run apps and helps define its capacity to multitask. Basic productivity apps will run just fine with 8GB of memory, but you’ll want to configure a midrange laptop with 16GB to ensure that tomorrow’s more advanced apps will have access to enough memory. That’s also a good target amount for heavy multitaskers, PC gamers, and people who surf the web with many tabs open. Modern web browsers loading multimedia-rich sites and web apps are voracious consumers of memory. Most laptops above entry-level come with solid-state drives , which use memory cells instead of a spinning platter to store data.

Compare SpecsThe Best Business Laptops for 2022

You will be satisfied with the features and irreproachable performance of the Asus VivoBook 15. Considering its competitive price, the disadvantages of this laptop can be considered minor and insignificant. In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests.

Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. What is almost universally true is that with a bit of tech know-how, you can use your own pre-owned laptops to your advantage. If you’re in the market for new laptops for both yourself and your kids, you might consider tuning up your current PC to give to your children and buying a new one for yourself.

HP ZBook Firefly 15 G8

These screens mostly use the same IPS technology as full HD panels, but a few use OLED technology, similar to what you’ll find in cutting-edge smartphones. OLED screens command a premium, and their inky blacks and luxurious colors are best suited for movie buffs. For people with similar needs but larger budgets, an Apple MacBook might be the way to go, assuming you’re cool with running your day-to-day computing life on macOS.

The overall performance of this ultra-portable laptop is great, the design is well-thought-out, the webcam is perfectly placed. In the modern world, a lot of people need to organize their home offices. As it is impossible to imagine an effective office without a computer, you need to find the best laptop for working from home. You don’t have to pay a fortune for a decent computer, as there is a great variety good laptops under 500 dollars. If you can afford a more advanced laptop, you definitely won’t regret it, but even a budget one can satisfy the basic needs of an average office worker.

Best Budget Gaming Laptop

Meanwhile, budget laptops typically use AMD’s A-series or Ryzen 3 processors, or Intel’s Celeron, Core i3, or Pentium silicon. At the other end of the spectrum, high-endpowerhouse laptops have Intel’s Core i9 or workstation-class Xeon CPUs, with as many as eight cores. However, before you pay a major premium for a high-refresh screen, you’ll want to be sure that the graphics chip, or GPU, is muscular enough to push the kinds of games you play at a high enough frame rate to make a difference. Standard laptop screens have 60Hz refresh rates, and if you’ll be playing games at 60 frames per second or lower, in most cases a high-refresh screen won’t confer much benefit.

Though, be ready for poor audio quality and not the most comfortable keyboard. As the laptop is equipped with the 8th generation Intel Core processor, it is a good time to buy it now, when the latest 10th generation CPUs have been released. Lenovo gets an honorable mention here because the company is honing its gaming chops as of late. The IdeaPad Y900 is a formidable 17-inch machine with some of the latest technologies, like a Killer AC wireless gaming WiFi NIC, a quad-core Core i7-6820HK processor, and a GeForce GTX 980M graphics engine. It also has a G-Sync display option, though we might suggest holding out till Lenovo revamps the machine with Mobile GeForce 10 GPU variants and maybe even Intel Kaby Lake processors, which are incoming for the model.

UNSTOPPABLE PERFORMANCE – Get things done fast with the 11th Generation Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, which delivers instant responsiveness and best-in-class connectivity . IMPRESSIVE GRAPHICS – The Intel Iris Xe Graphics gives you a new level of performance with crisp, stunning visuals, plus the convenience of a thin and light laptop . Simply Compatible – All your existing apps work, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, and Google Drive.

The demand for laptops is very high nowadays, as all the workers who started working from home because of the COVID-19 need to stay efficient. Below, you will find a list of attractive options to help you purchase the best laptop for home office. I also recommend selecting one-two models in case your first choice is not available at the moment.

Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch (2022, M

So you’ll want to look at tested battery life in a relative, rather than absolute, sense. As for other physical connections, you’ll want to examine the edges of a given laptop carefully and take count. If you have an external storage device like a thumb drive, you’ll want to pay attention to the type and quantity of USB ports. Type-A is the familiar rectangular connector that has been around for decades, while Type-C is smaller, oval-shaped, and sometimes doubles as a receptacle for the laptop’s charging cable. Regardless of which CPU a laptop has, it’s typically designed to use less power and generate less heat than its desktop counterpart. Intel laptop CPUs in the latest mainstream, lightweight laptops typically consume 15 watts of power or less, compared with 45 watts or more for their desktop equivalents.

Increased system memory of 16GB or more, having a speedy SSD for storage and a faster processor such as an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 will all help you get things moving faster, too. Samsung's latest big-screen two-in-one doesn't look all too different from its predecessor, but inside is a new, 12th-gen Intel processor that gives it a sizable multicore performance bump. Plus, the other, smaller updates Samsung made to the Pro 360 improve the overall user experience, making it one of the best two-in-ones available right now. MEMORY AND STORAGE – Get up to 15x faster performance than a traditional hard drive with 256 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage and experience improved multitasking with higher bandwidth thanks to 8 GB of RAM . An updated model with a faster but not new fifth-gen Core i5 processor for $750 — though at that price, we'd just recommend you step up to the XPS 13.

Enterprises also prefer Windows 11 Pro over the consumer-oriented Windows 11 Home (or sometimes a business-focused Linux distribution) and look for laptops with less bloatware or fewer extraneous bundled programs. With so many thin black and silver notebooks on the market, business machines tend to look samey, but the differences that matter most to office users tend to be below the surface, inside the chassis. Does your company buy laptops by the hundred or thousand instead of a few at a time?

We consider everything over the category average to be a good result. Of course, these tests are complemented with hands-on testing from our reviewers. Not only does the Elite Folio have the endurance of an Olympic champion, but it breaks records like one, too.

At first glance, The Lenovo Chromebook Duet (reviewed at $279) looks like an innocuous journal, but open that bad boy up, and it’s a small laptop with a colorful 10.1-inch display. Whether you are looking for a typical clamshell laptop or you want a 2-in-1 convertible laptop that can walk the line between a tablet and a laptop, we've got some great affordable options for you. Our top pick even managed to find its way onto our best laptops page. In terms of detachable 2-in-1 devices, though it was launched over a year ago, the Surface Pro 4 is still a far better option than Apple’s iPad Pro answer to Microsoft’s hot-selling detachable. Microsoft’s machine runs the full Windows 10 OS, which is something Apple’s oversized iOS device simply cannot claim in terms of a Mac OS crossover.