Upgrade Windows Home Server 2011

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Hi, I have a Acer easyStore H340 Server - at the moment I am currently running Windows Home Server (v1 - SP2) and I think Windows Home Server (v1 - SP2) doesn't suite me, I like the Windows Home Server 2011 better with the Windows 7 style and a new designed Dashboard. Microsoft urges Windows Home Server 2011 users to upgrade to Windows Server Essentials, a prudent move given the current embattled state of cyber-security. WEBINAR: On-Demand. I have Windows Home Server 2011 installed on my home server computer for backup and my own private cloud. I run Win 7 on several other computers (and have some legacy XP PCs as well). I want to upgrade the server to Win 8 but do not want to lose my current configurations or backup. Windows Home Server 2011. Windows Home Server 2011 is based on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 and requires x86-64 CPUs (64-bit), while its predecessor worked on the older IA-32 (32-bit) architecture as well. Coupled with fundamental changes in the structure of the client backups and the shared folders.

Windows Home Server 2011 mainstream support ended in the second quarter of 2016. You can see all of the support lifecycle dates on the Microsoft Lifecycle page here.

What does this mean for you?

This means that Microsoft will no longer issue security updates for the Home Server-specific components that make up Windows Home Server 2011. If you are still running Windows Home Server 2008 or Windows Home Server 2011, Microsoft recommends bringing in a new device running Windows Server Standard or Windows Server Essentials and migrating your roles, features and data to the new appliance. Today’s new hardware is significantly faster and cheaper and can better handle the latest Windows security infrastructure, roles and features. Customers moving to a modern operating system will benefit from dramatically enhanced security, broad device support, higher user productivity, and a lower total cost of ownership through improved management capabilities.

Why migrate from Windows Home Server to Windows Server Essentials?
The latest versions of Windows Server Essentials support improvements in security, scalability, and manageability, and it contains device driver support for new hardware and silicon.
• Simplified setup. There is no easier way to set up a server than using the Windows Server Essentials Out-of-Box experience. Windows Server Essentials configures AD, certificate services, and DNS. It helps get a public domain name set up, and it generates and installs SSL certificates and everything you need to get started with your own hybrid cloud setup.
• Data redundancy and single pool of storage. Windows Server Essentials includes a feature called Storage Spaces that provides data redundancy and storage pooling functionality like that provided by Drive Extender in WHS. Windows Server Essentials has a much more reliable and resilient storage subsystem.
• Centralized PC backup and restore. Windows Server Essentials includes the next generation version of the centralized PC backup and restore functionality from Windows Home Server 2011 as well as centralized File History storage for all your PCs. Windows Server Essentials supports up to 75 PC backups vs. Windows Home Server’s 25 PC backup limitation. Windows Server Essentials 2016 also supports backing up volumes to Azure and backing up VMs to Azure Site Recovery (ASR).
• Centralized PC and server health monitoring. Windows Server Essentials includes health monitoring, both for the server itself as well as for all the connected PCs.
• Document and media sharing. Windows Server Essentials can share content using SMB, iSCSI or NFS. Windows Server Essentials 2016 no longer includes the media streaming codecs, however, we found that people were not actually using that feature and they prefer to decode in the respective media applications.
• Remote access. Windows Server Essentials has the remote access gateway feature that automatically generates SSL certificates for your server from GoDaddy. Essentials includes a web-based client for accessing home documents and media, and you can also remote desktop into the server if needed for administration purposes.

The Home Server line of products had a very enthusiastic fan following — it introduced the concept of a server in the house to the world and books appeared to make sense of it all.

Microsoft learned quite a bit helping and supporting hundreds of thousands of home users and small businesses to deploy Windows Server. If you are looking to upgrade your old Windows Home Server, now is a great opportunity to look at the new devices available and move to a modern platform.

For more information about Windows Server Essentials see the documentation site and it can be purchased at the Microsoft store.

Windows Home Server 2011 End Of Life

Home

Cheers,
Scott M. Johnson
Senior Program Manager
Windows Server Essentials

Posted by2 years ago

Upgrade Windows Home Server 2011

Archived

Hi,

I've been using a copy of WHS 2011 I got for really cheap on Newegg a few years ago. The server still works fine but WHS 2011 is no longer support so it would be time for me to replace it I guess.

I have two options in mind :

  1. Windows 10

  2. Windows Server 2016 Essentials

(No, not Linux, sorry)

Windows Home Server 2011 Activator

I suppose Server 2016 would be the logical choice, however since it's for home use, I have read I may have to deal with some stuff I have absolutely no use for (like creating a domain). I have read it was possible to disable the domain stuff with Server 2012 but I haven't found the same information about 2016. Server 2016 is also more expensive...

Windows 10 would be cheaper but I'm worried about the automatic reboot to install updates. (It is not a problem for me on my laptops or my desktop computers running Win 10, I never attempted to disable the updates).

Here's what I do on the server right now :

  • Plex Server

  • Virtual Box (running 2 small Linux virtual machines)

  • FTP Server that is used only by my network printer to save scans

  • A tool to update my domain name settings if my public IP changes (used for a small web site I'm hosting in one of the Linux VMs)

  • Windows File Sharing : 2x 3 TB hard drives that are mirrored in Windows Disk Management for redundancy and shared over the network. It is mainly used to store backups of the important files on my 3 computers/laptop. I also save recordings of 2 Windows Media Center PCs there but they are not critical...

  • Microsoft One Drive to make an online backup of my important files.

I do plan to stay with Microsoft OneDrive service by the way. To make it short, I had 2 bad experiences with only file storages companies that closed after a little over a year... I'm staying with a big name that is less likely to go away for now (and I got Office 365 too for about the same price I paid, which is a nice bonus to me)

What would you guys suggest?

Iso

Windows Home Server 2011 (x64) Iso

Thank you

Upgrade Windows Home Server 2011 To Windows Server 2016 Essentials

Edit : after reading your comments and a little more information on the web, I decided it would be better going with Server 2016. I am aware of a subreddit where we can buy 'working keys' for quite cheap but I know it's not 100% legal since these keys shouldn't be resold from what I understand. At $30 The price is tempting when compared to the $500 price I found online for a fully legal copy. Are there any other less expensive options that would still be legal?

Windows Home Server 2011 Replacement

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