Chapter 2. Choosing Windows Home Server Hardware

Are you the type of person who just wants to buy something and just have it work without too much fuss? Or are you the type who likes to build things from scratch and enjoy the satisfaction of tweaking them to make them work better? Whichever type of person you are, there's a Windows Home Server option for you. You can buy a system that has Windows Home Server preinstalled, with all of the hardware that you need to make effective use of it. Or, if you are the do-it-yourself type, you can build a computer from component parts and install Windows Home Server on it, thereby getting exactly the features you want. You can also reuse a computer that you may already have but stopped using because you thought it was obsolete. Given Windows Home Server's modest hardware requirements, older computers can have a new lease on life.

Understanding Hardware Requirements

Compared to the horsepower required to run recent desktop versions of Windows such as Vista, the hardware requirements for Windows Home Server are pretty modest. This makes it ideal for the do-it-yourself enthusiast who wants to either build a Windows Home Server system from scratch or reuse an older computer that isn't suitable for the newer desktop operating systems.

CPU requirements

The minimum CPU for Windows Home Server is a Pentium III 1 GHz (gigahertz) processor, ...

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