Windows® Home Server Bible

Chapter 34. Advanced Home Server Management

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Utilizing administrative tools

• Managing users and groups

• Defragmenting disks

• Using the Disk Manager

• Monitoring and optimizing performance

As we've mentioned several times by now, Windows Home Server was designed to be operated as a headless platform, with all of the necessary server management and control performed through the Console.

For many people, this will be fine — they bought a simple home server solution in a box, and expect it to work in the way that it was advertised to with little muss or fuss. And for the most part, this will be true. For those who want to get the most out of their server, however, there is no substitute for being able to log directly onto the server's desktop and work with the standard Windows server tools and utilities.

While using the console alone is ideal, it may not always be feasible to stick with, especially this early in Windows Home Server's life when, let's face it, the operating system may have some quirks. That goes doubly if you install software that isn't explicitly designed to run on Windows Home Server.

Creating Windows Home Server from Windows 2003 Small Business Server (SBS) is a double-edged sword. The operating system is probably more complicated than it needs to be, as there are features in 2003 SBS that will likely never be used by Windows Home Server users. The benefit, however, comes from the large number of tools available on the server itself to assist you, the home server ...