Back up with Windows Home Server – part 4

Written by Narmad

How to configure shared folders, additional storage and computer backup

Continuing our Windows Home Server series, this fourth instalment will focus on how to configure additional shared folders, add additional storage media and customize the default backup option. Let’s see how.

 

Shared folders on WHS

I hope you found part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this Widnows Home Server series useful. The contents (files and subfolders) in a shared folder can made be accessible to other computers on the network. Windows Home Server automatically creates the following shared folders during installation.

• Photos
• Music
• Videos
• Software
• Public
• A personal shared folder for each user account. No other user can access others’ personal shared folders.

You can choose which users will have access to these folders and give permissions for each user. These folders cannot be deleted. To add more shared folders, follow the simple steps given below:

• Launch the Windows Home Server Console and click the ‘Shared Folders’ tab.

• Click ‘Add’.
• Enter a folder name and description. If you check the ‘Enable Folder Duplication check box’, two copies of the shared folder will exist on separate hard drives. Click ‘Next’ to continue.

• Assign access levels to users and click ‘Finish’.

• Click ‘Done’ to close the ‘Add a shared folder’ wizard.

Configuring computer backups

When you install the Windows Home Server Connector Software, by default, all of the hard-drive volumes on each home computer are scheduled to backup every night. You can customize the backup of each of your home computers from the Windows Home Server Console.

To customize a home computer backup, do the following:

• Launch the Windows Home Server Console and click the ‘Computers & Backup’ tab.

• Right-click the computer name you want to customize, and click ‘Configure Backup’.

• Complete the Backup Configuration Wizard and choose hard-drive volumes to back up and exclude folders from the backup.

Server storage

If you want to add additional external USB 2.0 hard drives, external FireWire (IEEE 1394) hard drives, or internal hard drives to increase the storage space, WHS will let you do this in just a few clicks.

To add a hard drive, follow the instructions below:

• Connect the hard drive.
• Launch the Windows Home Server Console and click the ‘Server Storage’ tab.
• Under ‘Non Storage Hard Drives’, right-click the new hard drive, and then click ‘Add’.

• Follow the instructions by the ‘Add a Hard Drive Wizard’ to format the hard drive and to add it to your server storage.

In the next and final part of this series, I’ll show you how to configure your Windows Home Server to make it accessible through the web browser using the remote access feature.

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