When Microsoft revealed that they planned on removing the wildly popular feature “Drive Extender” from the impending release of Windows Home Server 2011 (at the time it was code-named “Vail”). The reaction that ensued may very well be one of the biggest rejections to a Microsoft decision that I’ve seen to date, with many people going so far as saying that they would stop using Windows Home Server (WHS) if Drive Extender was indeed removed. Honestly, I wasn’t able to understand what the big deal about Drive Extenders removal was at this point because the finished product wasn’t even out and to me, Microsoft is helping the economy by allowing 3rd Party vendors to fill in the gap left by Drive Extender. As we all know, Microsoft, being true to form, did not hear the cries of it’s loyal customers and went ahead with the changes anyways. And while I still consider myself a loyal WHS fan and remain faithful that WHS 2011 will still remain on top in the “Media Server” arena for some time to come, I thought some of you might be interested in alternative options to WHS if you just can’t get past the Drive Extender issue.
Enter FreeNAS
FreeNAS is a great solution for a Home Media Streaming Server / NAS combination and our very own John Reyes has written a complete guide to getting yourself up and running with a FreeNAS server. Beyond being an extremely robust NAS / media streamer solution, a great thing about FreeNAS is…it’s Free! Yes folks, you too can own your very own FreeNAS server by simply scavenging those parts from your old gaming rig, download the software, and follow John’s step-by-step instructions! Before you know it you’ll have a home media server that in many ways rivals WHS 2011.
Will FreeNAS be able to fill the shoes of WHS 2011, or will WHS 2011 continue to thrive even without Drive Extender. At least you have options!
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