In my last post, I discussed basic configuration and operation of WHS and now will review the native backup and recovery functionality.
- Installation
- Client Configuration & basic operation
- Backup and recovery
- NAS
- Conclusion
Basic functionality
At its core, WHS is an automated backup and recovery system. It relies on the Windows Home Server Console (WHSC) to manage the backup and recovery processes. The console allows the user to easily schedule backup times and retention periods as pictured in the screenshot. 
However, it should be noted that these options are included in the “General Settings” section of WHSC and so all changes apply to every system protected. Thus it is not possible to have one system with a 3 month retention and the other a 6 month retention. Conveniently, WHSC can be configured to wake a Windows system from hibernation to run the backup. It would be even better if it could automatically enable hibernation after a backup is completed, but this does not appear to be supported.
The basic functionality also allows the user to choose specific folders to backup. The process is wizard driven and is very intuitive. WHSC also intelligently excludes folders that hold temporary data and are unnecessary to protect.
At a basic level, backups are triggered on scheduled basis via the settings pictured above or run manually. In either case, the system will conduct a scan of the selected folders looking for changed files to protect. The first backup can take quite a while and will push all data. Subsequent backups are much faster since only changed data is transferred.
The recovery process is also simple. The user can view all of his/her backups and freely browse the contents. When the desired file and/or folder is found, recovery is simply a matter of dragging and dropping. Continue reading Windows Home Server Review – Part 3 – Backup and recovery