Think of a home server as your ultimate backup solution for movies, music, data, and photos.  With most of our day spent online, data hoarding is an unconscious habit. Learn how to setup and build your own windows server.  As we all know, digital media comes with the dangers of wear, tear and crash.

• Don’t miss: Reusing an Old PC as a Server

Backing it all up in the cloud can be somewhat impractical. But why look towards the cloud when we have a viable solution on the ground – an easy to construct Windows Home Server.  A Windows Home Server is not only a backup failsafe but can also become an interface to stream your content over your small home network. The how and why is covered by this tutorial.

The Best Things about Windows Home Server

• Easy backups – Easy data redundancy through backups for 10 Windows PCs can be configured. WHS syncs one copy of each file disregarding the number of copies in multiple computers. Data backup can be made selective for individual drives or specific folders.
• Shared access – Create user accounts and give shared access to your friends and family over the network.
• Remote access – Remote access the WHS over a network address using the in-built Console Connector client software.
• Stream to any device -The Windows Media Connect UPnP server software allows any compatible digital media receiver (like the Xbox 360, PS3, or Windows Media Player 11) stream movies and music off the home network.
• Extend and expand – Add or replace storage devices seamlessly as WHS automatically formats new storage devices and treats all drives as a single unified storage space.
• The Hardware - The Maximum PC tutorial recommends building your own as it will be more customized and you can also scavenge parts from old computers. Here’s the hardware list.

Total Cost: $860

Building your Home Server:

Step 1: Prep the case

The Antec 200 is a budget case with six 3.5-inch drive bays and easy expandability with an external easy-swap SATA bay and an adjustable fan speed switch.

2. Install the parts

Installing the components is about care and alignment. It should be done on static free surface. The tutorial details the steps from fixing the CPU on the motherboard to inserting the RAM modules and finally mounting the drives.  If you’ve never built a computer before, check out our beginner’s guide.

3. Wire and connect

With all the components in place, the attachment of the SATA data and power cables comes next. Wiring is all done with the plugging in the other components to the motherboard connectors and the chassis outlets.

4. Install Software

Windows Home Server can be installed using an external optical drive or a bootable Flash Drive. The installation is simple and user friendly. The basic installation is followed by networking the other PCs. The networking also involves setting up the WHS Connector password on client PCs. This is the time to install all the latest updates and patches for WHS.

The Settings console is where most of WHM management takes place. Configuring the WHS settings involves scheduling backups, setting up user accounts, deciding on the shared folders for media streaming, checking out the Disk Management features and installing and managing third-party add-ins. Here are 5 essential add-ins available which make WHS do a whole lot more.

5. Accessing Your Server

A server is typically not stand alone. There are four ways to remote access and manage your server.

1. Manage it from the Console software
2. Browse shared folders from Windows Explorer by typing in the network URL.
3. Using the homeserver.com domain for remote access.
4. Using Remote Desktop in the client PC to access WHS’s desktop.

6. Tweaking for Maximum Performance

Optimize the performance by tweaking settings for speed, automatic syncing, handling video formats and other enhancements. A home built server based backup solution can be designed around your needs. As this tutorial shows, it is not too difficult. Alternative home server options like HP MediaSmart LX195 and Acer easyStore H340 are also worth a look. But all home server options provide one common denominator – peace of mind.

Are you thinking of setting up your own server based backup solution? What are the specs you are looking at?

If the idea is appealing, take a look at some of our previous posts about data backups.

• How to: Back Up Your Hard Drive For Free
• How to: Automatic Hard Drive Back Up
• Automatically back up your files

If anything can go wrong, it will. This means although it can be a bit tedious, we always need to backup our computers. Data backup is not only good practice; it’s an essential one. It may be a spanking new computer or a jalopy for the digital world, data backup is as important as a virus scan or keeping a firewall.

Think of all the files accumulated over the years…one snafu and oops it’s gone. Good news is that data backup solutions can fill that gap for you. It’s out there…it’s easy and importantly, it’s free. One of the backup solutions is built right into your operating system, some of it is on the web and some can be provided by a kind friend.

The Basics:

The easiest and most accessible backup is obviously on another networked computer. Simple file sharing between two computers makes it a routine of copy and paste. Configuration is slightly different among the different systems (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7). Native Mac backups or with a PC are also pretty much covered.

Manual backups are like heavy duty lifting. Backup utilities like IdleBackup (Windows) and SilverKeeper (Mac OS X) automatically sync folders for you, relieving a lot of the work load.

1. Simple File Storage Sites

Cloud computing is upon us and so why not take a look at some online solutions. Of course, you can go for full system backups which are available at a premium. But we did mention ‘Free’ in the title. A lot of online file storage companies’ offer ample space for free though falling short of complete system backups. Backing up your stuff online thus calls for cherry-picking essential files and safekeeping them online.

Here are a few in the queue:

• Windows Live Skydrive: A total of 25GB for free with a per file size limit of 50MB.
• File Factory: 100GB of free storage with a 300MB file limit. Downer could be the slow speeds.
• Dropbox: For smaller needs – offers 2GB of free storage with neat file syncing features.
• Mozy: 2GB of free storage but with a handy Windows client that makes uploading a cinch.
• Orbit Files: 6GB but with limited choices.

2. Documents, Photos, Music and Videos

Yes, some of these websites do double over for file storage needs. You probably use them every day but never looked at them from this angle.

-  Docs: For your documents, why go any further than the trio of Google Docs, Office Live and Zoho.

- Pics: For your photos, make your online accounts with Flickr, Snapfish, Picasa, Photobucket or Facebook.

-  Tunes: For music, MP3Tunes, File Factory and Deezer sound really cool.

- Vids: For videos, you can give YouTube, Vimeo and Viddler a shot.

The Gizmodo referred choices are aplenty and free. Just remember to do a full or a selective backup. It could be a safety net for a crash.

Check out our other posts about backing up and recovering data:

• How to: Automatic Hard Drive Back Up
• Automatically back up your files
• How to recover a Laptop Hard Drive

School is back in session shortly for most college students.  While you could be an average Joe and and buy all your back to school goods, you’ll be far better off building your own DIY projects to pimp your bland dorm room.  These fantastic tutorials will walk you through creating custom, outstanding dorm rooms to show off your DIY skill.

Incredible Lighting:

1. The Emergency Party Button will help make friends quickly.
2. How to Display Audio as Light (Make LEDs Flash to Music)
3. Make Custom RGB Mood Lights
4. DIY Abilight for your PC, TV and more
5. Need more inspiration? See all of our LED and Light projects.

DIY Security:

1. How to Use RFID to Protect your Beer, Valuables
2. DIY Motion Sensing Laptop Security Cam
3. Build your own Laser Security System
4. RFID Door Lock Mechanism
5. All of our security projects

Save Money:

1. DIY Continuous Ink Printer = Unlimited Free Printing
2. Get Free Internet by Making a Wifi Repeater
3. Build Your Own Open-Source DVR

Gaming Hacks:

1. Rapid Fire Mods Make you the Halo King
2. Burn copies of PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360
3. Play all your favorite NES games online, and emulate the Wii and other consoles.
4. Select a console from the categories on the right for more.

Custom Transport:

1. For the outgoing types:  Setup and make your own custom transportation like the Enicycle and iShoes.
2. Video Tutorial: Build your own Self-Balancing Segway
3. Build a Speedy Motorized Shopping Cart

DIY Entertainment:

1. Make your own HD Projector (another version)
2. Stylish High Quality DIY iPod and iPhone Speakers
3. Stream any Video to your PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii
4. DIY Wireless Music Remote

Extra Awesome!

If you’re ready to go all out and stand out you need to go the extra mile:

• Beer Launching Fridge
• iPhone Controlled USB Missile Launcher
• Shut Down your PC with a Cell Phone

Helpful Tips:

1. Hack College always has plenty of great tips to help you survive the year.
2. Check out this fantastic dorm layout and use of space for inspiration
3. Put all those extra beer bottles to good use. (another option)
4. Access your PC from Anywhere on Campus for Free

As always, be sure to subscribe for free to receive our hacks for daily.  Be sure to send in your projects and earn cash too!

Related Hacks:

• DIY Xbox 360 Arcade Style Controller
• Auto Aiming USB Missile Launcher using the Wiimote
• Stream PC games to your PS3

Well, it’s been done, on Thanksgiving none the less. Someone has figured out how to “backup” PS3 Blu-Ray discs. While backing up your games sounds like noble “research” it also opens up the door to copy PS3 games and distribute them via torrents or other download services.

1. See all our PS3 hacks collection
2. How to make backup copies of games.

Us generous folks here at HacknMod have shown you how to make backup copies of your favorite PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360 games.  Now, it’s the Wii’s turn.  So, you have a Wii, but you don’t want to dish out your precious money for the expensive games  We hear you.  Why not just borrow them from a friend and make a backup copy for them

Atart actually backing up those expensive games you bought in case they get scratched or perhaps even melted by your toasty 360.  Step-by-step instructions show you how – But keep in mind, you’re voiding about a million warranties with all of this flashing and ripping and such.