Setting up a Windows10 Pro PC as a server?

NavyLCDR said:

I use TrueNAS. It was a little bit of learning curve to set up, but once it's going, it just keeps working.

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It feels like a big learning curve for me. There are so many options which are not explained as I guess the TrueNAS guys think you should be a unix guru already. I have just been reading up on Amahi which could be another option for me. I really wish Microsoft just kept WHS going, its so easy and does everything I want.

Been using Amahi for a number of years on a fujitsu server with a 6tb raid array - very good it is too except when a previous version ate my 64gb usb stick with the os on!

I am now evaluating Windows Server Essentials 2016 and installed it on my test PC. WSE 2016 is very much like WHS 2011, so far! I have setup pooled storage, shared folders and added users as easily as with WHS. I have done nothing with active directory and the only domain setup involved creating a domain name during setup, if that's it then great. My next step is to connect a PC to the server using the Windows connector, this may result in AD and domains needing some sort of config but I'm hoping not. I have done everything in the Dashboard so far and have done nothing in Server Manager.

Only issue so far is that I can not connect to the server using Remote Desktop from my main PC but I can connect using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app on my tablet.

BTW can anyone recommend a good site to buy a genuine activation key for WSE 2016, thanks.

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Found a Microsoft doc giving details of a registry change so that a Windows computer can be connected to the server without joining the domain

In case anyone is still interested i will continue to update this thread...........

Remote desktop now works from a Windows 10 PC, it was a simple fix with the remote desktop settings within Server Manager to turn off something about additional verification.

I still need to install the client connector on a PC, that will be when I find out if domains and active directory causes me issues.

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Today I installed the WSE connector on the test PC. The install process basically looks like a new Windows10 install process asking lots of very similar questions but when the install completed my test documents in the "documents" folder were gone! Not what I was expecting as they were gone for good!

Next step is to do the following registry change and then install the WSE connector again.

Reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Server\ClientDeployment" /v SkipDomainJoin /t REG_DWORD /d 1

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Update.... I can now sign in either with a local account or a domain account so my files are preserved, I wonder if I could have done that before?

Update.......

My test client PC seems to be working with WSE2016 without being a member of the domain. To get this working I did the regedit "SkipDomainJoin", installed the WSE client connector, deleted the domain user account that the connector setup and changed the primary DNS on the client PC from the server back to my router.

I still have all my files and folders on the client PC intact but I now also have a shared folder icon on the client PC desktop which gives me access to the WSE shares. I cant see the WSE server in File Explorer devices but that isn't a problem as the shares are accessible via the desktop icon. Client backup still works as well. A bonus that I wasn't expecting is that the client PC logs into the WSE client connector automatically.

I have done everything using the WSE dashboard, I have not done anything in Server Manager.

So initial impressions are that with a few small extra steps I can replace my WHS2011 with WSE2016 and it all works the same.

Now I must say that I am no expert in Windows server software so have I missed anything? Has anyone else had the same experience. I was expecting, based on internet articles, a much more difficult transition from WHS to WSE.

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I forgot to add in the previous post the regedit "SkipDomainJoin" is only required for W10 Pro clients, W10 Home does not support domains by default.

travelmate37 said:

That was a hugely interesting story. So how's the system working now? I'm heading down the same path - a bought NAS too expensive for a 'test'. Truenas blew my mind as well, and I just don't have the time to stuff around. Do you externally access your server from outside your home lan?

PS Veeam agent does a bare-metal restore, and if you back up to a usb it has the option to logically disconnect the device to protect from ransom ware. The usb will become visible\active again when the system reboots or is physically disconnected then reconnected

Its been working ok but I have recently decided that as the server was only being used for PC backups that local PC backups using Macrium Reflect and external USB HDD's is much easier. I still have the WSE2016 server but its not being used at present.