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WHS and Off-line Files in Windows 7

Question
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I have seen a number of posts regarding offline files but nothing since 2008 - I'm hoping that some of the issues have been resolved with the latest power packs!
I am keen to use Windows Home Server as an entry level server as I now work for myself and don’t believe that I have the technical IT skills to maintain a standard server. I would like to maintain all of my documents on the server, and then use the Windows 7 ‘offline files’ synchronisation when I work away from the office with limited internet connection (which is the majority of the time) also allowing my partner access to the same files in the office without the risk of corruption. The same style of use as you could expect from a larger server.
Does anyone know whether this possible/robust now? If not, do you have a cost effective alternative?
Many thanks in advance
Ian
Monday, June 14, 2010 9:40 AM
Answers
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Offline files may not successfully get a copy of the actual file; for at least some files it only gets a copy of the tombstone. You can try it, and see if it will work for you, but it's unsupported and before you rely on it I would recommend you test while disconnected from your network to make sure that all files are readable.
I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)- Proposed as answer by kariya21Moderator Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:40 AM
- Marked as answer by ial69uk Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:18 AM
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:48 AMModerator
All replies
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Perhaps I should attempt to look back and see what problems were posted in the past, but, although I have not done this myself, I see no reason why this should not work well.
One question I might ask is whether, if you are not connected to the WHS network most of the time, there might be synchronization issues that would cause problems--as files change, either by your actions or those of your partner?
WHS does not come with VPN access configured. Will you have VPN access to the network the WHS machine is on?
"ial69uk" wrote in message news:ef29029b-e965-4db3-887a-65195d73dcce@communitybridge.codeplex.com...
I have seen a number of posts regarding offline files but nothing since 2008 - I'm hoping that some of the issues have been resolved with the latest power packs!
I am keen to use Windows Home Server as an entry level server as I now work for myself and don’t believe that I have the technical IT skills to maintain a standard server. I would like to maintain all of my documents on the server, and then use the Windows 7 ‘offline files’ synchronisation when I work away from the office with limited internet connection (which is the majority of the time) also allowing my partner access to the same files in the office without the risk of corruption. The same style of use as you could expect from a larger server.
Does anyone know whether this possible/robust now? If not, do you have a cost effective alternative?
Many thanks in advance
Ian
Bill SandersonMonday, June 14, 2010 11:12 PM -
Offline files may not successfully get a copy of the actual file; for at least some files it only gets a copy of the tombstone. You can try it, and see if it will work for you, but it's unsupported and before you rely on it I would recommend you test while disconnected from your network to make sure that all files are readable.
I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)- Proposed as answer by kariya21Moderator Wednesday, June 16, 2010 3:40 AM
- Marked as answer by ial69uk Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:18 AM
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 2:48 AMModerator -
Bill, Ken
Many thanks for your responses. The issue back in 2008 was that of sychonising with links rather than the actual files, so it seems that the issue remains. I wanted to enquire before investing in a WHS machine as this would be it's key role. Back to the drawing board I guess...
Cheers, Ian
Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:18 AM -
Bill, Ken
You could always try out the beta version of Vail (the next version of WHS, available for download from Connect). It handles the storage pool very differently than v1 and it might work (although don't store your only copy of anything on it at this point because it is a beta version and there are bugs).Many thanks for your responses. The issue back in 2008 was that of sychonising with links rather than the actual files, so it seems that the issue remains. I wanted to enquire before investing in a WHS machine as this would be it's key role. Back to the drawing board I guess...
Cheers, Ian
Thursday, June 17, 2010 4:58 AMModerator