Windows Server for a Home network

[SedoSan]

Hello all,
I didn't know where exactly to put my thread but this might be the most appropriate place.

Me and my family are moving to a new house and I'm planning to do a proper home network this time around. I'm not sure whats the best method to do it so this is where I need help.

What I had in mind is that I will install a server with windows server 2012 and create a domain to connect all computers to, create users for my family members (8 members) and add clients (10+ Desktops and Laptops)

The reason for this is to organize the network and monitor problems, easier remote access, easier installing of programs to all clients at once, Network shares, printers, etc...

Usually in a domain, a user don't have privileges to install software, change settings, etc... but this is not the case here. I want each user to be able to fully control their laptop/desktop but not control the network settings (I don't want a member to look into another's member private folders)

What makes me think a lot about this is the Laptops, I wouldn't worry about desktops since they are connected to the network all the time, but when a laptop leaves the domain (leaves the house network), what happens? can they still log on to their domain?

How is windows server going to benefit me in this situation (home network) and is it the best option for doing an organized home network? and how to handle laptops that leave the domain?

Any suggestions or ideas will be appreciated a lot

 

[stevech]

I and others' opinions you can read on the Internet - Microsoft is dead-ending Windows Home Server. The 2012 version is already quite unappealing because MS took out the heart of Windows Server in prior versions - that being disk drive pooling.

So I'd look at a small NAS such as from Synology or QNAP - see reviews here and see the vendors' try-before-buy websites. Newegg.com often has good prices. You can reuse some SATA drives that you may have unused.

House network is probably not a "domain" in the Microsoft sense, in that there's no Enterprise Domain Controller. The home LANs are typically "workgroup" in the microsoft jargon and do not rely on a domain controller. So laptops coming and going are not an issue - other than getting a virus when used on a public network... but a software firewall on the laptop can stop this. Firewall not needed when at home, but can be left on, depending on what ports need to be opened when using the home server for music, etc.

 

[SedoSan]

Thanks for your reply but I don't think that will affect me (disk drive pooling being gone or whatnot), I'll be using a BlueArc Titan high-performance NAS with over 40TB and raid 6 or 60, hot swappable of course, so if I want to increase the size (if I ever approach the 40TB) I can just add more HDDs or if they are full I can replace with a bigger capacity.

So that's really not a problem, I've read about opinions on the internet before posting, but I need interactive conversation to answer my exact questions, not many people have the same situation as me.

However I did search after posting my thread about using laptop in multiple domains, apparently what happen is that the laptop saves the last 10 user accounts that logged in and use offline roaming data but no access to network drives, and if he is back home, he can connect to the domain normally. I'm not sure about this as I didn't try it but I think that it might work.

Actually this was my main concern, I think I can create users in the active directory as how my family want it to be, give each user like 2TB as a home drive, and 30TB shared folder for media.

 

[stevech]

That's some home system!
Active Directory AAA, for home use - family will love that!
Enjoy.

BlueArc Titan - - that's Hitachi Data Systems now? And separated from Western Digital's acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies ?

The popular SOHO and high-end consumer NASes as mentioned above, of course have the authentication and per user/group access and security within the NAS system software. WHS wasn't really intended for that role. Caveat Emptor.

http://www.wegotserved.com/2012/07/05/microsoft-draws-windows-home-server-era-close/

WHS 2012 user base will be a rather lonely place.

 

[SedoSan]

Not sure if sarcastic or serious >.>

I'm not really sure what I am doing, we own a network company and they will be responsible for installing the whole house network and among their NAS solution is the BlueArc so they are gonna install that too, so I'm not worried about the hardware, as for the software, that I wanna get involved in since I will be the one maintaining the network after they fix everything (we can just call them to fix whatever the problem is but I like to know whats going on with the network myself). So general knowledge would be nice before installing.

Again I am not sure what I exactly want, I am sure there are benefits to install a server to make some tasks easier, there is a server room in the house where a server machine will reside along side all the managed switches, firewall, APUs, NAS, etc... so the network is "Server ready".

I never went into IT school but (computers/hardware/network/programming/encrypting/etc...) was all fascinating to me and became a big hobby of mine so I want to get involved in this project.