Today Microsoft have released a public preview release of the next version of Windows Home Server, codenamed Vail.
A few months ago an internal build of Vail, that was only available to a select few, including us WHS MVPs, got released into the wild. Well this is the “official” release. And even better for us that means we can now talk about it and we are not under that part of the NDA anymore!
Here are some of the key pointers for this release:
Windows Server “Vail” server software is a 64-bit only operating system.
System Requirements:
· 1.4 GHz x64 processor.
· 1 GB RAM
· At least one 160 GB hard drive.
Vail is based on Windows Server 2008 R2.
So, you probably want to know how to get it then, don’t you?
Well you will need to get it from Microsoft Connect, which you can do so from here: https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer
Note that it may take a little while for the download to show up on Connect so keep checking.
If you want to post your questions to the official Microsoft Vail forum, you can do so here:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/whsvailbeta/threads
It is important to note that this is not a Beta release, it is a Technical Preview release. The difference being is that technical preview releases are aimed at people with a certain level of IT knowledge and experience, and that the build is not complete, features may be missing, things may not work as expected, etc.
So, if you are in any doubt, do not use it! And whatever you do, do not use it as your production Windows Home Server box!
Also, and I cannot stress this enough, READ THE MANUAL! There are literally pages and pages of known issues that you should be aware of with this build. And remember, before you think that maybe Microsoft shouldn’t have released this as it looks like it is not fit for primetime, it is a technical preview and not a beta!
Let us know your thoughts on Vail, and watch this space for Vail articles 
I just read the release notes and it shows the USB installation may require you to verify your USB port order after you finish POST. This is a good tip for anyone wanting to install from a USB and getting an error. The issue is listed on Page 16!
Sweet. I cannot wait to get home from work to install this!
Sector sizes with the WD drives? Interesting. Maybe the RTM will be ableto use them.
If you have an issue not being able to connect then: "Before you install Windows Server
Tim
What I did was install as was, and left it to "settle" as recommended as well.
Worked fine then.
Andrew
Can't wait to get home and install the preview on my test box. I hope MControl keeps up with the add in for Vail!
🙂
let us know what you think!
Andrew
Do you all think the connector would work on a desktop client that is connected to a domain? I could test Vail on a PC in the same network that is not on a domain but my desktop client is. Since it's a University, the domain is not locked down very much. Any thoughts?
Hi Holt
I havent tried it, but you could give it a go and let us know.
Andrew
Will do. We have the same Vlan in this building so I think it will work. What about Virtual PC or some other virtual tool like Hyper V since this is just for testing? Have you all tried any of these up to this point?
Vail works fine on a VM 🙂
Andrew
So the connector does work with a client computer that is joined to a domain. Both the Vail server and client machine have IP address in the same VLAN so it was able to find the server without problems. Home group is not allow by windows when connected to a domain so I couldn't try this. I didn't try to configure router b/c the university uses Cisco enterprise routers and network security appliances and it thought it would block my MAC address. Our IP address connect directly to the web though so I could just use that to remote in and it works fine.
thanks Holt, thats really good to know.
Andrew
Andrew,
Is just the beta version of Vail 64-bit or will Vail only be released in a 64-bit version? If only a 64-bit version is released, then won't it mean that most current Acer and HP home servers currently on the market not be able to upgrade?
~Bryan
HI Bryan
Vail will only ever be 64 bit.
So if your existing hardware is not 64 bit then it wont work.
To be fair on Microsoft, the original documentation for V1 of WHS, back in 2007, stated the next version of WHS would be 64 bit, which always surprised me that vendors chose to use 32 bit processors.
Andrew