One of the promises of Windows Home Server 2011 was the ability to backup your Mac to WHS 2011. Unfortunately that functionality wasn’t provided out of the box. There were hacks and workarounds to get it running, but Orbital Technologies have produced an add-in to get it to work.
Orbital have worked very closely with Microsoft to produce this add-in, and we have been using a beta all week and we can now share with you a preview.
Who Are Orbital Technologies?
From their website:
Orbital provides expert software development services to many of the world’s top software companies. We are a software outsourcing partner of choice for development on Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux and many mobile device platforms.
Leveraging our expert development team, we design and develop a wide range of commercial-grade software products for many of the world’s foremost software companies, such as Adobe, Microsoft and others.
We specialize in developing innovative software for other software and technology companies, working as an outsourced extension of our clients’ in-house development teams. We have a vast technical skillset and extensive experience developing custom software solutions across a range of platforms and technologies, including Windows, Mac, UNIX, Linux, .Net, J2EE, J2SE, J2ME, Apple iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, Windows Phone, Palm webOS, Symbian OS and other mobile embedded systems.
We provide solutions to extremely complex software problems that others cannot solve. We connect with our clients by understanding their needs and supporting them during the entire lifespan of a product. We believe that anything is possible and work with our clients to help them achieve their software objectives.
Installing the Add-in
Installing this add-in is no different to installing any other add-in with Windows Home Server 2011. You just start the install and follow the steps.
If you already have the WHS 2011 Mac Connector installed on your Mac, then you will see a message telling you that an update is available, just click the button to update. If you haven’t yet installed the connector, now is the time to do so.
I keep asking myself why Microsoft didn’t finish building this functionality in WHS 2011 and I have no answer. =/