Use Time Machine with Windows Home Server
Background:
A while ago i ditched my PC setup all together and started using my MacBook exclusively. I miss Windows 7, but that's another story. Having left the beast of a machine to do nothing then collect dust, i went out on a search to put it to good use.
I've been a long time listener of Windows Weekly. In the podcast, Paul Thurrott recommended Windows Home Server (WHS) for all backup need on a network and media sharing. This intrigued me, so i did my research. At the time, WHS 2008 was the current edition available for $99. Being a cheapskate i decided to wait. A few short weeks later, WHS V2 'Vail' RC0 was released. This was my chance at trying the WHS product for free and remaining bleeding-edge.
I installed Vail a short while after and formatted my drives in the machine to support Drive Extender (DE). This is simply a system which allows to "pool" all your hard drives together in order to simulate on giant one. DE supports redundancy, so should a drive fail you'd just pop in another one. Worked great, but sadly Microsoft decided to kill it this fall.
Anyways...
Seeing as i had essentially a big powerful NAS, i decided to fool around with OSX's Time Machine. This proved to be quite a challenge. Microsoft touted out-of-box functionality with Time Machine. Unfortunately, the method to enable it was nowhere to be found
What's needed:
- Router
- Apple Machine with Snow Leopard
- WHS 'Vail' Machine
Method:
1. Install iTimeMachine and run it in order to enable AirDisks.
2. Install Launchpad by going to your browser to http://servername/connect and installing MacConnector.dmg. Where Server name is the IP for your WHS.
3. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder. (CMD+SPACE, 'Disk Utility')
4. Select the Macintosh HD, then go to “File” -> “New” -> “Blank Disk Image”.
5. In the box that comes up enter:
10. Launch the Launchpad app.
3. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder. (CMD+SPACE, 'Disk Utility')
4. Select the Macintosh HD, then go to “File” -> “New” -> “Blank Disk Image”.
5. In the box that comes up enter:
Where,
machinename - is the name of your machine. To get, launch terminal and type hostname -fs.
macaddress - is your mac address which is called the Ethernet ID (System Preferences -> Network -> Ethernet -> Advanced -> Ethernet)
size - something larger than your current used amount. This will autoresize later.
format - MAC OS Extended (Journaled)
format - MAC OS Extended (Journaled)
partitions - Single Partition – Apple Partition Map
image format - sparse bundle disk image.
6. Click 'Create'.
7. Transfer that disk image from your desktop to you time machine folder on the WHS.
10. Launch the Launchpad app.
11. Select 'Backup computer'.
12. Point time machine to your WHS folder and start the backup.
Voila! This should mount every time you're connected to your network and automatically start backup.
Sources:
