Microsoft put it best when they advertised the Small Business Server with a slogan, “On the Job 24/7. Just like you.” Aurora “represents a significant departure from our traditional fully on-premise model,” Kevin Kean, general manager of Windows Home and Small Business Servers, wrote in an Aug. 16 posting on The Official SBS Blog. “Aurora extends the ease of use of our traditional SBS products while simultaneously being a great platform for small businesses wanting to combine traditional and cloud computing.” Aurora’s features include advanced backup and file-restoration features, with automatic daily backups of PCs on a network; the server, along with the computers and documents connected to it, can also be accessed from common Web browsers.
Just so that there is no confusion, Aurora is targeting the SOHO (Small Office Home Office), Small Business with less than 25 employees, what Vail does for home users. For a small business that does not have the resources for a full-blown IT department and storage facilities, Aurora is the perfect solution. Aurora shares a common code base with that of Windows Home Server Vail so simplicity of guided installation and configuration wizards and easy integration with cloud services are the staples of this product. Since Aurora is targeted at small business customers rather than consumers it offers a number of additional features for small business over Vail, and logically it omits the more consumer oriented features that come with Vail. For example, Active Directory support and the upcoming cloud application support for Aurora are the main reasons a small business would want to go this route.
*Please, note that the first release of Windows Server Aurora Preview should only be installed for evaluation purposes.
Aurora vs. Vail
| Feature | Aurora | Vail |
| Image Based Backup & Restore | Yes | Yes |
| Server Backup Support | Yes | Yes |
| Dashboard Based Management | Yes | Yes |
| Users & Clients Supported | 25 | 10 |
| Active Directory Support | Yes (Domain Root Only) | No |
| Homegroup Support | No | Yes |
| Launchpad on Client PC | Yes (Auto Logs-in) | Yes |
| Simplified Storage Management | Yes | Yes |
| System Health Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Media Streaming | Not Included | Enhanced support with Silverlight Enabled Media Player |
| Windows Media Center Integration | No | Partial (Library Support) |
| Extensibility | Yes, via SDK | Yes, via SDK |
| Enterprise Cloud Apps Support | Yes, via Subscription | No |
| Easy Remote Web Access to Server | Yes | Yes |
Windows Server Aurora Installation
If you have already seen Vail then you will notice a number of similarities with Aurora. The importance of easy installation is a common theme in both products, with a clear intent that a small business owner should be able to purchase an Aurora server, plug in, install and configure the product without technical assistance in a matter of minutes.
The screenshots below show an installation of Aurora on a new machine:
At this point, if you have used Vail you may notice one tiny difference between the two products, and that is in the Server personalization screen, where a company name and domain name is requested. Aurora will sit at the root of the domain whereas Windows Home Server cannot be joined to a domain. Administrators must choose an original account name in Aurora, whereas the standard “Administrator” account is automatically configured in Vail.
Aurora Clients
When the server is ready, clients are connected to the server by visiting http://myservername/Connect on a web browser. This accesses the Aurora server and downloads a connector application to the local PC. It is important to note that this task needs to be done on each PC that is to connect to the server.
Please note that only some editions of Windows are able to join a domain. In general the professional edition or above will support domain functionality. This means that Windows XP Home Edition and Windows Vista Home, Windows 7 Home Premium are not designed to join domains; only workgroups.
The Aurora Dashboard
For comparison, here is the Windows Server Code Name “VAIL” Dashboard in green.
Visually Microsoft made sure to distinguish between the blue Aurora and green Vail. The Aurora dashboard is designed with five large tabs covering key feature areas, an alert bar providing notification of any issues, and a large pane below with tasks, wizards and reporting information. There are also links to online help pages provided throughout the dashboard.
On the Aurora Home tab there are a number of Getting Started tasks including: configuring server updates, server backup, remote web access, sharing options and email alerts alongside links to centralized storage assistance and Microsoft’s Online Services.
The Aurora LaunchPad
Just like in Windows Home Server “Vail”, the Aurora LaunchPad application provides a simple way for users to access server-based applications and resources like Shared Folders, Backup, Remote Web Access, and access to the Aurora management console, called the Aurora Dashboard. The LaunchPad is extensible via the Auroa SDK which means that third parties can extend the functionality in the future.
Users Tab
On this tab one can manage all of the users who have access to the server – whether they have administration rights, or access to shared folders, remote web access and so on. The Administrator has full control on the password policy to maintain the highest possible security standards, and has the ability to configure accounts and access privileges via simple wizards which control the Active Directory infrastructure which underpins Aurora.
Computers and Backup Tab
The Server and all of the computers connected to the server will be listed in the Computers and Backup tab. The administrator can see the computer status, the computer’s description, Backup status and any alerts for that machine. The pane below will show the Operating system running on that machine. From this tab, it’s possible to view and amend the backup configuration for each machine (including files and folders to be backed up), access and restore files and folders
from computer backups, view and manage alerts and run manual backups of both clients and the server. And as always, all tasks are managed via guided wizards, ensuring the server is simple to use.
Server Folders and Hard Drives
To provide simplified storage and data protection features, Aurora utilizes Microsoft’s Drive Extender technology. When viewing your storage in the Dashboard you will see it as one storage pool, managed automatically by the server and comprising multiple hard drives, while in Windows Explorer shared
folders are treated as distinct entities. The dashboard provides a visual guide as to how your storage is segmented across the shared folders, client backups, space used for data protection and free space available. Data protection can be toggled for each shared folder on the server via a Folder duplication feature which stripes a copy of your data across multiple drives to protect against hard drive failure.
The Server Folders tab provides a folder-based view of your storage, showing the space utilized by the default folders set up by the server. Adding new shared folders to the server and establishing user access rights is made very simple by following a wizard.
The Hard Drives tab shows a physical view of your storage at the drive level. For an additional level of physical security in case natural disaster, or malicious activity hard drives can remain outside of the pool for use as a removable backup drive.
Add-ins
The Add-ins area is where applications for Aurora are viewed and managed. Add-ins can be installed on the server from any client PC, with updates, add-in settings and subscriptions managed from the add-ins tab. Both Aurora and Vail share a common Software Development Kit (SDK) which makes it likely that add-ins will be develop and universal among both platforms. The fundamental different in Aurora and Vail (WHS v2) when compared to Windows Home Server v1 is the way add-ins are installed.
At the time of this article, the only two add-ins available are AWIECO WakeOnLAN and AWIECO RemoteLauncher.
Server Settings Tab
The Server Settings tab shows everything from Windows Update, Date and Time and feedback settings as well as the configuration of Remote Web Access and web domain controls. Under the General settings area you can activate Windows Server Aurora and change the Windows product key. Under the Server Settings tab is where users can restart and shutdown the Aurora server. Under Remote Web Access, the Server can be configured with a free domain provided by Microsoft or your own domain choice managed by a number of partner providers such as eNom and GoDaddy (providers will vary by region). Domain set-up and router port forwarding is handled automatically by the server, although router configuration is dependent on the hardware used.
Remote Web Access
When everything is configures to your liking and you are ready to use Aurora, the Remote Web can be accessed both on the local network as well as on the road. The website provides remote access to network computers and shared files and folders. When used with Internet Explorer, a remote desktop connection can be opened on compatible client PCs and the server itself if you need direct control. Also, the website is built up from gadgets which can be dragged and dropped around the web page to make any layout you may want.
