Has Microsoft just ruined Windows Home Server?

t does, however, have one special feature, a feature without any real equivalent in any other version of Windows, whether for desktop or for server. That feature is called Drive Extender. Conceptually, Drive Extender is quite simple: it allows multiple hard disks (regardless of interface or size) to be aggregated to provide a single large pool of storage. Folders on the pooled storage could also be selectively replicated, meaning that Drive Extender would ensure that copies of the files were found on multiple physical disks.

For a home fileserver, this is obviously a very handy capability. It allows simple ad hoc expansion of storage—no RAID rebuilding, no need to match disk capacities, no need to stick to any drive interface—and does so without the inconvenience of multiple drives, each of which has to have its free space managed manually.

For Windows Home Server's small, but vocal, following, Drive Extender is arguably the most important feature. It's what makes Windows Home Server something better than simply plugging some USB disks into a PC. Without Drive Extender, Windows Home Server as a product makes not a lot less sense.