Back in February, we brought you the first glimpse of a free add-in for Windows Home Server 2011 and Windows SBS 2011 Essentials that would allow Windows Home Server 2011 to be used as a target disk for Mac OSX Time Machine Backups. That add-in, Orbital Backup Configuration is now almost ready for release, and we can bring you a full preview of how it looks, and how it’ll make backing up your Mac to Windows Home Server a cinch.
You probably already know that Windows Home Server 2011 is partly compatible with Apple Macs, courtesy of a Mac Connector, which installs a version of the Launchpad on the desktop. Orbital Backup Configuration extends the Launchpad with a new option, which launches a configuration wizard to create the necessary plumbing required so you can direct your Time Machine backups to your home or small business server.
You’ll need to install the add-in .wssx file directly on the server (rather than via a client) after which you’ll see an entry in the Dashboard, but no other options. The next time you run your Mac Launchpad, however, you’ll receive an alert that an updated version is available, and the Launchpad will close and re-open, revealing a new Add-ins option.
Click Backup Configuration, and you’ll be greeted with a simple set-up screen that requests your user name and password for the server, as well as an option to set the SMB path to a folder on the server for your backups. The backup location field will auto-populate with a proposed SMB address, but may wish to create and use a new share on the server before proceeding, as I did in this example.
That’s all the configuration required, after which the add-in will take care of setting up the required links. You will then be able to use Time Machine as usual, with the backups automatically being sent to your home server. No need for complicated scripts, hacks nor use of the term “sparsebundle”.
Orbital Backup Configuration will be a free add-in for Windows Home Server 2011 and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials. The add-in is going through final testing, and we hope to bring you news of a release date very soon.
