Newegg Drops Price of Windows Home Server 2011 to $49.99

By on July 18, 2011 in News, Windows Home Server

A couple of weeks ago, we revealed heavy discounting of Microsoft’s Windows Home Server 2011 system builder software at stores around the globe. Looks like the savings aren’t over just yet, as readers are reporting a further round of price cuts and deals online.

In the US, newegg.com have dropped their price of WHS 2011 down to $59.99, with free shipping with an additional instant $10 rebate, which runs through to 22nd July. That makes it $49.99 inc shipping. Sales are limited to 5 copies per customer – check it out here.

Across the other side of the pond in the UK, CCL have also pushed down the price of the Windows Home Server 2011 software, which now clocks in at a crazy £37.74. Check it out here.

Update: Amazon.com have responded to Newegg’s price today, dropping their own price to $59.99. (Thanks Scott)

Update 2: Newegg have now pulled their discount and voucher. They’re now pricing at $69.99. Booooo.

Microsoft’s latest server operating system on sale cheaper than Windows 7 client? The world, quite possibly, has gone mad. Have you spotted a cheaper price for WHS 2011? Let us know in the comments.

Thanks to CBers and Jeff G for the tips.


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About Terry Walsh

Terry Walsh is the founding editor and owner of We Got Served. Since February 2007, the site has provided detailed coverage and analysis of the emerging home server category, and has subsequently grown into a trusted outlet for digital home news and reviews.
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  • Mike

    Actually its 49.99. $10 off w/ promo code MSSERV10, ends 7/22

    • http://www.wegotserved.com Terry Walsh

      Thanks – updated!

    • Dave

      Just ordered mine for $49.99, but newegg said the $10 promo code ends today….get em while they're hot!

    • Grant

      If you follow the link to the CSL site it says "Was £73.22 – Save -£14.41
      Now only £87.64 inc VAT!!"

  • NicolasDR

    I've seen prices as low as £ 33 in Germany. http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/644182

    Of course this is for the German version of WHS 2011, but that should not really pose a problem as you only need the serial. If you're really keen on the English version, then £ 36 is no exception. http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/644184

  • Scott

    Amazon just dropped to $59.99 as well .
    http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-64-bit-Engli…

  • Mark

    I hope MS isn't dropping WHS. It may be a niche product right now, but it still has a lot of potential. I know it's saved my tooshie a few times — and has definetely made my life a billion time easier.

    • Bernard

      I doubt they will drop it. More likely it will just fade away. Sort of like Publisher.

  • Slim

    Windows Home server 2011 is not yet sold in Canada. The Canadian sites of Newegg or Amazon don't carry the 2011 version, only the old Version 1. I wonder when Microsoft will offer 2011 here. I guess I will need to take my next vacations in US and buy it over there.

    • Quint

      I was able to purchase it from Anitec in Vancouver without difficulty (special order item, but took less than a week to arrive).

    • DaCdbGuy

      Been trying to find it myself; as always, us Canadians have to sit back and wait patiently.

  • Ross

    WHS 2011 is a goner. It really is a bad product and MS knows this. It was pushed out the door to complete a product ship date and will not be updated. I bought it and tried to backup up three computers.

    1. ran out of disk space because WHS 2011 can only use one disk for all backups on your network.
    2. Max size for all backups and all shares is 2TB

    All major hardware vendors are gone from this product and what's left are 3rd rate dealers.

    @ $49 retail it must be shipping @ $19. How soon before $9.99 in the discontinued bin box – about 6 months I'd say.

    • richlong

      Your right!. I purchased an HP ex485 windows home server and got complacent thinking all my home computers were being backed up. Until one crashed. Tried to restore from server, unable to mount volume. Checked all other computers, same thing. Weeks of HP tech support and there was no answer from them why I can't restore any computers. Now my server is just a paperweight. It hasn't been turned on for months. I went to Acronis Backup and never looked back. Just think how much electricity I save with it off!

    • Jonnie Grund

      Really, I have 1 5TB raid 5 share and 2 3TB usb 3.0 shares…hmmmm I think drive pooling sucked and this is the main complaint I've heard. And richlong, you're saving about a lightbulbs worth of power. Who wants to run all this new software on what amounts to a winxp file server. i have to stay away from super novice postings.

  • NicolasDR

    I've seen prices as low as £ 33 in Germany. http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/644182

    Of course this is for the German version of WHS 2011, but that should not really pose a problem as you only need the serial. If you're really keen on the English version, then £ 36 is no exception. http://skinflint.co.uk/eu/644184

  • speedbump49

    Maybe this is a way for Microsoft to get some higher numbers in the first quater that WHS11 shipped. Then again, if firesale tatics don't work, and no real OEM support appears, what hope does WHS11 have? I upgraded my WHS1 to WHS11 over the last few weeks and its be going smooth. Using a local hardware raid for storage solution, but I'm planning to build a iSCSI sandbox to see what it can offer as a shared storage pool.

  • Jasper

    Is there a 32bit version?
    Or only 64 Bit an cant i upgrade with my HP Mediasmart?

    Greets,

    Jasper

    • http://www.wegotserved.com Terry Walsh

      It's 64-bit, but people have been able to upgrade their MediaSmart Servers – it's a little fiddly, but possible.

  • Philip McDunnough

    I don’t quite get why WHS has not become more popular. I am not a Windows’ user but have an Acer H340 which I really like. Makes more sense to me than a high end NAS. I have never used Drive Extender so the loss of that has not been a big deal. I simply attached a Drobo to back up the server ( the WHS sees it as a 16TB GPT drive) and get the best of both worlds. Anyway I really feel that WHS is an unappreciated gem. I hope they don’t give up on it.

    Philip

    • Luca

      "I simply attached a Drobo" … LOL, you have to be full of spare money …

  • Scott

    Amazon just dropped to $59.99 as well .
    http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-64-bit-Engli…

  • Scott

    Amazon just dropped to $59.99 as well .
    http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-64-bit-Engli…

  • Magius

    MS is reaping what they sowed. I am sad to say that MS barely know how to market their software, even when they are so full of untapped potential. This is why we end up with crippled software like WHS 11 and this is why MS has another Vista in their hands.

    Why is hasn’t become more popular? Easy! Lack of promotion! If people, and we are talking the mainstream here, the real numbers, don’t see it then it is like it doesn’t exist. People need to know why they should care. They need to understand how “easy” it is to backup and restore your pc. How easy it is to share media across all PCs on your home.

    The they would care.

    However, in order to meet all those demands WHS needs to be competitive in two fields. First, it needs to be stupid easy to use and install. This one is basically true. Second, MS needs to up their customer and SOFTWARE support for those instances WHS becomes difficult. For example I still can’t believe MS didn’t ever (to my knowledge) fixed the problem with Realtek NIC drivers. They just created a FAQ pages telling you to get the drivers from their site. Why not push a whole new recovery ISO with the updated drivers?

    And this is why it will never take off as it should. I have been using my v1 since Power pack 1 and I just couldn’t go back. Having fairly reliable backups of my PCs is priceless as is having a central repository to my data.

  • Hutch

    There must be something that is simple to install, configure and use. Our home is a mixture of macbooks (3), win7 PCs (3) and a linux server, android os and iPhones (5). Seems that there would be something that would allow unattended backups from all these devices, file sharing and media sharing with the xbox and ps3. I was really hoping that WHS 2011 would be it. I have been waiting for the drive extender "replacement" vendor offerings to solidify before purchasing WHS2011 and when I saw the price drop I was ready to go. But, having read these comments, I am getting cold feet.

    • FormerMarineSgt

      Most of these comments are coming from folks that have no facts behind what they say. They know nothing about Microsoft's plans and are blathering on and on because they've got some gripe or an axe to grind. They just want to whine.

      Please make sure you take that into account on your own decision.

  • bronan

    As long as this product is only sold as a buy and forget any support ever in your lifetime… It will never hit great numbers. Second its not even that a great product as many wants to make people believe. I am the owner of the whs1 version and found it to have many problems and most problems never get solved. And most fun of all the new is not helping solve the old problems either.
    So again its a non finished product with all old problems still not being addressed and the most handy future removed from the package making it a even worse product.
    Am i gonna buy it … no not even if it hits the $9,99 price tag its simply still a alpha product being sold. Untill MS finally fixes all problems and start to make it work on wifi and make sure backups can actually be restored without having to install the disk in someone else his pc.
    It works for restoring some files but as a serious solutions i still say no not a change.

  • Ben Griggs

    Ok, they finally got me. $50 is an impulse buy – I'll try it.

    • saxnix

      I did the same thing. Haven't had my V1 server running for about 12 months now and haven't really missed it. But for 50 bucks I figure I will take the plunge and hope the DE replacements work ok??

  • howard

    And not a damn was given that day.

  • Woody

    WHS1 is working fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it. I don't want to go through what I did when WHS1 came out. The new version sounds like it has more bugs than the old one did. I'll pass on the new product. Even at $50 it is no bargain.

  • Nick

    On a canadian retailer's website, it says produce is discontinued.
    See greytech dot com

  • zOU

    So apart from some possible whining, is there a good pro/con's article somewhere to compare WHS v1 and WHS 2011 ?

    • really

      This website perhaps??

  • bertever

    i just ordered from Amazon at $59 plus shipping. When I went to my email to look for the confirmation, this popped up. Quickly canx Amazon and reordered from Egghead. I have the RC installed on a spare computer. Will seriously look into upgrading my 490 so I can keep the small, quiet box going.

  • mike21b

    I don't think WHS 2011 has any more bugs than v1. Microsoft won't drop it – at least not "soon" – but it could die out as a victim of bad marketing. Too bad if that does happen, it's a good product. I've never lost data since WHS and we are backing up everything up to and including 2003 Server.

    Most who call it a bad product have not tried it. Most of those who have tried it wouldn't give it up. That alone says something.

  • theangryibis

    Has anyone considered amongst the doom and gloom that it could be a preemptive strike against Mac OS X Lion Server which is out soon as a $49.99 download?

    I replaced my WHS V1 with 2011 and I couldn’t be happier.

    • DaCdbGuy

      Cant really compare teh two; as OSX would only run on my MacBook. Would never want to dedicate my Desktop as a Server and always rely on a dedicated machine. Then again, if I wanted to drop $2600 on a basic Mac Pro, it would make for a great Server — then again so would Windows on a i7?

      • Adam

        I kind of agree with you there. The feature set between the two servers are targeted towards different audiences. There are however options when it comes to hardware. basically any Mac hardware with a core2duo or newer chip will run Lion server. Or you could always build your own 8~)

    • Chuck

      I would love to see a write up on Lion Server, and perhaps how I could manage file sharing and the like?

  • Ben

    Newegg must have been loosing too much money on the promo code because it no longer works!

  • David

    The promo code worked for me.

  • Mitchell Hennessy

    Yeah…

    SUPER pissed that I spent the full price on it before this happened.

  • Dietmar

    I've been running WHS v1 for over 3 years now without any problems and see absolutely no reason at all to go to v11… for any price.

  • tkam111

    If you don't buy it and stick with WHS v1 the costt is 0$.
    I really think it is the best price you can get!

  • glfp

    No DE ? VAIL …. FAIL ! Also at $59 ….

  • Tillmechanic

    Not so cheap at CCL

    7 Now for Next Day Delivery
    150 more expected on 20/07/2011
    Free 1st Class Delivery

    Was £73.22 – Save -£14.41

    Now only £87.64 inc VAT

    • Cedders

      £48 on Amazon.co.uk

  • Amrynel

    Meanwhile in Australia price for WHS 2011 is $109 and places are still selling WHS v1 for $108…

  • Kirchgoens

    The promo code was dead as of about 90 minutes ago when I tried it.

  • ravenshin

    My hopes are still for using DriveBender on a Win7 along with my WHS v1. If DB can be proven reliable then the whole 'home server' argument becomes moot for me. With luck I can put the whole WHS 2011 debacle behind me.

  • JeffG

    Looks like Newegg decided that was a mistake, price drop and promo code are both gone and the price is back to $69.99.

  • speedbump49

    WHS has always been a OEM only product. Not a retail product. Each one of use whom purchase WHS are taking the role of "system builder". Microsoft intend(s) the product to be sold as an intergrated applicance. For those using v1, I like WHS11 as its based on Windows Server 2008, and intergrates easily with Homegroup network offered in Win7. One fix thats been important to me over v1 is that the WHS11 Upnp service is complient with my Samsung smart TV (v1 was not).

  • Eric

    I got all excited last week when I saw it go from 108.99 to 69.99. Wish I waited another day. I got it for 69.99 and which is a good deal anyway. Funny thing is I got it in the mail yesterday, and last night my server crashed. Re-installed WHS, just to backup the recent changes to my website. Tonight I will be installing WHS 2011. (hopefully)

  • Mr.Smartepants

    Amazon currently has it at $63.92 with free shipping. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050TVAWS/ref=o…

  • Bernard

    As of 12:45 PM EDT the price is $69.00. The only "deal" is free shipping. And even IF it was $50, I won't buy until the Drive Extender replacements come out and have time for a complete review and several months of testing.

  • Chuck

    I wish MS would issue a patch for WHSv1 to support Advanced Format Drives. and I'd just go back to that. IMHO, WHS2011 is a pile of hurt.

    • Chuck

      And I say that as someone who has two copies running on test servers.

  • Patrick Greene

    It was $5 with a HP Micro Server or a HP ML110 G6 at new egg.

  • esalkin

    Newegg promo is history:

    Sorry, the promo code MSSERV10 you've entered is invalid.

  • Eidos

    I saw the Newegg add the morning it came out and purchased a 2nd copy of whs 2011. I then posted it on Mediasmartserver.net. I own 3 WHS systems, two are HP and the 3rd is a DIY whs 2011. The WHS2011 system blows the socks off of the HP units. It is only a dual core CPU but backups that take 3 to 5 hours in the HP system take 8 to 10 minutes on WHS 2011 with a comparable CPU. __There is nothing wrong with WHS 2011. I have 10 TB of drives running and 5.5 tb of videos. Complaints about using the system are not really true. Put your shared folders on separate drives and when they get full, add a drive and a new folder. I had to do a boot drive recovery on a client and it worked fine.

  • Eidos

    The lack of proper instructions means you have to figure out how to do it but it was very fast and easy. A 65 gig SSD recovered in less than 15 minutes.__I don't use Raid as I didn't want to add more expense to the system by using raid controller cards and don't want to use software Raid. If WHS 2011 survives all the complaining by users who have never used it then it will be a good system. At least it is to be supported for the future and new hardware drivers added to it as they become available. Perhaps a DE replacement will finally get out of Beta but it better be inexpensive. When the OS is $50 the Add-in has to be compatibly priced._

  • Matt

    I just ordered it from Newegg last week for $69. While it was being shipped I called a few days ago and they credited $20 to my bank account to bring it down to the $49 which was the original post I saw here. Noticing the second update I see you are informing us it's back up to $69. What the?? So I checked Newegg and sure enough. It's back to $69. Wow, glad I got my foot in there just in time. Looks like there was only a couple days window to act.

  • derweissengel

    At that price, it's the cheapest version of Windows you can get. No reason you can't use it as a general purpose OS. Change the processor priority to foreground tasks, dump IE and its restrictions, and off you go.

  • Dan

    The $49 price is back on New Egg. Promo code EMCKCHB47.