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PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 5:38 pm 
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My wife and I have been using MS Outlook for several years for a shared email account. We've kept the PST files on a NAS and each each laptop has had a copy of Outlook. Works fine with only two limitations: 1.) only one person can have Outlook opened at one time and 2.) we cannot (actually haven't tried) to access remotely.

What is the advantage of using the WHS Outlook Add-in vs just replicating the above configuration on my new EX490?


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:52 pm 
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The big difference is the server runs outlook for you so you would have to connect to the server to access your outlook. As I understand it you would first need to install outlook onto your server then install the Add-in which set the access to outlook on your server. It provides a way to centralize the use of outlook which may be of use when multiple people are sharing the same outlook data.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 3:12 pm 
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Comp1962 wrote:
The big difference is the server runs outlook for you so you would have to connect to the server to access your outlook..
Interesting. Actually, it sounds like you have to actually open the WHS desktop to access WHS Outlook. I can't see how this is an advantage.

Comp1962 wrote:
...It provides a way to centralize the use of outlook which may be of use when multiple people are sharing the same outlook data...
Outlook is basically a DB interface program where the "data" is stored as .pst files. Usually these reside on an individual's hard drive but it is also possible to put the .pst files on a NAS (or MSS) and just point the Client-computer Outlook app to the .pst file there. This achieves letting "multiple people to share the same Outlook data", although only one user can open the .pst files at a time (which is a pain).

I am headed back toward just moving my .pst files from my NAS to my MSS without buying WHS Outlook unless someone can cite a big benefit to using WHS Outlook. It would be very nice to maintain a central "family" Outlook calendar which can be accessed remotely via Outlook.


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:40 pm 
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To be honest I couldn't bring myself to install that add-in because I always have my computer with me for that and I always have access to the internet everywhere I go and while my ISP is fairly reliable its not as reliable as my mobile broadband connection which comes in handy when I am out and about.

I suggest you might try contacting the company that sells that add-in to see what advantages they may have to offer as I may have overlooked something when I was considering that add-in.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:54 am 
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Brian A wrote:
My wife and I have been using MS Outlook for several years for a shared email account. We've kept the PST files on a NAS and each each laptop has had a copy of Outlook. Works fine with only two limitations: 1.) only one person can have Outlook opened at one time and 2.) we cannot (actually haven't tried) to access remotely.

What is the advantage of using the WHS Outlook Add-in vs just replicating the above configuration on my new EX490?


I used to share my .pst over the network some years ago but ISTR this method was never supported by Microsoft and in fact was positively discouraged by those who know & support Outlook.

The disadvantage for me (apart from the risk of corrupting the .pst and my peace of mind) was the slowdown in using Outlook when reading/writing a large .pst over the network made more noticable when I reversed the process and used a local .pst file.

I would love a 'proper, grown-up mail' solution but without the expense, setup & maintenance of an Exchange Server hanging off my network but have not yet found anything that floats my boat so to speak although a couple of solutions have come close.

See here a few posts down for another discussion of email in & around the MSS;

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4900

Kind regards,
-=Glyn=-


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Brian A
PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 3:33 pm 
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GlynH wrote:
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4900
Excellent lead. Thanks for posting. It sounds like there are a lot of complexities with no one obvious solution. Dang.

GlynH wrote:
…I used to share my .pst over the network some years ago but ISTR this method was never supported by Microsoft and in fact was positively discouraged by those who know & support Outlook…
I had heard this after creating my NAS-based .pst files, but its has been working for me just fine for a couple of years already. I HAVE had my .pst files get “corrupted” a few times, but Outlook’s PST “Repair” utility has always fixed it (and I back-up my .pst files frequently). I tried putting a copy of my .pst files on my MSS last night and mapping my laptop's Outlook to them, it didn't work first try. Humm.

Maybe WHS Outlook isn’t so bad after all. I need a solution that lets my wife be a “double click” away from email though. Is it possible to configure the WHS desktop in such a way that an add-in (WHS Outlook) opens without a lot of hoop-jumping from a client desktop? (i.e. can I put a short-cut on my wife's laptop that opens WHS Outlook and all she sees is Outlook?) Could I still lock her out of accidentally messing up the server configuration through her view of the MSS desktop? Sorry for the newbie question; I just don't understand the WHS Desktop that well yet.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:18 pm 
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Brian A,

I have been thinking about your application for Outlook alot since you first posted your question and after my responce. In your situation sharing the Outlook on the server with your wife seems like a fine way to keep one common shared outlook upto date that you both could work from. The downside to it is that should the server go offline for some reason your access to your shared outlook data would obviously not be available.

While I use Outlook and other MS Office Applications I did happen to see something in Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2010 that appears to share things with others or atleast thats the impression I got but I didn't read to much about it to get the full impact of it. Now if I am correct in what I believe I saw I wonder if this might be a way for you and your wife to share common data although I believe you may have to use some storage on Microsofts Office site or something to that effect. Now I could be totally wrong in my assumption so I will try to read up on it between now and the weekend but if I am correct in my assumption then it may be something worth looking at in that you could share your data with your wife.

If I am wrong in this assumption then I am sure someone with better knowledge about this will chime in and correct me but as I say Lets Explore the Possibilities. I know I would like to blend some of the data from outlook at work with my outlook but I do not desire to blend my data with the outlook at work but its got me thinking.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:36 am 
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Whoooboy, did I hose my laptop Outlook client computer this week fooling with Outlook on my MSS. I was busy reassigning the "default" PST from the NAS version to the MSS version when Outlook stopped cooperating. Outlook would not open, would not let me correct the configuration, etc. It just completely stopped playing.

Did a 'System Restore" (gotta love it), which turned back the clock, and fortunately got me back to where I was before.

Is there a way to configure how the WHS Desktop opens such that I can put a short-cut on my wife's laptop that opens only a WHS Add-in (in this case WHS Outlook) such that she will see only the app and not the desktop (sort of opening the Add-in "full screen")?


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 7:04 pm 
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Hi Brian A,

Sorry that I'm late to the game on this one but I only just stumbled across this thread while doing a Google search.

To quickly answer your question(s) about what the advantages of WHS Outlook are:

1) With WHS Outlook you only need to install a single copy of Microsoft Outlook directly onto your Windows Home Server and then you can share it with up to 10 client computers attached to your home network. Since the main Microsoft Outlook application doesn't need to be installed on any of your client machines, you save big $$$ in Outlook license costs.

2) WHS Outlook allows multiple users on your WHS to have simultaneous access to Microsoft Outlook (via their very own PST file, e-mail accounts, etc.).

From the WHS Outlook tab of WHS Console Settings, the home network administrator can pick and choose which of your WHS users can access WHS Outlook. Once access to WHS Outlook has been enabled for a particular user, they simply double-click on a customized "WHS Outlook.rdp" file (which is located within the user's shared folder on the home server by default but it can easily be copied to their client machine's desktop) in order to launch WHS Outlook from their client machine.

Note that each custom WHS Outlook remote session is hosted within its very own window on the client machine, and the user does not have access to the WHS desktop, WHS Console, etc. It's a very simple (and secure) double-click-to-open Outlook solution for the end-user (although the user will still have to enter in their WHS password when first connecting to WHS Outlook for security reasons).

3) WHS Outlook provides a "WHS Outlook Web Access" mode where any user of your WHS can access WHS Outlook from anywhere in the world using just a PC/laptop, the Internet Explorer web browser (Mozilla Firefox and/or Google Chrome can also be used in conjunction with the IE Tab 2 add-on - http://www.ietab.net/), and an Internet connection.

4) Unlike other solutions that would provide limited access to the data contained within Outlook's PST files, WHS Outlook gives your users access to the complete Microsoft Outlook experience. All the features, familiarity, and power of Microsoft Outlook is available to them (instead of just a scaled back/trimmed down webmail solution) including e-mail, calendars, contacts, tasks, etc.

5) When WHS Outlook is used in conjunction with SharePoint on your WHS, you can (bidirectionally) share calendars, contacts, tasks, documents, pictures, etc. with all of your other WHS users. For more information on calendar sharing with WHS Outlook please see:

Calendar Sharing in WHS Outlook - Part 2: SharePoint Lists
http://www.homeserverland.com/whs/f/65/t/2020.aspx

Calendar Sharing in WHS Outlook - Part 1: WebDAV Publishing & Internet Calendars
http://www.homeserverland.com/whs/f/65/t/1995.aspx

There's lots of other benefits to WHS Outlook as well (many more than I have the space to list here), but as you can see from the short list given above, it's quite a powerful solution for any home or small business network.

For more information on WHS Outlook, please check out the following links:

WHS Outlook Home Page
http://www.TheOfficeMaven.com/products/whs-outlook

WHS Outlook Version 2.0
http://www.homeserverland.com/whs/f/65/t/588.aspx

AnnouncementWHS Outlook Now Supports Outlook 2010!
http://www.homeserverland.com/whs/f/65/t/1989.aspx

-- Mike Craven (The Office Maven)


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