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There are a lot of things Windows Server does well. However, coming off of the NAS environment, there are a lot of things that it doesn't. One of these is a simple method for web access to various files and folders, along with the ability to share them via user login or simple url. Until recently, there had been only one real player in this space, OwnCloud. I had fiddled with the product for some time, but features were slow to show and it just didn't work the way I had been hoping it would.

Having my latest server build running on the Windows Server platform, there are a number of things that I have found to become a bit more difficult than I am used to. Not only have I switched to Windows as the platform, I am using Storage Spaces. This in itself is a departure from my comfort zone and has presented some scenarios that I wasn't quite prepared for. Like trying to remove a disk that Windows, for some reason, wants to keep.

It comes as no surprise to my friends and family that the time has come for me to set aside some of my storage devices and server builds of the past for something bigger and better in 2017. Over the years, we have embarked on a couple of projects related to building a NAS and piecing together a 40TB server using parts left over. This year, I have decided that I would go a few steps further...I decided that this build would last more than just a year. With that said, I started to scour the web for components and started planning the next CODServer, but why?

If you didn't know, not only am I an OCRADDICT, but I am a geek as well (really kind of an Uber Geek). Having said that, I look for metrics and analytics on just about everything I do and work with. While training for the next event, many of us are looking for a way to tack our activity and improve our training but don't have an unlimited budget for things like GPS watches and dedicated activity trackers. Although those gadgets are great training tools, many of us don't need look much farther than our cell phones. Enter MapMyRun.

Recently, I have been experiencing some strange issues with the Thecus W5000 that we had reviewed some time ago. The NAS is fantastic; and what it does, it does well, given the limitations Microsoft has put on the OS. Lately, things have been a little wonky though. The NAS goes offline intermittently, it becomes unresponsive to remote control requests, etc. In an effort to renew my love for the W5000, I decided it would be high-time I started poking around a bit to see if I can uncover the culprit and resolve the issues.

I can't tell you how many times I have scoured the web looking for WordPress Plugins to add to my ring of web sites. There are so many to choose from that it is can seem incredibly daunting. Well fear not fellow WordPress enthusiast, we are here to help. All of the WordPress Plugins you find in this list are in use on many of the sites that I create and have proven to be invaluable.

Sharing your WiFi with friends and family can quickly become a major annoyance. In my household, my son's friends are constantly asking for me to enter the WiFi details so they can hop on and suck the life out of my wireless network. Grabbing each device or phone, navigating the menus, and then typing in my very complex WiFi password is a pain. With a little help from a QR Code, you can sit back, relax, and just point to a QR Code hanging on the wall.

With the recent migration to Windows 10, there have been a lot of little things that people either can't find or can't seem to figure out. With my recent transition to Windows 10 on all computers in the COD household, these little annoyances keep popping up. The first one that popped up was on my Home Theater PC. The system had previously been running Windows Media Center on Windows 7 and now runs Kodi exclusively on Windows 10. With that said, having Kodi startup automatically under Windows 7 was easy. All I had to do was copy a shortcut to the startup folder and force it to delay so Kodi wouldn't start before networking did.

Nothing has bothered me more about Windows 10 than when I come back to my laptop from the gym to find all the tabs I had open lost to a reboot. Out of the box, Windows 10 will reboot once an update is installed... this leads to me having to scan my browsing history trying to find all the tabs I had open or have Microsoft Office prompt me to restore a file I had open and not saved recently.

While conducting the overview of Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 Essentials, I ran into a few errors while configuring the "Set up Client Restore Service". It seems that no matter what I did, I couldn't get the service to start. Then, a little digging, a quick copy & paste; all was resolved.