Another benefit of having Windows Home Server as part of your network is that you can configure it so that it can be accessed from anywhere on the internet.  That means you'll have (password-protected, secure) access to all of your documents, shared documents, and even backups.

You can download and upload files easily.

There are several requirements to make this happen, but none are difficult to accomplish.

• You must have an always-on connection to the internet like DSL or CABLE
• You must create a user account (not the administrator account, and not the guest account) that is password protected that has remote access pivilages.

Once the above requirements are met, you have one more task:

• You must configure remote access using the Windows Home Server Console

Step 1: Turn on Your Website Connectivity

1. On the Windows Home Server Console, click Settings.
2. On Windows Home Server Settings, click Remote Access.
3. Under Web Site Connectivity, click Turn On or Turn Off.

Under the Router section, click the Details or Setup button will have Windows Home Server attempt to autoconfigure your router.  My Linksys autoconfigured without issue, but my DLINK router required manual configuration.  In either case, configuring a router isn't as hard as it sounds.

If you need to manually configure your router, clicking the Configure Router button will point your web browser to your router's IP address.  

Manual Router Configuration

There are 3 "ports" that need to be forwarded on your router to the IP of your Home Server.  Here is a screenshot of the ports I had to forward on my router:

Now, my Windows Home Server's IP address is set to a static address of 192.168.1.100 -- if you need help setting your Home Server's address, please don't hesitate to ask in the forums.  If you don't know your Home Server's IP address, it is on the router configuration screen (2 screenshots above).

• Port 80 - This forwards any web traffic to your house to your Windows Home Server Web Site
• Port 443  - This forwards any web secure traffic to your house to your Windows Home Server Web Site
• Port 4125 - This port forwards remote access (remote desktop) trafffic to your Windows Home Server