Running dedicated server tools on Windows Home Server

A lot of popular games often have a free tool that allows you to run a dedicated server for that game. Basically the tool will allow you to host games on a computer and allows you to have admin rights such as giving a message of the day and kicking abusive players. However the downfall with these tools is if you're running a dedicated server on your main computer you're unable to start the game while running the tool. As the tool only hosts the game it doesn't include the code for running the game and as a result you are unable to play on the same machine that is hosting the game. A solution to this is having a computer setup as a server connected to your home network. There are a variety of operating systems available such as Windows based and Linux based operating systems. For the purpose of this tutorial we will be ignoring the Linux based systems as it is not always possible to get dedicated server tools that run on Linux. As Windows installations can be expensive, buying an operating system for a server can be troublesome if there isn't much funds available. You'll be relieved to find out that Microsoft offers a 120 day trial for Windows Home Server. Basically the server running WHS isn't conncted to a monitor, keyboard or mouse as it is accessed through another computer on the network. This can be a Windows based pc or even a Mac but we'll focus on using Windows Vista for this. To have a home network you will need the following:
A high speed cable or dsl broadband modem
A UPnP certified broadband router (can be Wi-Fi)
A computer running Windows Home Server connected to your router via ethernet
A computer running Windows Vista connected to your router connected via ethernet or Wi-Fi
In order to successfully run a game server on WHS you must open the ports on your router that are required for the game to work. You will find instructions on port forwarding on your router brands website. The dedicated server tool needs to be set up on WHS as a service (as a bat file). This way whenever you turn the server on the dedicated server for that game will be activated automatically. To access the server you open windows explorer and search for the server on the network where you will be prompted to enter a password that you've set up. From here you can access all the programs installed on the server and you will perform administrational duties in this way. Having a WHS server in your home provides many benefits also such as media streaming and the ability to back up any computer on ther network (running Vista). I hope that this networking tutorial has been informative and look out for the next instalment where we'll be looking at some dedicated server tools.
EDIT: Windows Server 2008 seems to be the best solution for running gamerooms. I already have fixes for Killing Floor, Left 4 Dead and Unreal Tournament 3. The specifications are fairly low and I have found out it is possible to run more than one game on the same server (providing the port numbers are different). Uprising Soldiers is going to be one serious place to be with our own servers, forums and website so anyone who doesn't join is a lost cause.