The Home Server Show website has details on how to install the Subsonic web based media streamer onto your MediaSmart Server.

By following the tutorial you will be able to share your music with friends or listen to it whilst at work or even listen to it at multiple locations.

The tutorial is here.

Due to the T3N system being more popular than expected Tranquil PC have put together a starter pack for £177 to encourage MSWHS readers et al, to BYO (Build Your Own) low energy, low noise Home Server.

The starter pack includes 2GB of RAM and a quiet ‘n’ cool 500GB WD Green Power HDD. All that’s needed is a copy of Windows Home Server which can be installed via a USB stick or via a USB CD/DVD drive.

More details are available from here.

Ok then guys just heads up been reading a post here that Symantec backup products such as Ghost seems to cause major headaches because of the services it installs on the server called “Volume Snapshot Service”.

Now all I know is that it stops WHS having the ability to backup up, the post doesn’t mention whether this means the Windows Home Server itself or the local machines, but one thing is certain it does stop one of WHS’s main functions. The other thing to note is that to my knowledge Symantec Backup Exec also has this same service so would advise caution with this also.

If anybody else has issues with this I would like to hear from you.

Article: here

Windows Home Server MVP Sam Wood has some information for developers regarding LineBox, which is used by Microsoft to group configuration sections in the Settings dialog box. LineBox also provides developers with a UI element that compliments the rest of Windows Home Server.

All the info is here.

Microsoft has released a Microsoft security advisory and a workaround for a vulnerability in the Microsoft Video ActiveX control which could allow remote code execution.

The vulnerability effects Windows Server 2003 editions which Windows Home Server is based on thus, it could be infected.

Although this affects Internet Explorer (IE), some WHS add-ins enable the display of IE within the console window, and that’s why we recommend the following fix.

The workaround can be applied manually or automatically by using the Microsoft Fix It (50287), which being an MSI file should be run directly from the Home Server by using the Remote Desktop Connection.

More information is available from here.

I have just seen a really interesting post over at jesseweb.com that explains how to turn your Windows Home Server into a Domain Controller. This looks really good but there are a lot of unknowns with this such as how roaming profiles will work with this whether they will even work at all and will you even be able to see the Users and Computers console. What effect will this have on things like the drive extender and this is certainly not something to be tried on a working Windows Home Server and is only for the IT savvy of us all.

I will be interested to see more about this and what this could do for your Windows Home Server in general, the obvious thing to remember is you would only be able to take full advantage of a domain with XP Pro, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate as these are the only OS’s with this capability.

Article: Here

We have 2 new HP coupons which can save you up to $125 off the HP MediaSmart range of Home Servers at the HP Home & Home Office Store.

$100 off the HP MediaSmart Server LX195 with code AC9421
Offer limited to the first 1000 coupons redeemed
Valid 07/10/2009 through 07/19/2009
http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/product/product_detail/FL702AA%2523ABA

$125 off the HP MediaSmart Server EX485 or EX487 with code AC4584
Offer limited to the first 1000 coupons redeemed
Valid 07/08/2009 through 07/25/2009
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=accessories&landing=computer&category=categories&subcat1=home_servers&aoid=35252

Thanks to Mike Barela for the details.

SMBNation Magazine has an article on Windows Home Server by Aaron Booker entitled "Windows Home Server – Can It Be a Business Solution?"

The 2 page article (starting on page 7) is written for the small business specialist but is a good read for all WHS enthusiasts.

You can view it online or download a PDF copy.

Thanks to Susan Bradley for the info.

This Add-In is used to put a Windows Home Server into suspended mode, or hibernation and resume on user defined events.

Description

To go to sleep, you can choose from several methods:

· On demand, when no more clients are active

· Based on a calendar, as a single action or repeated each weekday

· Or as a combination of both methods

You can define times, where the server has to be up and running:

· Using the calendar

· Based on the defined backup time

The reason for me reviewing the LightsOut add-in is that I have recently had the need to use it, I had heard of the add-in some time ago but I have never had the need to use it until now.

The reason for me wanting to use LightsOut was that my mother’s home PC was being backed up irregularly with the backup option she has currently has, I had never given her a WHS box because she only had one machine. Recent events led to me having a spare machine ideal for WHS and my 2 of 3 sisters moving back in with my mother with their 2 laptops, so I thought it was an ideal time.

The machine I used for this was a custom build machine with a Celeron 420 1.6Ghz CPU, 2 x GB RAM 1 x 180GB Western Digital Hard Drive, I may look at putting a second hard drive in there at some point in the future but for now the one will suffice.

The main thing I was looking for from this add-in was that when one of the machines in the house was on, the WHS came on as well, this was pretty much all I wanted it to do. I was going to set a wide range for the backups to occur during the day between 10:00 till 00:00 this way as the machines are used in the day the WHS can back them up rather than wake them up, the reason for this is that the 2 laptops and running wirelessly so won’t be able to be woken anyway.

Install wasn’t as straight forward as most add-ins and there are some playing around with the services on the WHS so you will have to remote in to the WHS via Remote Desktop Connection. First of all download LightsOutInstaller0.8.2.235.msi from here and then place in the add-ins folder under the software share on your WHS.

The first thing you will notice when you re-login to the console and click on LightsOut is that it will show you this:

Disabling this is a requirement in order to use lights-out, to disable the SBCore service you will need to Remote Desktop into your WHS and then go Start >> Run. Type “services.msc” click “OK”. The services panel will open and you need to go down to the SBCore service and double click it and this is what you will see.

Click the “log On” tab and then in the bottom right-hand corner click “disable”, once you have done this restart your WHS, if you have any problems with this please see here for more info.

Once restarted you will be able to go to the LightsOut tab and you should see the below:

Click settings to start configuring.

For my scenario I changed the settings to look like this:

As you can see from my settings I have chosen to shut the server down, solely because each of the machines when turned on will turn the server on via WOL (wake-on-LAN) which must be setup in the BIOS first in order to work. There some further settings you can configure in the calendar section:

Here you can say what time your WHS starts and what time it shuts down it is entirely up to you.

Next thing is to install the LightsOut client on each of your machines, so navigate to the below:

Once you launch the install and run through it you will be completely unsure to whether it has installed or not, but be assured it has installed but the only the thing it does install is a service on the machine.

Conclusion

Overall this is a great add-in that’s been well thought out and definitely has my vote, the only thing that could be a problem for some users is the SBCore service as some might be unsure how to deal with this, all in all though a great add-in.

The Home Server Show podcast #48 is up with the latest news and views and this week ioSafe CEO Robb Moore is on the show to chat about the fire and waterproof ioSafe Solo external hard drive.

You can listen to/download it here.

Brent Friedman developer of many add-ins including TV Manager and WHS Mobile has written a great tutorial on how to do Time Machine backups from the Mac to your Windows Home Server, just like the HP MediaSmart Servers do.

Brent’s guide takes you through enabling the backups to shares, how to create a working sparsebundle file and how to configure Time Machine.

You can read all the details here.

FirePlay for Windows Home Server has been updated to version 0.90.06

The add-In automates the install of FirePlay for the Home Server and configures the Windows Firewall and also your Router if it supports UPNP. FirePlay is a Flash based client for accessing the Firefly Media Server which comes pre-installed on the MediaSmart Server. It will allow you to play your music through your browser, without needing any other media player. It will therefore allow you to access your music remotely if you have remote access switched on.

In this latest version:

• Added a favicon
• Improved the FirePlay Service to resolve Remote Access detection issues.
• Resolves bug where Remote Access status is switched after install caused upnp issue.
• Now generates a health alert if it can’t find FireFly.

More information is available from here.

Introduction

HP, who were one of the original entrants into the pre-built WHS market have introduced the MediaSmart LX195 to complement their existing range of machines. This unit is very much an entry level Windows Home Server machine as compared to the specifications of its EX siblings, because of a lower price and hence lower specification processor and available built in disk space.

What’s in the box?

Inside the box there is the server itself, a power adapter and cable, an Ethernet cable, a software installation disc, a PC restore disc, a server recovery disc, a setup poster and HP support guides.

Technical Specification

The specification including the Atom 230 processor and 1GB Ram, is not going to win it any awards for being a speed demon, but this is a perfectly adequate specification for an entry level server product such as this, and of course will keep power requirements to a minimum.

CPU-Z reports the following:

Processor

Number of processors 1
Number of cores 1 per processor
Number of threads 2 per processor
Name Intel Atom 230
Code Name Diamondville
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM) CPU 230 @ 1.60GHz
Package Socket 437 FCBGA8
Family/Model/Stepping 6.C.2
Extended Family/Model 6.1C
Core Stepping C0
Technology 45 nm
Core Speed 1596.2 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 12.0 x 133.0 MHz
Rated Bus speed 532.1 MHz
Stock frequency 1600 MHz
Instruction sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, EM64T
L1 Data cache (per processor) 24 Kbytes, 6-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache (per processor) 32 Kbytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache (per processor) 512 Kbytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size

Chipset & Memory

Northbridge Intel i945G rev. A2
Southbridge Intel 82801GB (ICH7/R) rev. A1
Memory Type DDR2
Memory Size 1024 Mbytes
Memory Frequency 199.5 MHz (2:3)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 4.0 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRCD) 4 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 4 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 12 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC) 16 clocks

System

System Manufacturer HP
System Name MediaSmart Server
Mainboard Vendor Wistron
Mainboard Model LX19X
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Version HPMSS-01-B
BIOS Date 03/04/2009
Memory SPD Module 1 DDR2, PC2-6400 (400 MHz), 1024 MBytes, Elpida

Software

Windows Version Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 3790)
DirectX Version 9.0c

Product Description

The HP MediaSmart Server LX 195 is a very small unit, (8.2” H, 3.9” W, 8.2” D | 202mm H, 101mm W, 202mm D), so should fit into any existing home office setup easily. In fact that is really small, as illustrated here!

The product itself is made of a matte finish plastic which is corrugated around the sides, with an internal metal cage, and I think is quite attractive and neatly understated for this type of device. Given enough space for air to move around it for heat dissipation, I see no reason why this couldn’t even be put discretely on a bookshelf!

Initial Impressions

My initial problem with the review unit came when I realized that it had been supplied with a US style plug, (which no doubt will be fixed for shipping units). No problem I thought, I have loads of kettle type leads around from other projects – I’ll just swap it over… But it wasn’t to be as the HP power supply unit, (which fortunately is also a 100 – 250 volt switching unit, so I wasn’t likely to blow a US unit up with UK voltage!), uses a less conventional connector! So job one, was to find a US to UK adapter.

It reports itself to the world through 3 status lights. These status lights are for health, power and hard drive. The at rest status of these lights is 3 blues, (and the intensity of the blue can be altered from the WHS console if required!). However other statuses are communicated via the lights using different colors and various blink states. All of which are listed of course in the user manual, which interestingly is not available on the supplied disk but is easily found on the HP website.

As per all other WHS machines all you need is power and Ethernet connections, because it works as a headless device.

When you initially start working with the HP MediaSmart Server LX 195, you must connect with a Windows PC, which of course may cause issues for those with Apple only install bases, unless they have a dual boot machine. However there is no reason why you can’t create a Windows virtual machine on your Mac and do this initial setup using this. In fact to see whether the software provided will work with Windows 7, I decided to create a Virtual Machine, (using Microsoft Virtual PC, but having used VMWare Server before, I know that this would be equally capable. So the client PC in this review was in fact a Windows 7 virtual machine. Did Windows Home Server treat it any differently? No, it was just seen as any other machine on the network.

Also because of an inadvertent power cut during my review period I was also able to test the units ability to recover from this situation. And you will be pleased to hear that it came up once the power was restored with no problems at all.

When you insert the supplied installation disc into your system, a web browser page opens and guide you through the initial server setup. This also includes the normal Windows home server connector setup which enables you to locate the server on your network.

Expandability

It’s clear from the outset that if you are going to need more storage space than the 620Gb provided, (don’t forget WHS takes a 20Gb partition for itself), or you want to take advantage of the disk duplication capabilities you are going to have to add extra hard discs. These will have to be external USB 2.0 devices as there is no capability for the HP MediaSmart Server LX 195 to have extra drives added internally.

If you take the side off of the HP MediaSmart Server LX 195, you are presented with a heat shield and fan.

However with the removal of 2 screws at the side you can gain access to the innards of the machine, by a very nice opening door mechanism.

The hard disc is neatly attached to the lifting door, which locks in position when opened fully

And this reveals the tiny but neat and tidy motherboard.

You can see at this point why there are basically only 2 upgrade options – upgrade the existing 640Gb hard disc to a larger one; and upgrade the single 1GB memory DIMM to a 2GB DIMM if you really feel the need.

Start her up!

The process from this point will be very familiar for hardened WHS users, but I will document it for those who are less familiar.

All the new owner of the HP MediaSmart Server LX 195 has to do is insert the provided software installation CD into one of your existing home computers. If you have autorun installed then the Windows Home Server Connector will start automatically and go off and search for your new WHS machine on the network. (Alternatively if you have autorun disabled then start up the HPInstall.exe program).

It will also start the HP MediaSmart Server page on the disc as shown below which you can peruse at your leisure to find out further details about your HP MediaSmart Server LX 195.

All things being well you are presented with the following screen which will allow you to start the install process.

Once the server has been selected the install process goes off and downloads further software directly from the server.

Home Server Console Splash Screen

When you start the console up from your client PCs you will be presented initially with the screen below, but otherwise this is a standard WHS implementation.

General

In the settings dialogue the general tab shows all the usual information you would expect from a WHS setup. The backup, passwords, media sharing, remote access and add-in tabs are also standard fare for WHS users.

HP MediaSmart Server Add-In

This add-in specifically addresses the LX 195s capabilities, including such functions as sleep times, updates, other notifications, the brightness of the LEDs on the unit and fan speeds, as well as a generic support screen.

Media Collector

This add-in is the one that I would like to see available to the WHS community as a whole. Currently on my own WHS, I have scheduled MS Synctoy synchronizations scheduled to collect up music, picture and documents and placed them on the server. But this seems a much neater solution, especially directly integrated into the WHS interface.

Server Online Backup

Another neat add-in is integration into the Amazon S3 online backup service. Of course there are charges associated to this. Just be aware that large amounts of data being saved online using this service, will take a long time to upload and will cost a fair bit of money!

iTunes Add-In

Another add-in available out of the box is the ITunes server, (which is enabled by default). This may or may not be of use depending on how you plan to distribute music throughout your network.

TwonkyMedia

To quote the TwonkyMedia website, TwonkyMedia manager works with DLNA-certified digital media adapters, A/V systems, TVs, PCs, game consoles and mobile devices. It also works with most UPnP AV-compliant devices, even if they are not DLNA-compliant. This means it also works with hundreds of UPnP media servers (both software and NAS devices) and UPnP control points–including popular mobile phones and UPnP media renderer hardware.

Therefore it is quite likely you would use TwonkyMedia Server over the iTunes server because of its broader range of capabilities.

Add-Ins

The TwonkyMedia server and HP MediaSmart Server online backup add-ins are installed by default. And the McAfee total protection service is available for installation should you require it.

Client Desktop Software

On all client PCs there is also a icon installed on the desktop that points to the HP MediaSmart Server control centre, which basically just gives you an easy way to get to various folders on the WHS machine and to various other tools are available to use with it. The interface that you get when you use this with Microsoft Windows is shown below, but there is a similar interface available for Mac users.

Conclusion

It is a clear that the add-in software HP includes as a matter of course, are intended to extend its media capabilities, and it seems to do this task very well. Of course this depends on you having appropriate other devices that can make use of this capability. This would include devices such as the Xbox 360 to play videos and music, but there are other devices that can take advantage of these capabilities.

The inclusion of a free trial of antivirus software on this device will also help to ensure the security of your data. Of course on the WHS community as a whole, there is still some debate as to whether antivirus is actually required on a server machine, but that discussion can be had elsewhere!

Overall the unit is very quiet and although not completely silent, the very faint hum of the fan is not going to disturb anybody.

The HP MediaSmart Server LX 195 is a very nice machine with lots of extras in the form of software add-ins which really make the machine a joy to use, especially the media collection tool. However, my big reservation about the unit is the lack of capability of adding just one further hard disc to the set up internally. My personal feel about all Windows Home Server machines is that they should have at least 2 separate physical drives, so that you automatically get the security of data duplication across the discs.

The HP MediaSmart Server LX 195 is well appointed with 4 USB ports to support the required external discs, but one possible omission is a eSata port for speedier throughput.

All in all I feel that the HP MediaSmart Server LX 195 is a great little machine, and it’s very close to being the perfect entry level Windows Home Server, but just misses that goal because you can’t internally expand its storage capabilities.

I have been hearing a lot of good things about Microsoft’s new security suite for a while now and have been waiting to get my hands on it for some time.

First thoughts were that I would have to keep an open mind and not let Windows One Care cloud my judgment; I can honestly say that I have.

Installing was quick and easy 6 simple next boxes and it was done, there was no way of getting lost or installing it in advanced mode, there isn’t an advanced mode just a simple install.

I have installed it on Windows 7, Vista and XP and all went through without a hitch. I used the Vista installer for Windows 7 it doesn’t say that it supports Windows 7 but I haven’t found a problem with it as yet, but will let you know if I do.

The installation is below:

Just an information screen really, the only thing you can do is click next.

Standard software agreements nothing to report about, click accept if you want to install.

I thought the days of validating your copy of windows was long gone but sadly I was wrong, and this on an installation of Windows 7.

The last warning before you start the install, warning you to remove any other security packages on your machine as they can cause issues, my advice is follow this warning.

The installation doesn’t take long before it is finished and you are presented with the finish button.

Like I have said before it is a very quick install, once you are displayed with the main console you can see that it is no suite for the advanced user, but I think that is a good thing as this security suite is not aimed at the advanced user if for the average domestic user who wants few problems to deal with and this package dully delivers.

My first thoughts was to find out how this package is recognized within Windows Home Server, upon opening the console there was no reported problems with the machine. Success Microsoft have definitely got it right for once.

The software will then do a quick scan on your machine which takes around 5 minutes and then that’s it.

The settings tab is limited at best, but as said before this is great for the average user the way I see it the less settings there are the less there is to go wrong, you can make some changes, things like when a Full Computer Scan can take place and excluding certain file types and processes but this section is limited.

Conclusion

Overall I think Microsoft have got this one right it is a free package aimed at those that don’t already have any protection at all, even for those that have may want to make the change to a simpler easier package to administer if that is what you are looking for then this is definitely it.

The one thing I would like to see from this security suite is a Windows Home Server release giving people the chance to have a free alternative package for their home server whether this happens only time will tell.

Looks like HP are running a mega-deal on the new HP MediaSmart Server LX195, which is being offered for $199 on HP Direct when you buy any notebook or desktop.

You’ll find the deal tucked away at the end of the transaction, under storage devices.

More Info: HP Direct

Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC09) is being held in New Orleans July 13th to 16th, and this year attendees will have the chance of winning 1 of 6 HP MediaSmart Servers.

The six EX485 up for grabs can be win by attending a theatre session or by visiting the Exposition Hall booth # 621 and dropping your business card into the fishbowl (poor fish!) on your way in at the door or at the booth, and one winner will be chosen at the booth per day and one winner at each session.

One noteworthy session is the Windows SBS and Windows Home Server Client Backup session which is taking place on July 16th from 2:30 to 2:50PM.

Moe details on WPC09 is available from here.

Thanks to SeanDaniel.com for the information.

Tranquil PC has quite a few different Window Home Server models for sale, which can be a tad confusing when deciding which one to make a home for. To make it easier to see how each unit differs from the next, they have printed a matrix of the different chassis styles with details of what’s under the hood. Great news for would be buyers.

You can find it here.

The first thing to notice when on ESET’s website is that there is no mention that this version is available to be installed on WHS, it is only when going through the knowledge base does this become apparent, this I am sure will be rectified shortly, you can find the knowledge base article here.

Following the instructions in the above knowledge base article was easy and concise the only thing to mention is when it talks of opening a Remote Desktop Connection the list isn’t always populated like it implies so you may have to just type in your servers name by default this is server.

The installation is easy and you can find installation instructions on ESET’s website here.

I would strongly advise you head the warning to uninstall other Anti-Virus programs before installing NOD32 or any other for that matter. During the install it asks about “Detection of potentially unwanted programs” I opted to disable this feature as I felt it could possibly stop some future add-in working, while it would be prompting you for a decision about a particular program/add-in when many don’t even have a monitor attached to their WHS, although I would strongly recommend enabling this feature for use on a Desktop/Laptop.

Once you click finish there is nothing else to do other than sit back and relax.

The one thing I do find increasingly frustrating is the lack of integration NOD32 have with the Windows Home Server Console in my mind the NOD32 panel should be displayed in side the WHS console and I am sure NOD32 are addressing this as it would make things easier to administer.

Conclusion:
Overall a good easy to use program, simple and easy to install, probably the best on the market for WHS at the moment as some still try and make you use there expensive business editions not to mention any names. The one thing that does make this program well worth buying is the little resources it needs and uses allowing your server to get on with the things you want it to, but the lack of integration with Windows Home Server Console for me just doesn’t go far enough to be easily administered by the average home user.

As you may have seen on our site we have a link to “Write with Us” and we had a blog post not too long ago asking for writers to share there experiences with Windows Home Server with our readers. We had many replies (over 50) and I would like to say a big welcome to our 12 new guys (and girls) who will be joining us.

First up I would like to introduce the first 4 to you.

Gary Quigley and Steve Crick both from the UK. Gary has been in IT since the 80’s and loves his Home Server. Steve is hot on security and loves his gadgets (believe me he has many!) and both will be heading up the hardware reviews here at mswhs.com

John Wall (known as Bucket23) is from Australia who is a communications engineer during the day and will very shortly be taking us through his home network amongst many other things.

Matthew Glover an IT tech from Derby in the UK will be writing software and add-in reviews for our Home Servers and telling us what’s hot and what’s not.

Keep watch for more information about all of our contributors and their reviews and articles soon.

If you are the owner of a Acer Aspire easyStore H340 then you may want to check out a post over at Jesseweb.com on how to change the default Acer splash screen page to a login page more to your liking.

The easy 10 step tutorial can be found here.

DesktopReview.com has a review of the Acer Aspire easyStore H340.

The review goes through the specifications and looks at the build and the design of the unit. The setup and features are taken a look at as well as the performance of this small unit.

You can read the review here.

The latest Home Server Show podcast is available and in this episode Dave and the gang talk about the ioSafe Solo, (which he set alight!), MVP awards and all other manner of things Windows Home Server.

You can catch episode 47 here.

WHS Mobile version 1.0.5.5 has been released which adds streaming features and fixes some problems which people were having.

Fixes:

• Accidental leftover debug code
• Installer problems
• Fixes WM client’s positioning code (hopefully)

Adds:

• MP3 streaming on the iPhone client – You’ll notice “[Play Album]” add the end of a folder listing where mp3s exist, and a new option when you select an mp3 file.
• WMA streaming for the Windows Mobile Client – Click preview when a WMA file is selected. Unfortunately, Mobile Windows Media Player doesn’t support streaming mp3s.

More info is available from here.

If you would like to know how to use the HP MediaSmart Server to rip your DVDs then NoteBooks.com may have the answer.

The article which explains how to use the add-in My Movies to accomplish this, can be found here.

The WHS Mobile add-in has been updated and it now includes an iPhone/iPod Touch client which has most of the features of it’s Windows Mobile counterpart, excluding uploading files (coming soon), image/music previews, and remote computer access.

The only downside is that it requires a jailbroken iPhone.

New features have also been included for Windows Mobile owners, including:

• Restyled launch screen – Touch friendly + bigger icons.
• Resizes the home screen depending on screen size or orientation.
• Remote Desktop forwarder – Forwards the RDP port using UPnP for each client PC if enabled, then accessible by the WM6 remote desktop client. Ports are changed every hour, use the WM client to get the port for a specific PC.
• Preview mp3’s and images before downloading – mp3 preview is WM6 only.
• Bigger image thumbnails when thumbnail browsing is toggled (turned on by default).
• Customizable share and folder icons – Create a folder.jpg file in said share/directory.
• Location bar – Shows the current location on the server. Can be disabled under Actions.

More information on this release is available from here.

The Home Server show has a review of the ioSafe Solo hard drive.

This external drive is both fireproof and waterproof and to prove a point David McCabe sets fire to it in his own back yard!

You can read more details as well as view a video from here.

UK based Tranquil PC have just launched the T3N.

Based on the popular T3 chassis, the T3N is powered by Intel’s Atom N270 processor and is compact, cost effective and finished in a range of colors. The most interesting feature is the power consumption, even with a HDD spinning you will be using much less than 20W.

And as the current global financial situation appears to be not getting any better, we can breath a sigh of relief at the T3Ns price tag of only £119, which is approx $196.

More info is available from here.

Its that time of year when Microsoft announce new MVPs, a program designed to highlight a group of experts that represents the technical community’s best and brightest, who share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others.

And with that, joining the Windows Home Server clan is:

• David McCabe from The Home Server Show podcast
• Add-In developer Alexander Kent
• MediaSmartServer.net forum moderator Nigel "Cougar" Wilks
• Masahiko Sada moderator of the Japanese community forum
• Japanesse Technical Editor Masashi Shimizu

Congrats to all 5 of you!!!

By installing the PlayOn Media Server onto your Windows Home Server (Service Pack 1 or later) you are then able to watch Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, CNN, ESPN and Revision3 amongst others on your PS3, Xbox 360, HP MediaSmart TV, Popcorn Hour or other UPnP/DLNA compliant device.

This is all done via the PlayOn software pulling RSS feeds from the content providers and then presenting them to your DLNA-compliant networked media devices. So how do we use it?

1. You first have to install Windows Media Player 11 onto WHS and then disable Internet Explorers enhanced security configuration.
2. Once complete you can then install the PlayOn Media Server onto WHS by using Remote Desktop.
3. The PlayOn interface will then appear on your UPnP/DLNA device – Simple!

The software is free and fully functional for 14 days although after this, a one-time $39.99 licensing fee is required.

Please note that channels like Hulu and CBS, geographically restrict their viewers to within the United States.

The Home Server Land series on Securing Your WHS & Network is now at part 13, and this installment is about FTP Hosting Threats.

As well as explaining what the FTP protocol is, the article explains about FTP Servers and why you shouldn’t  install FTP add-ins or use the WHS as an FTP server.

You can read all about it here.

The add-in which can put your Home Servers into suspended mode or hibernation and resume on a user defined event has been updated.

Version 0.8.2 of LightsOut include the following changes:

Added Chinese (simplified) and Italian language support
Added Menu shortcuts
Added Keyboard support in calendar
Bug fixed in backup time calculation
Bug fixed in action setting "Shutdown" for Acer Aspire models

The add-in plus PDF documentation are available from here.

The Home Server Show podcast #46 is up with a chat about the top 10 add-ins from the add in challenge 2009. You can listen/download this edition from here.

“The hardware is solid, the performance is acceptable, and the price is stellar…”

Gadget blog "CrunchGear" have a mini review of the Acer easyStore H340 Windows Home Server unit which you can read here.

PerfectDisk are offering 25% of off all their PerfectDisk 10 products including PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server as a summer special.

Just purchase or upgrade by June 30, 2009 and simply add any PerfectDisk product(s) to your cart and enter coupon code PDJUNE25 during checkout to receive 25% off any licenses.

More info is available from here.

NOD32 Antivirus from makers ESET is one of 2 antivirus products which I recommend to clients on a day-to-day basis, as it both has one of the best detection rates and has a small footprint to it too.

And what has this got to do with Windows Home Server?

Well the good news is that version 4 of NOD32 Antivirus Home Edition can be installed on our Home Servers but it has to be done by using the client computers Remote Desktop Connection and thankfully ESET have put up a Knowledgebase article explaining how to do so.

Read it here.

Kevin Tofel from website jkOnTheRun is in the process of re-wiring his house before installing his Windows Home Server.

If you would like to see what he is going to do then Kevin has posted a short video explaining his process, which you can view here.

Japanese website "+D PC User" has a 3 page review of the Epson Endeavor SV120h .

The small low energy Home Server is benchmarked and taken a look at both inside and out.

All the details are here (in Japanese).

Microsoft have opened a sub-section on their WHS site for Small Office and Home Office (SOHO) users to promote Windows Home Server as a backup solution for the small business user.

The site has five case study videos to watch as well as five matching documents to download and read, and as it states on the site:

“Don’t be fooled by the name. Windows Home Server was designed as a solution that is as functional in a small office setting as it is in your home…”

All the details are here.

Windows Home Server enthusiast Scott Duff has updated our original 2 year old post on How to Install uTorrent on your WHS Box, which of course is the ideal place for Torrents to live as most of our Home Servers are on 24/7.

You can read Scott’s tutorial here.

Home Server Hacks are starting (hopefully) a series of articles on coding for Windows Home Server.

This first part shows you how to load the Windows Home Server Console using any language (or Culture) that you desire.

Time to learn some C#, which is here.