MS Windows Home Server

HP has just announced a new addition to the MediaSmart family – Welcome the MediaSmart Server LX195.

Housing just a a single internal 640GB SATA drive, it is a budget server with the option for expansion being via four USB 2.0 ports in the back, which is just as well as there is no additional internal hard drives slots.

The LX195 is powered by a 1.6GHz Atom processor, which is already well-established as the chip found in netbooks, and in some compact desktop systems. Plus it comes with Gigabit Ethernet and 1Gb of RAM that is expandable to 4GB, but remember that the OS (Windows Home Server) handles only 3GB.

The full hardware specifications are:

• Intel Atom 1.6GHZ 230 Processor
• 1GB DDR2 memory (Max 4GB)
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 1 x SATA 7200 RPM 640GB internal hard drive
• 4 x USB 2.0 ports on the back
• External Power Supply
• Dimensions: 3.90″(W) x 8.20″(H) x 8.00″(D)

This small MediaSmart Server will run quiet as it uses an external power supply and with a list price of $399 is good value as it off course runs the Windows Home Server software and delivers the additional following features:

• HP Control Center
• Mac Backup
• HP Media Collector
• Twonky media streaming
• Remote music and photo streaming
• HP PhotoViewer and HP PhotoPublisher applications
• Server for iTunes
• Amazon S3 Online backup
• McAfee anti-virus

The unit will be on sale from HP next week

The iStream application from the Apple app store (link) now works on the v1 iPod Touch as well as on v2 and the iPhone.

The app for users of the HP MediaSmart Server EX 485 and EX487 has been updated and will now work on the first generation iPod Touch as long as it has had the paid for firmware upgrade (2.2.1) which came out late last year.

NOTE: If you installed the earlier version which did not work, you should remove it and re-download it.

Thanks to MediaSmartServer.net for the information.

Helping to bridge the gap in technology is website "Spackle" which has a series of articles on how Windows Home Server makes the technical home life functional and geeky.

The first part in the series explains why you need a WHS and the writer explains how it saved his relationship with his parents, which you can read here.

Part 4 of Securing your Windows Home Server and Network provides a comprehensive explanation of computer security as it relates to your Windows Home Server and network, by looking at the role of the network administrator and by taking a look at computer user threats.

You can read it here.

We have mentioned earlier that network builder site "Practically Networked" had an article on how to build your own Windows Home Server, and the good news is that they have now published the final two parts to the article.

The second part in the series talks about joining your Windows PCs to Home Server, setting up user accounts and shared folders, and adding and configuring storage. Whilst the third and final installment looks at how to set up remote access.

Could this be one of the smallest Windows Home Server?

Mike van den Ham thinks so, and he uses this tiny compact server during his client presentations as a project engineer as its light enough to carry around and strong enough to get the job done.

Powered by a 1GB VIA C3 processor and 1GB of RAM, the unit has space inside for 1 standard 3.5 IDE hard drive and space for 1 2.5 IDE hard drive.

More info here.

Until Thursday April 30th you can save 25% off PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server for either a single license (1 WHS and 1 PC) or a site license (1 WHS and up to 10 PCS) by using the coupon code PDSPRING25 during checkout.

This defragmentation software especially for our home servers has won numerous awards since it improves the performance of the server by using a smarter defragging process known as SMARTPlacement which identifies the files you use most and organizes them according to your unique usage patterns.

More information is available from here.

The Home Server Show Podcast #41 is all about the latest 2.5 software update from HP for owners of the MediaSmart Server EX485 and EX487. Your host David McCabe also asks the question why owners of the first generation EX470 and EX475 are not getting the update.

You can download or listen to this episode from here.

If you would like a more comprehensive review of the latest MediaSmart Server Video, DVD and iPhone Update from HP then MediaSmarthome.com has a hands on and in depth review of update 2.5 as does MediaSmartServer.net, both of which are dedicated HP MediaSmart Server resources.

Also of worthy note is that the MediaSmartServerWiki has details on how to increase the number of supported video formats that the HP Video Converter is able to transcode by adding additional codec’s as well as details on improving the quality of the mobile videos via a registry hack.

Great news for owners of the EX485 and EX487.