I applaud HP for creating this unique product. WHS (Windows Home Server) is an excellent solution to the everyday needs for backup and file sharing, and the EX485 is very compact and well-made.
The ability to access the files remotely over the Internet is extremely useful. If you install Hamachi (third-party software, free for non-commercial use), you can even mount a folder on it as a network drive over the Internet. This is fantastic for use with Microsoft OneNote – just keep the OneNote files on the server and it can be accessed/edited from my desktop, or from my laptop from anywhere in the world.
Unfortunately there are several issues with this server that really annoy me. The most significant is the fan noise; the tiny fan on the power supply spins fast, and creates a very high-pitched whine which I can easily hear over the noise from my desktop computer (also an HP). It may be easy to ignore in an office setting, but it irritates me when working at home late at night. And the fan runs constantly, even when the server is sitting idle (no backups or file access going on).
Second issue is probably a generic WHS issue: Whenever I connect my portable hard drive to my desktop, the server software notices the computer configuration has changed, and brings up an error message on *all* connected computers saying I need to configure the backup options again. This happens not just the first time I connect it, but *every* time – even if I select “ignore this error”. Even worse, if I don’t go through the setup, the software defaults to backing up the external drive. So if I connect my 400GB portable drive (which I use for off-site backup), ignore the error and leave it connected overnight, the server will end up backing up this drive, wasting a lot of disk space. I have not found a workaround, except to be careful not to leave the external drive connected overnight.
Finally, the power management seems primitive for a device designed to be left on and used intermittently. When I access the server after it’s been idle, I don’t notice any delay, nor do I hear the hard drives spinning up, so I assume the hard drives are running all the time. The software does allow a daily sleep period (i.e. server turns off and back on at specified time every day), but this isn’t very useful if I want the backups to run at night, and want to be able to access the server during the day. And it only allows one sleep period per day, same time every day.