Wise Rhetoric

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.

I’ve been waiting for a year now for this generation to come out from HP and bought immediately. I’m a software tester by profession, have a couple of pcs (XP and Vista) and a Mac. I was interested in the usual reasons for purchasing the device.

Generally as a unified file server I’m satisfied and there are so many glowing comments elsewhere I won’t belabor them. Three stars given is three stars earned. I have a coworker without some of the particular hurdles I overcame and he’s much more enthusiastic than I.

Some gotchas I’ve run into, for consideration by others:

1. If one is a Verizon FIOS home service user, life becomes quite complicated with the device. Do some web searches for FIOS and WHS and you’ll see the pain. It’s not the WHS’s fault – Verizon does not permit a static IP and a server of any kind violates their terms of service. It was easier with their old router apparantly but as a newer subscriber to FIOS, I can say that their newer router is quite difficult – forget the autoconfig. It actually clamps down on most traffic such that one needs to do some port forwarding alchemy to get it to work. In my case, it was not simply forwarding port 80. That was recognized and prohibited. I needed to invoke one of their gaming rules built in to the router software, which did the same forwarding. But since it was their canned version it was allowed. So an addition of the port is required in the URL, rendering the gui pretty useless. I get around it with bookmarks but it defeats the purpose of the family using the photo viewing links. Again not the WHS’s fault, but for folks having or considering switching to FIOS (with which I’m otherwise satisfied) it is a consideration.

I should note that my previous service, Comcast and router (Linksys WRT300N) didn’t present these problems. It’s only since I switched to FIOS – and while I have heartfelt differences with their denial of the static IP in their EULA (how come I can game all day long streaming traffic, but accessing a file or photo is forbidden) those are the rules I signed for.

2. HP tech support has ranged from really good (call number one ) to usually marginal or abysmal (they’ve actually put me on hold to look up what the photo viewer was before they could help me). Tip – call during standard business hours only, East Coast time. Don’t bother otherwise. When you do call them, the recording says to interrupt it as you navigate through the menu. Don’t do it. Wait until it stops ’speaking’ and then vocalize your choice.

3. The Photo Viewer and Photo Uploader are closely linked. Actually if you check the Help, you’ll see that almost all the Photo Viewer pages are actually for the Photo Uploader. It’s implied that once one’s photos are on the server the Photo Viewer can be used to view them. That’s not true – it’s actually a link to one’s online photos. So for example if you’ve used the Photo Uploader to put your photos into your Flickr album, then the Photo Viewer can be used to point to them. (Personally I would just ’share’ the album from the online site and be done with it). Those that are on your WHS are only viewable through the media browser (music and photo streamer) which has a pretty weak interface for organization and such. I haven’t seen that albums are even possible – they may be but I sort of dropped the stick and walked away on that one.

4. Mac support works as advertised for samba based file access. But a real caveat is that the Time Machine backups are partial in that one does not have the ability to do a full restore as one does on a PC. Having bought Leopard in part because of the Time Machine utility (which is really great), I suggest a couple of hundred dollars spent on an external hard drive, which will allow a full restore, will be a good investment should it become necessary. It’s noted elsewhere but worth repeating that the media aggregator is also pc only. Having my iTunes library hosted on a Mac made a manual file copy necessary, with manual updates subsequently forever.

5. Even with the new version, shipping with the 2gb of ram everyone else upgraded the first version to and the faster processor, it’s not real fast to interact with. File management is fine but accessing and working with the console is slower than it should be. As essentially an all in one pc with greatly expandable storage, replacing components will be interesting also.

6. Add ins. There’s a great community of add ins out there. Beware though that I have noted some will not play nicely with this newest generation. Since WHS doesn’t support UPS monitoring software (that is to say the use of a UPS is fine, but HP officially does not support any type of software that comes with them to monitor the UPS battery health and do controlled shut downs). I tried an Add In that did, and bricked the unit. Had to do a manual restart and uninstall.

The HP MediaSmart server (EX487) is a pretty complex device but, once you get through the installation and learning process, you’re rewarded with many benefits — one of those “didn’t think I needed it, but now can’t live without it” type of products.

The unit itself is quite compact. I was surprised when I unpacked it – was expecting something a lot larger. Not that I’m complaining — it fits in very well in the LR with the other electronics. Very attractive design if you’re partial to electronics, and certainly unobtrusive/benign if you’re the type that likes to keep the “hardware look” muted.

Installation is not what I’d call simple, but it’s something anyone who is comfortable setting up a home network can tackle. The server needs to be hardwired into your router, so you’ll have to locate it close to where you keep your router. It comes with a cable for hookup but you may want to have a longer one handy if you don’t want the server immediately adjacent to the router. After hooking it to the router and powering up, you need to install software on each PC on your network.

The PC installs went fairly smoothly — just follow the prompts. I’m using Dell PCs (various models) plus a Toshiba laptop. All are running XP Professional (SP2 or SP3). The router is a Linksys. The only glitch I ran into was with (I think) Avast, which is what I use on some of the PCs for virus/spam protection. One PC hung up during the install. After powering down and starting up again with Avast turned off, everything ran smoothly.

The user interface is very nicely done. I was concerned about the interface being too complex, but had no difficulties navigating through tabs and icons to set up folders for backup and sharing. The summary page gives you all the operational stats, again in a “don’t need to be an engineer” format. Lots of info, but presented in a way that is useful. I do have some IT background, but certainly don’t consider myself to be an expert when it comes to technology. While the setup and operation of the MediaSmart is not something a casual user would want to tackle by him/herself, you also don’t need to be an IT professional. Just take it step-by-step and be willing to put in some time reading manuals and coming to grips with some key concepts regarding networks. It took me a bit over four hours to get everything up and running on a five PC network. I expect to put in many more hours tweaking and playing with features (but that’s also due to the fact that I find the tweaking/experimenting fun – you don’t have to put in too much time if you just want to have a functioning system).

My initial and main use for the server is for backup. I have external USB drives for some of the PCs. They make for decent backup devices, but I wanted something central and automatic — if you have to remember to run a backup, chances are it will not be done as regularly as it should. The MediaSmart excels at that — just tell it what folders to monitor, and forget about it. You can backup just files/folders, or do a full image.

This model comes with 1.5TB of storage that, at the moment, will take care of my storage needs very well. But, hard drive space always seems to get chewed up at a prodigious rate, and I’m happy that the server is expandable. I’ve not installed an additional drive yet, but looked through the procedure to do so and it seems very easy – just plug and play. You can also backup the server itself either online (not explored that, but I expect there’s a cost involved) or by an attached drive (which is the route I plan to take).

Power usage is a concern of mine, and I’m pleased to see that HP has power management tools built in. According to the specs, the server uses only 1 watt when in sleep mode. I haven’t seen, however, what the power consumption is when powered up. Hooking it up to a Kill-a-watt meter is on the to-do list to see what run-time use is, plus verify the 1 watt sleep mode.

The media collection feature is wonderful — basically, it will collect specific file types, such as MP3, photos, etc. — automatically from connected PCs and store them on the server. So far it has worked very well, and has already proven to be great way to avoid the “which PC has that playlist?” search. Everything is in a central location, and is maintained there automatically.

There are several other features of the server that I’m only starting to dabble with, such as photo sharing and streaming. Don’t have enough hands-on experience with those to report on yet, but haven’t run into any roadblocks either. I’ll update the review as needed.

Bottom line – if you’re an avid user with basic IT knowledge who is looking for more convenience and utility out of your home network, this is a great purchase. Provided you put some time into learning how to use it, you’ll reap several key benefits (plus have a cool new toy!).

The primary motivation in getting the MediaSmart Home server was to backup all the software, movies, pictures, camcorder videos distributed across multiple media in my home – some are in my laptop, desktop, CD/DVDs …. Now, I have one location in my home where i can find all my data – which I can access from any where in the world.

The server’s capabilities met more than what I asked for in doing a lot of things which I thought was not possible – like streaming media, sharing photos and video across the web so that any authorized user can access it from anywhere on the internet + your own subdomain !

Installation
It practically takes less than 15 mins.
(1) Unbox and take the server out
(2) Plug in the power cord from the wall outlet to the server
(3) Plug in the LAN/ethernet cable from the router to the server
(4) Switch on the server
(5) Install software on another laptop/desktop IN THE SAME NETWORK as where your server is installed – remember that you need to install this software on each and every laptop/desktop from which you want to backup data – which means your guests/authorized users who do not have this software installed cannot backup their PCs on to the server, but they will still be able to upload & view files that you grant them access to
(6) After the software is installed, it automatically detects the server on the network and connects to it. from which point onwards you can control the server access, provileges, backup etc from any of the laptop/desktop where you have installed the software

Ease of configuration
I am a pretty gadget guy and I found it a bit hard to configure it for the first time, that might be because I was thinking of this as purely as a network drive, whereas it is not. If you have a similar impression about this server, you need to get over that learning curve and consider this as a server that comes with Windows Home server software and there are a few things you can and cannot do with it.

(1) PC Backup configuration : Very Easy : You configure such that there are backups taken on your laptop/desktop on a periodic basis – the software is smart enough to skip some temporary files and you will have an option of skipping backup of unwanted data from your laptop/desktop.

(2) Media Backup configuration : Easy, but a bit confusing : In addition to backing up your PC, you can configure the server to backup your photos, videos and music and make them available on folders which similar names on the server, while this is very easy to configure there are a few limitations, example you have a choice to select the folders for music from the ‘My Music’ folder or ‘All folders’ there is no way you can configure it to pick up music from a custom folder such as c:\english\bryan adams – it has to be all the folders or the ‘My Music’ folder which is under your profile settings. The other thing which I find confusing is that even after configuring the media backup, it does not display any status that it has been configured, which makes you wonder if this thing has been configured or if there is still something remaining.

(3) Amazon S3 backup: Service offers Amazon S3 backup – I do not have an account, so I cannot comment on it.

(4) Streaming media: Very easy to configure, you can share/stream music & photos. Sorry, you cannot stream videos, which means you cannot place a video file on the server you cannot be on a remote PC and watch the video streaming, you will still be able to access the video file and run it locally

FAQ:
(1) Can I use this as a desktop – connect a monitor and work on this ?
A> Not possible, the server does not have a video port or anything like that to plug in your monitor

(2) Can I remotely upload files ?
Yes you can grant access to users with a fine level of granularity on the specific folders to which they upload/readonly/cannot access

(3) Can I add additional hard disks/external media/flash drives ?
Yes, you can add SATA drives into 2 extra drive basys into the server. You can also add flash drives/pen drives or any other drive that goes into the USB drive. Once you physically connect the drive to the server, you will have to access the admin console of the server and configure the hard disk either as a backup or a primary drive. Warning:- the server will format any external drive you add, so be aware of that !

(4) Does it need to be always ON ? How much power does it consume ?
It needs to be always ON, but there are several power management options available to make it sleep and reduce the power consumption.

(5) What is the purpose of having 2 hard disks ? The reason why this unit has 2 hard disks is to have duplication/redundancy in itself. For example if you copy a movie file into this server, it keeps 2 copies – one on each hard disk so that if one disk fails, it is available on the other.

When you configure the backup of your PC/media – there are options available where you configure not to maintain the duplicate copy – you would do this for not so important stuff or if you are temporarily storing huge amounts of data

~ Update #1 ~
The more I discover the fun it is to work with this:
(1) You can remote desktop into this server ! Yes ! Go to Start->Programs->Accessories->Remote Desktop Connection and type in the IP address/name of the server(HPSERVER) and click on connect – you will have a new desktop and a more powerful way of controlling your server from yout laptop/desktop

As an owner of HP’s first generation MediaSmart Home Server, I was very interested to see if the EX487/EX485 models were a good upgrade in terms of quality and performance. If you are new to the MediaSmart HS product line, or to Home Server for that matter, you will enjoy what the EX487 (and EX485) offer. If you are a current owner of the first generation product line, the upgrade could be a tossup for you.

I will not spend much time on every capability of the EX485/487, as it is well documented. It provides simple and easy to use centralized storage for your home, as well as the option to backup PCs and Macs. You will also be able to stream media (photos, music, video, etc) to other devices and share photos with family and friends, as well as have access to your files remotely through a web browser. One of the great features of Home Server is the ability to install Add-Ins, most of which are freely available on the internet. You can add the ability to download RSS content, expand photo sharing options, and countless other enhancements. Instead of going through more of Home Server’s capabilities, I’d like to focus on the things that may not be noticeable through a photo or product specs.

First, I am impressed by the quality HP has put into their Home Server product line. The product is sturdy and they do a great job of mixing firm metal structure with lightweight plastics. This product feels good in your hands and the design is clean and concise. They fit a lot into a small package. While the server itself is a bit heavier than you’d expect, it is compact and fits just about anywhere.

Second, the EX485/487 got a boost in hardware over its predecessors. The processor was bumped up to an Intel 2.0 GHz (instead of an AMD 1.8GHz) and the memory has been increased to 2GB (instead of 512MB). Do not underestimated these upgrades, as they added a good bit of peppiness to the server. Browsing the server, transferring files, and going through the interface and menus have all been sped up with these upgrades. Storage was bumped up to 750GB (in the EX485) and 1.5TB (in the EX487). You can easily add more storage capacity by dropping them in, adding via USB or eSATA and then tell Home Server to add the drives to the storage pool.

Thirdly, some software features have been added. Online backup capabilities and Mac Time Machine support are at the top of the list. There was also some improvements with the connector software. As an owner of the previous model, I will say that HP has been great at offering updates and I expect that to continue with all of their models. They appear to be dedicated to their Home Server product line.

Lastly, I will say that Home Server has been a great addition to my home network. I work in the computing industry and when I get home I don’t really want to tinker all day with my home equipment. I just want my stuff to work and the HP MediaSmart Home Server fits that criteria. Simply put: it just works. I have not had any issues with the hardware or software and I can rely on the product to keep my files safe (that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have other methods of backup). If you already own a previous model, the upgrade might be questionable in terms of price and added features. There was definitely a boost in hardware, but it’s not necessarily an upgrade everyone needs. Otherwise, I highly recommend this product for beginner or expert.

If I was just entering the market for an aggregate storage device for my home network, the EX487 would be my top choice. However, as a current user of the Netgear RND2150 ReadyNAS Duo 500 GB Desktop Network Attached Storage, a couple of features (integration with Logitech Squeezebox and Bittorrent management) I now find essential are not as readily available with the HP unit. Where features overlap and there are many, in each instance the EX487 seems easier to set up and use. While there are alternative paths that allow this device to support each of the applications noted above, the comparative conveniences of this server do not, in my opinion, cost justify replacement of an existing NAS with corresponding capabilities.

Set up

After powering up and Ethernet connection to a router (UPnP recommended), the included software CD is mounted on a Client PC and the easy to follow installation process guides you through each required step. I would suggest disabling any firewalls beforehand as in my case Norton security may have slowed the process considerably. After disabling the firewall for a short period, the procedure flowed smoothly, although my experiences with the HP updates portion seemed to take substantially longer than other users have indicated.

At this point you are prompted to create user accounts (up to 10 user accounts, passwords should match existing accounts on client PCs), create a website, set up remote access and install add-ons like TwonkyMedia and McAfee server security. I’m not real confident of the compatibility of McAfee with my present security software so this step was by-passed as although it is not as secure, the server is still behind the router’s firewall. In addition, McAfee is provided free for seven months and then becomes a fee based service. As of this date, I do not see a way to use another security suite, but I will keep looking. One ongoing annoyance is with each reboot of a client PC, I receive notification that the PC’s security software is out of date or non-existent so it may be necessary to define application startup order to that the activation of each PC’s security suite precedes activation of Window Home Server.

After I was confident the installation was successfully completed I decided to move the unit to another location and instead of direct connection to a router, I hooked it up by Ethernet to the NETGEAR HD/Gaming 5 GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit (WNHDEB111) in another location in my house because I found the dual fans which seem incumbent for such a compact enclosure with potentially four drives, are noticeably louder than my NAS and a little distracting to me.

Scalability

The server comes with two 750GB HDDs and has two bays for expansion. Installation of addition drives simply requires mounting on a tray and insertion in the CPU. Unlike most competitively priced NAS units where RAID redundancy is the only option, the user can opt to use full storage capacity or specify file duplication over multiple drives. This functionality is RAID0 comparable. The server also has four USB ports and an eSata port for attachment of additional external drives, or (and this is not highlighted in the documentation) attachment of printers for accessibility from any networked PC.

Backup/Restore

Up to 10 PCs can be defined for individual backup, either automatic or manually. If you have an application to enable shadow copying, continuous back-up of modified files will work as well. Only one instance of common files is stored (or two if duplication has been activated). The server itself can be backed up to an external hard drive or to Amazon’s S3 fee based service, which I investigated and at the cost of $.15 per GB for the first 50 TB is much too expensive for my tastes. HP has also provided operating system restoration/recovery disks for both PCs and the server. Curiously, however, there doesn’t seem to be a facility for creation of a recycle bin on the server.

Remote Access

After creation of your personal website through one of several alternative sources, and establishment of user accounts at the server, you have a link to the following functions: HPPhoto Publisher where photos can be published to: Snapfish , Flicker, FaceBook, Picasa or to albums in the HPPhoto viewer; Media streaming of music or photos to PCs or mobile devices; access to server shared files or remote desktop to client PCs, or; Browse files/folders on server. Files can be uploaded to or, downloaded from the server. There are some security risks associated with remote access feature, but they can be limited, to an extent, by adjustment of settings on one’s router. Another plus for the HP MediaSmart over many NAS units is although similar services are available via the NAS, this server handles dynamic IP addresses very efficiently so the potential expenses associated with obtaining a static address from some ISPs is avoided. And, if there isn’t any activity on the remote link after about 15 minutes, you are automatically logged off. Presently (March, 09) remote access to enabled PCs will only work from iexplorer browser. Other remote access features can be reached from any browser.

Media Streaming

Music/Video files can be streamed to a variety of devices, including gaming units and other media receivers. Most devices are recognized through UPnP or in many instances, can be manually defined. The server has Windows Media Player connect, TwonkyMedia and employs Firefly for collection and streaming of iTunes files. As I mentioned at the outset, two features I find deficient are the absence of vendor partnerships with Logitech for the squeezebox or a bittorrent client manager from any provider. In the case of Logitech’s squeezecenter, the application can be installed on client PCs and access music files on the server but that requires both devices remain active whereas a server resident version like Netgear’s NAS would cut down on electrical usage. Similarly, for bittorrent clients which typically run 24 hours for seeding, two devices are now required to remain active.

Conclusion

For anyone looking for a first time network storage solution or replacement of an NAS with minimal flexibility, regardless of the user’s level of technical experience, this device appears to be a great choice. It has the sophistication to meet advance user requirements yet remains easily understandable by those with modest demands or needs. Equally as important, capacity can be expanded to meet future growth in one’s home network.

Hi All,

I have been using different types of NAS solutions, including a Drobo, for a while now and wanted to give the Windows Home Server solution a shot for my home. I am an IT person by trait. I know that it is fairly easy to build a small home server but I had heard so much about the HP interface that I wanted to give this a shot. Unfortunately I did not buy from AMAZON and had to use a third party to get the item….but that’s neither here or there. My review is about the product itself.

The box includes the server, the rescue cd, the restore cd, and a cd for both mac/pc workstations. Remove the item from the box, plug in the power and a ethernet cord to your router/switch and you are ready to roll. The first setup of the client software MUST be done on a PC so that you can set the server up. Very easy and very well made software that will guide you through the entire process.

(A Side Note – HP Recommends that you use a router that has UPNP on it so that the remote capabilities of this server can be used without issues. A list of some routers is below. I was unfortunately using Apple Airport Extreme Base Stations but had a handy dandy D-Link DIR-655 at home…which I switched to immediately and permanently so I can use this server. Product Link for DIR-655: D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N Wireless Router

Once the setup process is concluded (5-10 minutes) you are able to start using the server at once and create user accounts, media syncing, iTunes servers, etc. Very Very simplistic approach. One of the reasons I give it a 5/5. One feature that I want to mention, which puts this device over the others, is that it has a built in plug-in that allows me to use an Amazon s3 account to backup the entire server…normally you would have to use a 3rd party software (jungle disk, which i own) to do this but having it built into the server and having the server manage the backup to the cloud is amazing.

MAC Specific: I wanted to see how this server would work on a MAC and what the ramifications would be of using time machine over the network without having to buy Apple’s time capsule. Again, very easy. I installed the software on my macbook pro. It has a section where you define the amount of space you want to use on the server for your time machine backup…10-20-30-40-etc gb…. Set the space, it creates the area on the server, hit the start button, go to time machine preferences and use this new hard drive which shows up in the list as HP Mediasmart Server and VOILA….you are time machining away at gigabit speeds. Did I mention the ethernet on this is Gigabit.

Dynamic DNS: We all have some sort of broadband if we consider devices like this and most of us do not opt to pay the exorbitant costs for static ip addresses….instead we just use DHCP from Cable or DSL. Those addresses change..maybe not often..but they do change. One of the features of WHS is to allow you remote access from where ever you may be…and or for a family member to get in and take a look at some files you have stored for them…pictures, music, etc… The server has a built in feature to allow you to use two or three services….TZO (if I remember correctly is one that is included free for one year–allows custom domain names), Microsoft offers a free domain if you have a FREE Microsoft Live ID. I opted for the free service as it allows me to use a simple name like tarun . homeserver . com. You simply pick a name for your server (tarun) and it goes and checks if it is available…if it is you are all set. This is when a UPNP router comes into play so that media smart can set the router up to allow incoming connections to the proper ports for the server….VOILA…works like a charm. I can get to the server from work and upload files, download, etc….very very nice and very easy.

I can get in to much broader detail about the setup but then that would defeat the purpose of this review. I think I have already typed to my hearts content. I really love this device…it is worth its price. I am sure we can all build it cheaper and smaller…but hey…for me I don’t want to tinker with hardware since it is time consuming and I would much rather hang out with the kids.

This is a great device which, backed by HP, will only get better with time.

5/5

ps. If you have any questions…please feel free to comment and I will answer them as best as I can.

Quick Note 02-28-2009: If you are a PC user then the WHS agent will pull all of your music and pictures to the server and make them available…this includes iTunes music and playlists. If you are a MAC user…u are out of luck for automation…but you can copy your entire iTunes music folder over to the WHS Manually. WHS will make the iTunes library and playlists available to all network users. I moved my iTunes from my mac to the WHS and then simply told iTunes the new location…so if I add new music, podcasts, etc…I dont have to sync directories…iTunes will just add them to the WHS Music Folder…which is mounted on the mac as a volume. Hope that helps a bit.

ps.. Firefly is what WHS/HP use for iTunes….something which I believe can be installed on a drobo with droboshare.

I’m technically inclined, but not an engineer. I have some experience with this topic… I first built my own server with spare parts and run it at my home. I am reviewing this because I bought it for my parents and installed it.

Part 1: The software, and what HP brings to the party:

Windows Home Server is actually a program (based on Windows Server 2003 with enhancements, optimized and pre-configured), and is easy to use in a home. And it is good, all by itself. HP’s contributions by adding on its own ‘add-ins’ make the software better.

As a sample of what this means for you, an example: If you are recording tv shows on in Windows 7 media center you can offload your shows here, and still stream them giving you instant access anytime. The new update to the software also makes it so you can set windows 7 up to offload your recordings from your Windows 7 pc to the server automatically so you don’t tie up your computer’s storage space.

So what does HP bring to this? If you have media files that you want to convert for viewing on a mobile device, HP bundled an add-in transcoding software on this so you can offload that work to server’s CPU and not tie up your computer while you’d rather be surfing or playing games or whatever else you do to make things better. There are a lot more add-ins they bundle with this, but it’s exhaustive and there isn’t the space.

Bottom line, there are plenty of ‘WHS’ solutions. But my take is that HP has put a lot behind making this a great software bundle, and I have to say I’m impressed with the bonus they bring (and I’m picky about this stuff).

Part deux: What’s so great about the hardware.

The pictures make it look big. But it is small – about the size of a small bread box turned on end. I was surprised when I unboxed it. It’s also easy to add hard drives. It comes with one, but you’ll get hooked and want to add one. Just take out a tray, pop in a recent generation “SATA II” drive and replace the tray in the server and it self configures. I recommend buying one straight away anyway because then you can turn on ‘file duplication’. That means the server at your specific direction will keep duplicate copies of folders you select on two separate hard drives in the server as insurance against mechanical failure.

You can also back up the system drive, which I’m learning how to do, and you need an external USB drive to do that.

Energy-wise It pulls about 4 to 6 watts under normal operation. Yet another reason to buy this if you are power conscious. Don’t let that figure fool you. With 2GB of ram and the atom processor, there’s plenty of oomph for most people’s needs.

Summary:

Solid build, solid software, continuous integration to Windows backed by a very committed enthusiast community that makes it so you don’t have to think ‘what if my hard drive crashes/computer shorts out/child vandalizes my computer?

It’s automatic and low-no maintenance. In short: a ‘no-brainer’.

I like this one because it has extra drive bays. There are configurations that just use one hard drive, but I would pass on that.

If you are buying an add on drive, a Western Digital Caviar Green is fine. You don’t need high speed drives for this use.

Cheers.

My home network consists of two mac laptops, one windows based desktop which I have been using for backups, and an XBOX 360 and two iphone 3Gs. I bought the HP Mediasmart EX495 for backups as well as to use it as a media server. The Mediaserver arrived a couple of days after order was placed.

The server itself is extremely slick and well designed. It has this shiny black exterior which seems to be able to withstand scratches very well. The server has four vertically stacked drives, the lowest one is occupied by the 1.5 TB drive supplied by the manufacturer. I bought a 1.5 TB seagate drive and was able to install it in 2 minutes without problems. The tower turns on very quickly and is quiet despite strong fan in the back. The front has three lights that show the status of the network connection and such in beautiful aqua color. Each drive has an aqua-colored light as well.

I set up the server using the windows XP os on parallels desktop on my macbook pro without any problems. The server actually downloads some updates from Microsoft which can be a hassle if you are not used to it. After the first setup, you can administer the software from the macs using the remote desktop. After initial setup and installation of the software (which is actually a kernel extention in mac) I kept getting “network health” alerts, forcing me to update the newly installed software by actually finding it on the server rather than downloading it from the internet. It took me a while to figure this out but eventually managed to. The Time Machine setup was tricky as well. The software kept prompting me that the “Mac shared folder” was deleted and had to be recreated. It took some snooping over the internet to figure out that it needed me to actually create a new folder on the server and name it mac via the server console. Finally I got the Time Machine setup and working.

The other features were relatively easy to figure out. It comes with the web based access which can be setup easily and it can be used to access your files from anywhere. One problem is that when you supply the login information on this webpage, often times you couldn’t find a logout button on most of the subsequent web pages.

The other feature is iTunes server which I didn’t bother with since iTunes 9 has a good sharing already built in.

The main draw for me was the Media collector that supposedly will scour your connected computers for media and copy them to the server and prepare them for sharing. The connected computers appear on the Collectors console by their network names, which can be difficult to decipher for some people. My Macs did appear on the list which was reassuring however after waiting one whole day I realized no file had been copied to the server. I reinstalled the software, restarted the server and the client computers to no avail. It should be noted that your user ID and password for the server should match with your computer’s ID and password, which seems like a security risk. I would think that the right way would be to supply each client computers access information separately and save the information in a keyring, rather than forcing uniform access info on all computers. Anyway I could not get the media collector to work with the macs. I turned on the AFP, SMB and FTP file sharing on the macs and still it did not grab the files. Eventually I called the HP customer service and I was informed that they have a brand new patch that will make this work and they can email it to me right away. I installed the update without any problems and noticed that not only the media collectors did not work, the Time Machine backup was broken to. I went through restart, reinstall, restart, cycle for the computers and server and still no dice. Finally I gave up. I could not justify paying for a NAS (without reliable media server features) at $700 price point.

A few observations:

1. The documentation both on paper and on the website are poorly prepared and sometimes contradictory. It seems like they have used the older servers manual as a template and try to update the material but some of the old information is left in.

2. The notification system on the server also can be confusing and challenging to decipher (see the “mac shared folder deleted” fiasco above.

3. The customer service response was fast but did not fix the problem in my case

4. Mediaserver does not have RAID setup options. Instead the added drives can be used to “backup the servers” i.e mirror it, or can be added as “extentions” to the main drive.

5. You can download a software to your iPhone from iTunes app store for free which supposedly allows you to stream media stored on your server to the iPhone. I could login to the server from my iPhone but I could not see any of the media that I had transferred to the server.

6. There is a video converter on the server which can automatically convert the videos to standard and mobile based on the settings that you determine upon setup. The converter in my experience is very fast but it may not work correctly with all video formats. For example I uploaded some MKV files and the converter started chugging away at them merrily in a few seconds but it ended up mangling the audio and occasionally there were some frames dropped from the video.

7.Finally, recovery from Time Machine is somewhat complicated. My understanding is that the server does not support Bonjour service. Therefore you won’t be able to restore from Time Machine by just rebooting from the Mac installation DVD. You have to have read the manual and created a special USB thumb drive. In the event of hard drive failure, you should reboot from the USB drive so that the MediaSmart client software is launched then switch to the install DVD and then restore from the server drive once it is discovered.

Anyway I am returning this unit and will look for other solutions that can play nice with mac.