The Home Server Show Podcast Episode 65

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Episode 65 of the Home Server Show podcast is out with the latest news and views. This weeks guest speaker is Timothy Daleo from usingwindowshomeserver.com on his Tech Tips on a Tuesday Morning and on a Friday Night series.

Catch it here.

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Power Pack 3 Availability

Its nearly hear. Microsoft has officially announced that next Tuesday on the 24th of November Power Pack 3 will be available via Windows Update.

The release will be available in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish and users must have Windows Home Server with Power Pack 2 already installed on their home server to receive the update.

Power Pack 3 (PP3) improves the Windows Home Server experience with both Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers.

If you missed our previous post on what’s new in PP3, here’s a refresh for you:

  • Windows 7 Libraries integration
    When you install the Windows Home Server Connector and log on a computer running Windows 7, you can access the Windows Home Server shared folders from the Windows 7 libraries.
  • Windows 7 Action Center backup warning suppression
    After you install the Windows Home Server Connector to enable the home server backup for your computer running Windows 7, you can suppress the Action Center warning reminding you that Windows Backup has not been set up.
  • Windows 7 power settings
    You can configure your computer running Windows 7 to wake up at a scheduled backup time and then go back to sleep after the backup finishes.
  • Console support for Windows 7
    Windows 7 is properly displayed as the operating system shown in the Computers & Backup tab.
  • Windows Search
    Windows Search 4 is included to improve query search times, indexing times, and reliability. Extended Remote Discovery increases the efficiency of searching across all your libraries running Windows Search 4.  Files encrypted with EFS are now supported.
  • TV archive
    Windows Home Server can automatically archive recorded TV by moving your recordings from a Windows Media Center computer to your home server in the format of your choice.  This enables playback in the correct format for your home computers and/or portable devices.
  • Console view
    You can view information about your home server’s storage space, hard drives, backup status, and more from Windows Media Center.

Can’t wait till Tuesday, can you?

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Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer

The defragmenter for our Home Servers has been updated.

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Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer edition has been updated to include IntelliWrite which prevents the majority of fragmentation before it even happens and for any fragmentation that does occur, Diskeeper 2010 utilizes a powerful defragmentation engine to rapidly handle any remaining fragmentation with zero impact on system resources.

Diskeeper 2010 dramatically improves system performance from faster file reads and writes. By curtailing the excessive I/Os associated with fragmentation, wear and tear on the drive is greatly reduced, resulting in extended hardware life. Behind the scenes, free space is consolidated, further reducing the chances of future fragmentation, and the location of the most commonly used files is optimized for faster access. All of this occurs with zero impact on system resources.

Other features include:

  • NEW! IntelliWrite fragmentation prevention technology
  • Terabyte Volume Engine (TVE)
  • Breakthrough Technology! InvisiTasking
  • Real-time defragmentation
  • Uncompromising file and free space defragmentation
  • "Defragmentation Intelligence" enhancements
  • Automatic online directory consolidation
  • Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Compatibility mode
  • Boot-Time Mode
  • Home Network support

Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer is available for $59.95 whilst owners of Diskeeper 2009 HomeServer  can upgrade for $35.97 saving $23.98.

More info plus a 30 day trial download is available from here.

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Win Home Servers with Japanese Poem Oh Wise One

Intel and Windows Home Server have teamed up to give you the chance to win Home Server’s, Microsoft Zune HD 16 GB digital audio players and 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Green Hard Drives.

To win you need to say how a home server would bring peace of mind to YOUR life, or why you really want one, but as a haiku.

What’s a haiku, I hear you cry?

A haiku is a three line, one stanza, traditional Japanese poem lacking rhyme and metaphor; the first line must have 5 syllables, the second line 7, and the third line 5.

So, what you waiting for, head over to Win a Home Server.com for a chance of winning some booty.

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Exclusive: ASUS Home Server – The TS Mini

Asus TS Mini Top 

Asus have just announced the TS Mini, a Home Server which is powered by the Intel Atom N280 (1.66GHz) processor and features 2GB DDR2 memory, Gigabit Ethernet, storage space for 2 internal SATA hard drives, with 6 USB ports and 2 eSATA ports for future expansion.

  Asus TS Mini

Remarkably the Asus TS Mini consumes only 24.5W when idle and just 27.9W during normal use, an area which is defiantly awesome.

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Added on top of the Windows Home Server software, Asus have added their own pieces of software:

WebStorage Service
The Asus TS Mini also offers users a year of free 500GB Web storage space allowing you to boost your storage or synchronize backups online for improved data security. Additionally, you can save large peer-to-peer files on the Web, and share data with user accounts worldwide.

Media Streaming
The TS mini makes it easy for you to stream photos, music, video and other digital content to various devices including TVs, computers, Media PCs, and gaming consoles—for all-around content access as well as allowing you to stream music and multimedia content through the online connection.

Xtor Manager
With the ASUS Xtor Manager, you can directly backup, synchronize and manage your files and folders between external USB and eSATA storage devices and TS mini.

ASWM Management
ASWM, real-time system health monitoring tool, helps users to monitor online and system status of TS mini, including fans, temperature, disks, drives, network, memory and CPU. Once errors occur, the system will instantly send error report to pre-configured email.

The ASUS TS mini is available for pre-order in the US in 500G and 2TB models at $349 and $529, respectively from both Amazon (1) (2) and Newegg (1) (2).

More details are available from here.

Asus TS Mini Home Server Press Release

For those of you who fancy a read, here is the press release for the Asus TS Mini Home Server:

ASUS Unveils TS Mini Server for Today’s Small Office/Home Office
– Compact, energy efficient and pre-installed with Windows® Home Server, the TS Mini serves the need to access and share content on-demand –
Fremont, California (November 18, 2009) – ASUS, a worldwide leader in personal computers, today introduces the TS mini small office/home office (SOHO) server. The TS mini targets modern home and small office users that frequently exchange data from multiple computers and require access from various locations. The TS mini secures documents, multimedia, and other digital content into a sleek repository. It further safeguards data on multiple computers across the home or office with automatic backups and cloud storage. TS mini allows centralized file access with local networks, attached storage devices and remotely over the internet. Equipped with an Intel® Atom™ processor, the TS mini delivers quiet, energy efficient, always-on access. Operating on the Microsoft® Windows™ Home Server Platform, it simplifies management of digital content. The TS Mini is available now for pre-order at Amazon.com and NewEgg.com starting at $349.99 USD.
“Consumer demand for rich content that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, on any device is fueling innovation in networking and storage of media and data in the home,” said Seth Bobroff, general manager, Data Center Group – Storage, Intel Corporation. “The Intel® Atom™ processor in the TS mini enables ASUS to deliver the ability to stream media, share files and protect data while remotely accessing it, all in a sleek and energy-efficient 2-bay design.”  
“We are pleased to welcome ASUS, one of the industry’s leading PC manufacturers, to the Windows Home Server family,” said Leslie McGuire, Microsoft Director of Windows Server Marketing. “Customers tell us they want an easy and inexpensive way to store, manage and protect their digital content. ASUS helps them achieve all of that with their TS Mini Server, which includes a robust option for adding data capacity through external Web storage.” 

Read the rest of this entry »

Intel D510M0 Mount Olive Mini-ITX Main Board

D510M0 Main Board

The latest mini-itx main board from Intel is the D510M0 which is equipped with the Intel Atom Dual Core D510 processor (2x 1.66GHz and 2x 512K cache) and the Intel NM10 Express Chipset, providing more than enough power for a Windows Home Server home build.

As well as the 2x hyper threaded 1.66GHz CPUs (4x CPUs in Task manger) the north bridge controller is on the SAME silicon as the CPUs, improving overall performance.

D510M0 Specs

An early tester of the D510M0 board is Tranquil PC who had this to say:

(We) will be using this new board in numerous new PCs and Servers, including the new MiDASS series of Home Servers.  There is talk, that the board will also be made available on it’s own too.

Due to be shipped in early January 2010 by Tranquil PC the TDP is only 13W (that’s the CPU and the North Bridge) and would suggest that, with suitable air flow, the D510 can be passively cooled by the fitting of a heat sink, making a quiet Home Server solution.

More details are available from here.

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HP StorageWorks X510 Reviews

Two top technology websites have reviews on the HP StorageWorks X510 2TB Server.

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The re-badged EX495 MediaSmart Server for the small business user, gets great reviews with SlashGear being "impressed" and neowin saying it "is a solid unit" which "should be on your list to check out".

SlashGear’s review and neowin’s.

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WHS to Have Little Butte

Australia’s APCMag.com is highlighting the new Home Server design by Intel which utilizes the Atom CPU.

The bespoke platform is specifically designed for the Windows Home Server platform and is being developed in conjunction with Gigabyte, and is known as the "Little Butte".

As well as Gigabit Ethernet and the single memory slot there is capacity for 4 x internal SATA hard drives as well as 2 x eSata ports and 4 x USB 2.0 for further expansion.

Little Butte 

A front panel connector for a visual control panel and/or status indicators is also provided as well as an embedded switch on the rear panel which boots the server into a WinPE environment for recovery from a system crash.

More details are available from APC Magazine Online.

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Holiday Storage Devices Gift Guide

COMPUTERWORLD has a holiday gift idea article on storage devices.

The article looks at various devices including the Media Hub Home Entertainment Storage by Linksys, , Seagate’s DockStar and Acer’s Aspire easyStore H340 Home Server.

You can read it here.

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