MS Windows Home Server

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.

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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 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.

“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.

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).

For those of you wishing to build your own Windows Home Server, Tranquil PC are now selling the new Intel D945GSEJT mini-itx main board.

The low profile, low power consumption main board is powered by the multi thread Atom N270 CPU which consumes only 12W when fully operational.

The Atom N270 CPU used on this board is a 1.6GHz model, with 512K of L2 cache, based on Intel’s latest 45nM process. The supporting chipset, the Intel 945GSE + ICH7M provides desktop connectivity and performance. Intel high definition audio, 10/100/1000 LAN, PCI, MiniPCIe, SATA2 (3GB/s) , SODIMM RAM etc are all there to ensure connectivity, expandability, performance and ease of build.

More details are available from here.

Fellow MVP and friend Donavon West has started to manufacture a unique Windows Home Server into a working cigar humidor which can hold a dozen of your finest cigars.

Called the Home Servidor, the top of the humidor holds the cigars whilst the bottom chamber contains a powerful yet “green powered” home server.

Donavon West added:

Why settle for an ugly grey box? I designed the Home Servidor for the person who wants more. The Home Servidor looks great on the desk of your home office. No one even suspects that there is a server hidden away inside.

Care should be taken to store cigars in a cool dry place. Most experts recommend a temperature of about 70 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of around 70%. With that, we have taken great measures to thermally isolate the cigar storage area of the Home Servidor from the warmer computer equipment below. The Home Servidor incorporates an air gap between the compartments as well as a special insulating foam strip that forms an air tight seal.

The handcrafted Home Servidor start at $799 and is available in both 1TB and 2TB models. Using Intel’s Atom processor and “green” hard drives, both are energy efficient, a feature that is a must for an “always on” appliance such as a home server. A welcome side effect of these low power technologies is that very little heat is emitted, which is desirable for use in a humidor.

More information is available from here.

The Acer Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N with built-in Windows Home Server went officially on sale in the US today.

Retailing for $400 the small 8.3 x 7.8 x 7.08 inch unit is powered by an Intel Atom 230 1.6GHz processor with 2GB of DDR2 RAM and comes with one 1TB HDD and gigabit Ethernet.

Hard drive space can be expanded via three internal 3.5-inch hot swappable bays and 5 x USB 2.0 ports as well as an eSata port.

Apart from the top mounted power button there is also a one-touch copy button which enables quick file uploading to a USB device, including sorting files by type into designated folders.

The Acer Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N also supports a DLNA 1.5 certification (DMS) and digital media player (DMP) to enable music playback as well as photo and video viewing on a TV.

• Intel Atom Processor 230
• 2GB DDR2 Memory
• 1TB Hard Drive (2)
• Three Empty Hot Swappable Hard Drive Bays
• Five USB 2.0 Ports
• One eSATA Port
• 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
• 200 Watt Power Supply
• RJ-45 LAN Port

RipNAS combines Windows Home Server with audio CD ripping which can then stream through your network to network audio players like the Sonos, Squeezebox, iTunes and other DLNA compatible devices.

New to the range is the RipNAS Statement which comes which comes in both solid state SSD format (with no moving parts), and HDD format with more storage capacity.

The ATOM dual-core units with Gigabit Ethernet come with 2GB of memory and are expandable via 4 USB 2.0 ports. They are practically silent with a silver finish and whilst the SSD model comes with 2 x 250GB SSDs the HDD comes with 2 x 1.5TB drives.

Whilst pricing is to be announced, more details are available from here.