It seems that Twonky Media provided a fix to HP back in November 2009 in the form of update 5.1.2 of Twonky Media Server. There is always a delay between the time Twonky Media turn updates to HP and the time they deploy them in the actual field. We presumed HP distributed this fix in March as the 3.0 Patch 2 software, but it appears that the 3.0 Patch 2 software only included the Twonky Media Server 5.1.1 software, and not the 5.1.2 version as expected.

Hopefully HP will have version 5.1.2 of the Twonky Media Server available soon to existing MediaSmart Server owners.

IT consultant Ronald V. Pacchiano is surprised by the number of small business owners who do not use a server:

Most of them run their entire business from a handful of desktop and/or laptop computers. Why? They all say their business isn’t big enough to justify the expense of installing a small business Windows server.

Ronald continues:

..PCs configured in a peer-to-peer environment don’t provide much security or file management capability and can lead to questionable reliability or even data lost. A true network server does more than just provide centralized data storage. It also provides file and network security, increased reliability, remote access capabilities and even a unified backup solution.

Ronald recommends Windows Home Server and looks at some of the most important features that apply to small business owners.

This is a great read for any small/micro business owner, which you can read here.

The FREE Xtreamer is a tiny network media player that enables you to enjoy all of your movies, music, pictures and YouTube etc on your big screen

Although it is being offered FREE the Xtreamer is worth £99 and it is also being supplied with the XSC heat sink pre installed (does not include the WiFi option), which makes it an extremely good deal.

More details on the SQA-5H series, the Xtreamer and this deal are available here.

So without further ado here are the winners, as picked by the missus:

On Thursday March 4th we asked you to explain why you should defrag Windows Home Server and congrats to "diehard" who had this to say:

I have a large collection of Recorded TV shows, this is in the TB range, each file is very large. I Belive that streaming these recording to my 360 would be a lot painless if they were properly defragmented. PD11 could do this.

Friday the 5th’s question was to tell us about a new feature in Version 11 of PerfectDisk, and the 2 winners are:

Heaphus – While there are many, I’ll go with enhanced StealthPatrol. It already works great in the current version, but improved performance is always welcome.

Dave – Faster is always better, so that’s a big plus.

Day 3 of the competition and we asked you for your top 3 or 5 add-ins which you always install. Well done to both:

Adam - I just built my WHS, so only have 2 drives for now: 1 750 GB 7200 RPM, and a 1TB 5400 RPM. Looking to add some larger drives as prices drop. My favorite add-ins are Adminime, AutoExit, Avanced Admin Console, and lights-out.

Jeff Griesel – I have 1 120 GB drive for the system and 2 750 gb and 1 1 tb drive for most of the data. I will always install LightsOut, KeepVault, Disk Management, AutoExit, and PerfectDisk if I win it.

Day 4 and we wanted you to tell us your top 3 resources/sites you use to find out news, tips or tutorials on Windows Home Server. Well done to the following 2 people:

Jaffa – We Got Served, Home Server Land, Home Server Hacks

Chris Miller – MSWHS, UsingWindowsHomeServer, WeGotServed

Its day 5, and today’s question was to tell us the top 2 or 3 things you would like to see in Windows Home Server which are currently not in the product. Congratulations to both:

EWiZaRD - 1. Backup system partition 2. Easy migration if system drive to bigger disk 3. Integrated antivirus (Microsoft Security Essentials or something like th

WHS Fan – Sorry, I can’t keep it to 3. I have to go with counting down my top 5: 5) Integration with external network enabled cameras for home security / DVR / remote viewing support. 4) Backup of traveling or remote family PCs. 3) Automated backup of the server (shared folders and backup databases) to either external HD and/or the cloud. 2) Versioning of files in Shared folders. 1) Integration of Media Center features in the WHS (e.g. ability to add tuners directly to the box, Zune podcast downloads, etc.)

Finally for day 6 we said that if you were lucky enough to win a copy you would nearly save yourself $50. So the question was what would you spent that $50 on. We did like Blaine D’s answer: Well, first some sexy lingerie for my wife, and then something practical too.  Nah, forget practical.

But the 2 winners are:

SteveI – I would use the $50 towards upgrading my wife’s laptop that she has soooo patiently waited for while I added goodies to my home server.

Samalama – I’d put the money towards buying decent paid for add-ins. Many are moving slowly from beta to paid for e.g. LightsOut, Disk Manager ertc.

Well done to all 11 of you, your email address’s have been passed on to Raxco Software who will be emailing you download and license information over the next few days. And if you didn’t win thanks for entering and remember you can for a limited period purchase PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server for a 20% discount – See here for details.

HP have started their TiVo advertising campaign:

http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mediasmart-server/#/TivoExpander/

MediaSmart Home have an interview with HPs Charlie Shilling about the new MediaSmart Expander for TiVo add-in, which you can read here.

And its only just out, but MediaSmartServer.net has already found a hidden Easter Egg within the add-in:

More details are available on the Green Button.

This software application lets TiVo owners store movies and shows on their MediaSmart Server as well as watch them on their PCs, thus offloading your DVR material to the MediaSmart Server and sharing it is now possible.

TiVo customers are already able to record and pause live TV, and access on-demand videos to watch hit movies and TV shows etc, but with this new HP software application, TiVo customers can now:

• Transfer shows from TiVo to a HP MediaSmart Server and back to TiVo
• View TiVo recordings stored on a HP MediaSmart Server
• Watch TiVo recordings that are stored on the HP MediaSmart Server on any PC in the home using Windows Media Player

Jason Zajac, vice president of Attach, HP Personal Systems Group, had this to say:

The HP MediaSmart Server is the ideal companion to TiVo. With the HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo, consumers don’t have to worry about running out of high-definition storage space since they can save their movies and shows on the HP MediaSmart Server and watch them on any computer in the home.

During testing standard definition material is fast in transferring whilst high definition material takes approx. 30 minutes for a 30 minute program to transfer across.

The software is available right now from the “Add Software” tab on the “MediaSmart Server” tab within the HP MediaSmart Server console.

The software:

1. Requires TiVo Series2 or Series3 DVR and TiVo desktop software. Upon availability, TiVo Premiere and TiVo Premiere XL will also be compatible with the HP MediaSmart Server TiVo application.
2. Is compatible with HP MediaSmart Servers EX490/EX495. HP MediaSmart Server, PCs and TiVo DVR must be on the same network – Naturally those of you who have upgraded their EX47x/EX48x with the 3.0 software will also be able to use the software too.
3. TiVo service is only available in the US

Both HP and the TiVo Community Site have an advertising campaign highlighting the benefits of both TiVo and the MediaSmart Server, and the software is FREE too – What more can you ask. More value added software from HP for MediaSmart owners.

The new PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server is now officially available, and in 4 different variations:

• To just defrag WHS it will cost you $39.99
• To defrag WHS plus a pro license for 1 PC is $49.99
• To defrag WHS plus 3 pro licenses for 3 PCs is $69.99
  and finally
• To defrag WHS and ALL connected PCs in your household $99.99

These different variations represent excellent value for money, but to further entice you, for a limited period MSWHS.com readers can get an exclusive 20% discount of off of these prices:

• To just defrag WHS it will cost you $39.99 $31.99 SAVING $8
• To defrag WHS plus 1 pro license for a PC is $49.99 $39.99 SAVING $10
• To defrag WHS plus 3 pro licenses for 3 PCs is $69.99 $55.99 SAVING $14
  and finally
• To defrag WHS and all connected PCs in your household $99.99 $79.99 SAVING $20

To get these discounted prices just use the coupon code PD-MSWHS20 during checkout, but hurry as it expires Friday March 26th. (Don’t tell anyone, but that coupon code is valid for anything in the store, not just the WHS Bundles :)

Advanced SMARTPlacement™ – A Smarter Defrag

PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server’s patented Advanced SMARTPlacement is an intelligent file placement strategy that organizes files according to usage patterns and eliminates most fragmentation before it happens. It also results in faster defrag passes, quicker server boots, slower refragmentation, reduced resource consumption and improved overall WHS performance.

Robust Free Space Consolidation

Speed up disk writes and slow refragmentation with PerfectDisk’s patented SMARTPlacement optimization strategy and exclusive Space Restoration Technology.

AutoPilot Scheduling

Defragment your Windows Home Server when it’s most convenient for you – daily, weekly or even during system idle times. PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server’s exclusive AutoPilot Scheduling lets you customize your defragmentation to run automatically, when you want it to. And once it’s set up, you never need to reconfigure it again.

Defrag During System Idle Times with Automatic StealthPatrol™

Work uninterrupted. PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server’s exclusive StealthPatrol lets you set up a defrag schedule that works with your busy life. Schedule defragmentation of your Windows Home Server to run seamlessly in the background only during system idle times.

Single-pass Defrag

Unlike typical defraggers, PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server completely defrags your virtual drives (all files and metadata) and consolidates free space in just one pass – no matter how large or fragmented the system. With revolutionary minimal-free-space requirement, you can defrag an entire drive with as little as 1% free space.

Selected Files Defrag

In a hurry or have a few heavily fragmented files? Only defrag the files that you select.

BlockViewer

Easily visualize the contents of a block to quickly identify and eliminate fragmentation.

Space Management Reports

Quickly and easily analyze space distribution of file and folders.

More information is available from here, as well as a FREE 30 day trail version which is available for you to try.

The review takes a look at the software and the performance of the unit compared with varies NAS units including the HP EX490 MediaSmart Server.

The ASUS TS mini Home Server’s performance shows that not all Windows-based NAS devices are slow. The impressive online storage platform and external hard drive manager also make it a better choice than similarly capable alternatives

You can read their review here.

PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server Bundle includes a license for your WHS and also a license for one PC too and would normally cost $49.99. So, if you are lucky enough to win a copy you would nearly save yourself $50. So our question for today is what would you spent that $50 on?

Just leave your answer as a comment below. Winners will be announced Wednesday 10th March.

Read more information on what’s new in version 11 of PerfectDisk.

UPDATE: Day 6 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

1. High CPU Utilization
2. Poor performance while using the Music streaming feature

The only way to sort out the 1st issue (although it’s workaround and not a cure)is by turning Twonky Media OFF or by moving the shares which Twonky see’s into another directory. Whilst the second issue can be resolved by making a couple of changes to a configuration file which Twonky uses for streaming feature.

Thankfully fellow MVP Alex Kuretz has the workarounds published on his blog MediaSmartServer.net which you can find here.

If you software is currently not available to you via the integrated HP Update feature, and it is applicable to your model then a copy of the update 3.0 Patch 2 can be downloaded from here.

Tomorrow is version 11 launch day and today you have another chance of winning one of the two copies which are available. By just leaving a comment below telling us the top 2 or 3 things you would like to see in Windows Home Server which are currently not in the product.

More information on what’s new in version 11 of PerfectDisk can be found here. Winners will be announced Wednesday 10th March.

UPDATE: Day 5 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

PerfectDisk 11 is the ultimate defragmenter for Windows Home Server users, and with the Bundle up for grabs it means each copy entitles you to defrag WHS and a PC too.

For a chance of winning one of todays two copies, just leave a comment below telling us the top 3 resources/sites you use to find out news, tips or tutorials on Windows Home Server.

More details on what is new in version 11 of PerfectDisk can be found here. Winners will be announced Wednesday 10th March.

UPDATE: Day 4 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

The norm has been 512 bytes, but now Western Digital have launched the EARS-series moving 4KB sectors into the mainstream.

Tom’s Hardware has picked a Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB (WD10EARS) hard drive as a case study, and look at its performance amongst many other things and you’ll find that the 10 page article has plenty of benchmarks too.

The spindle speed remains at 5,400 RPM, and power requirements have reached new record lows: 2.8W idle power is less than any other 3.5” drive. Just keep in mind that this 1TB drive utilizes only two platters; three- or four-platter drives would not be this low on power. Active power is slightly higher than on the WD10EADS, but still very low.

Although there are no noticeable benefits for customers today in moving to 4K sectors, the step is an important one. Modern operating systems, such as Windows Vista or Windows 7, can handle different sector sizes and hence are immediately compatible with the modified technology without any performance impact. Older operating systems, such as Windows XP, can be forced to align their 512 byte sectors into the hard drives’ physical ones via tools that relocate partitions to have them start at a suitable sector. This is important to do if you don’t want massive performance impacts on your writes.

You can read the full article here.

On the channel, you will find variety of different videos including:

• Team interviews – learn about Windows Home Server’s team members and how they use the product in their day-to-day lives.
• Windows Home Server overviews – if you are still learning about Windows Home Server, watch an overview on how it can beneficial in your home or even a small business.
• Informational how-to screen casts – each how-to video will show you how to use various features of Windows Home Server. 

So to catch some Windows home server videos mosey on over to You Tube and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel so that you can watch all of the team’s newly added vids.

You just need to leave a comment below telling us how many hard drives you have in your Windows Home Server (and their sizes) and also tell us your top 3 or 5 add-ins which you always install.

And don’t forget the NEW PerfectDisk 11 for Windows Home Server Bundle includes 2 licenses, one for WHS itself and the other for one of your client PCs.

Two winners will be announced Wednesday 10th March – Good luck!

UPDATE: Day 3 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

To win one of the two copies available today just leave a comment below telling us about a new feature in Version 11. In the meantime you can check out some version 11 videos on YouTube with additional information available here.

Winners will be announced Wednesday 10th March.

UPDATE: Day 2 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

The platform comprises either a single-core D410 Atom processor or a dual-core D510  with an Intel 82801IR I/O Controller. Which provide up to 50 percent power reduction and improved performance compared to Intel’s previous generation of Intel Atom processors.

The new platform features six PCI Express* lanes, 12 USB 2.0 ports, a port multiplier function and eSATA ports that give OEMs the ability to add peripheral devices and expand storage capacity outside of the box. It also features hot plug capabilities for easy capacity upgrades and an integrated gigabit Ethernet MAC controller for improved data transfers to and from the home server or small office NAS device. The storage platform also offers the flexibility to support Microsoft Windows Home Server…

The full press release can be read here.

Episode 79 of The Home Server Show podcast have the gang discussing Icy Dock enclosures and the different methods of storage available to you. That’s as well as the latest news and views.

You can grab it from here.

PerfectDisk Windows Home Server will from version 11 be called PerfectDisk Windows Home Server Bundle, with the word Bundle added to the product name as you can now defrag any licensed connected PCs as well as WHS itself.

So, what’s new in this latest version?
As the PerfectDisk website will not be updated with the latest version 11 info until the 9th March, you can find out whats new from here.

To win today’s (1) copy of PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server Bundle just leave a comment below explaining why you should defrag Windows Home Server

Winners will be announced Wednesday 10th March.

UPDATE: Day 1 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

They compare the power usage and drive temperature of an Intel SSD with a 2.5" Toshiba 5200RPM drive and a 3.5" Seagate 7200RPM drive.

An interesting read which you can find here.

This year participants will be able to attend technical sessions related to Windows Home Server and MVPs and CLIP members will be on hand to share their technical expertise with visitors at Microsoft’s User Assistance booth. So, if you don’t know how to setup your Windows Home Server just ask the experts.

Information courtesy of "The Microsoft MVP Award Program Blog".

You can catch out a virtual tour of the home here, where you’ll find the EX495 behind the desk in the family room.

Thanks to “The Windows Home server Blog” for the details.

Minnaar Pieters has a great review of the app here.

The app is currently priced at $1.99 (£1.19) in the appstore and you install the free Air Video Server onto WHS.

The Home Server Show Bonus Edition is a (nearly) 2 hour special which has John (DieHard) and Greg Welch (WelchWorks) talking about Digital Archound or DA Document Manager 2010, which you can find here.

Garry Whittiker and Jason Coombes join Ian Dixon in episode 245 of "The Media Center Show" podcast to discuss networked tuners using DVBLink.

Jason has all his tuners pooled in a Windows Home Server and then is using DVBLink to distribute the tuners around the network. Its an interesting solution and takes us closer to having a centralized TV tuner system. Jason is also streaming TV via DLNA to devices like PS3 and over the internet.

Episode 245 is available from here.

Blog “Ronaldg’s Ramblings” has a great post that looks at the various options available to you including Windows Server Foundation, SBS and Windows Home Server amongst other offerings.

You can read it here.

Charlie’s has a post on his blog "Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone Development", where he explains about how successful product development projects need to be focused and have priorities in place for project planning.

Of interest to us is a list of scenario priorities which were in place for the initial release of Windows Home Server:

1. Backup
2. Centralized Storage
3. Remote Access
4. Entertainment

And adjusted for Power Pack 2:

1. Remote Access
2. Entertainment
3. Backup
4. Centralized Storage

You can read Charlie’s full post here.

The Home Server Show podcast this week has Chris, John and Dave chatting about the latest Home Server news, add-ins as well as an interview with Alex Kuretz from mediasmartserver.net about the HP update for EX47x and EX48x owners.

Episode 78 is available here.

To order the upgrade DVD, just visit www.hp.com and enter your product model number in the “Support and Drivers” section.  Then follow the path for your MediaSmart Server model number to order the appropriate upgrade.

For those in the US, the price comes to $27.95 USD plus appropriate tax, whilst Canadians will have to pay $56.78 CAD plus appropriate tax.

Those in the UK are directed to HP partner site Best2Serve who are charging £10 (currently offline).

Until the 28th February (you better hurry!) as well as 20% off, you will also receive a FREE Upgrade to PerfectDisk 11 once released. All by using coupon code FREE11 at checkout.

You have 2 options available:

PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Single Pack includes 1 PerfectDisk Pro license to also defrag 1 PC in your WHS environment – $49.99 (£32.59) $39.99 (£26.07)

OR

PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Site License includes 10 PerfectDisk Pro licenses to also defrag every connected PC in your WHS environment – $99.99 (£65.18) $79.99 (£52.14)

More details on PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server (including a free trial) are available from here, whilst some videos detailing the features coming to PerfectDisk 11 are available here.

HP are providing a comprehensive upgrade guide in PDF format to help you through the upgrade process, one for the EX470/EX475 and another for the EX480/EX485. The 14 page documents come on the appropriate upgrade disk, put we also provide them here for your reference.

• For EX47x owners: HP MediaSmart Server Software Upgrade from v.1 to v.3
• For EX48x owners: HP MediaSmart Server Software Upgrade from v.2 to v.3

You will be able to order the software from later this week, with shipments taking place next week. And the good news is that it is only $25 (€25) for the software.

We have had the opportunity of testing the software for the last few months, and you can find our results both here and here.

Here is the official release:

HP MediaSmart Server 3.0 Software Update Availability

The 3.0 software update DVD will be available to order beginning later this week, with shipments beginning next week.  These optional updates are available to purchase for owners of our EX470/475/485/487 products who want to upgrade their servers to the latest 3.0 software that is shipping on the EX490/495 products.

Please note the previously communicated information related to these updates:

1) The cost of the upgrade DVD has been finalized and will be US$25 or €25.

2) These upgrades will be available as a server recovery solution.  HP recommends that you back up all server files prior to installing the upgrade.

3) This upgrade is not recommended for EX470/475 owners who have not already upgraded their Server DRAM to 1GB as certain features will not function.  

To order the upgrade DVD, visit www.hp.com and enter your product model number in the “Support and Drivers” section.  Then follow the path for your MediaSmart Server model number to order the upgrades.

We thank everyone for their continued support of the MediaSmart Server family of products.

Reviewer Timothy Daleo takes it through its paces, and adds 2 videos explaining the installation and configuration process of the add-in, which also goes into the wireframe setup.

You can find Tim’s review here.

This is great pricing, now all we need is some Comcast subscribers to sign up for free and test if the installer works on Windows Home Server. The minimum system requirements are Windows 2000 and as WHS is based on Windows 2003 we should be good to go.

All you need for sign up is your Comcast.net email address and password and being that the storage space is provided by Mozy the quality should be excellent.

More details and signup are available from here.

Please Note: This offer is available to residential accounts only (non-commercial accounts).

Thanks to Bob Crook for the details.

The review looks inside the unit and test its performance by doing file transfer tests.

You can find their review here.

From here you can learn more about how Windows Home Server will help make your business more efficient and effective.

Available are case study videos where you can see first-hand how Home Server has been positively affecting small businesses.

The Home Server Show podcast #77 is out and this weeks episode takes a look at the Windows Mobile 7 Series as well as the latest news and discussions surrounding everything Home Server.

You can catch episode 77 here.

If you have visited this page before, you would have noticed that the KeepVault online backup service has now been added to the other 2 services already there: PerfectDisk 10 and Diskeeper, both of which are defragmentation tools for Home Server users.

KeepVault which is a great online backup solution for Windows Home Server users are offering a free 15 day trial as well as a 20% discount off of their normal pricing for the first year. For example 20GB of storage for $65/yr whilst 100GB is $315/yr – More details are available from here on pricing for other storage amounts, whilst the official press release can be viewed here.