By Philip Churchill on January 10th, 2008
HP sells 3 months of MediaSmart Servers in the first 3 weeks
Over on the eWEEK Microsoft Watch blog, author Joe Wilcox has been chatting to Brian Burch, Hewlett-Packard’s marketing director for the Managed Home Business Personal Systems group at CES 2008 about the company’s Windows Home Server system the MediaSmart Server. Brian said:
“Sales are so brisk, they’re too good. HP sold its planned three months of inventory in the first three weeks.”
The full story is here (at the bottom).
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I only have two questions. What planet does Microsoft live on? And how are they enjoying their recent visit to Earth?
My first assignment with Unix was at IBM in the late 1980s. It involved a mix of PC-RTs and AIX PS/2 machines. We had no server, as each machine functioned as a combined client+server.
The concept of a machine that is a dedicated server came from the old MS-DOS and Novel Netware days in which low-cost computers were so crippled that they couldn’t smoothly run server applications and client applications at the same time.
The IBM security folks were bedeviled by our network. Because of some bureaucratic edict, they were required to ensure that the owners of all networks registered their network servers. But we didn’t have a dedicated server, and they could not get it through their brains that a network of PCs could exist without a server. To them, a network without a server was like a body without a head.
So, after all these years, and with Microsoft’s push into the enterprise, their operating systems are still stuck in the early 1980s with the ancient concepts of dedicated client and server machines.
Wow! I am so underwhelmed.
I think your missing the point of centralized computing.
It’s a common problem we see here and on the WHS blog. Sharp sticks and stones and what seems to be no understanding of the concept whatsoever….
Paradigms are hard to break..
Headache4U said, “Microsoft’s reputation is damaging it’s credibility and our customer confidence. No one wants to pay full retail to be the guinea pig!!!”
The problem isn’t the customers, it’s with the Microsoft product/s such as X-Box, Vista and now WHS with major problems!
Of course, Microsoft can deny it and downplay rather than to deal and resolve the many dissatisfied experiences of customers.
Question: When will the WHS data corruption issue be fixed? http://www.support.microsoft.com/kb/946676
More of the same…… LOL.
@TheJudge
“no understanding of the concept whatsoever” so data corruption isn’t anything to be concern about?
You obviously hold your opinion, but it’s safe to say, “business as usual” isn’t going to be accepted anymore for selling us crippled products based on proprietary software.
That’s suppose to be the difference between FREE software and PAID software, but evidently you don’t understand this concept whatsoever.
We don’t need WHS, as much as you want to believe, as there already exist better solutions, without the serious major problems which still go unresolved without a remedy what’s so ever!
Question, if Microsoft cannot resolve the WHS data corruption problem, shouldn’t customers get REFUNDS?
In California we have the lemon law, which states, that consumers purchasing said products should works as expected, and it’s clear to everyone even at Microsoft, that WHS isn’t functioning correctly by corrupting data!
Nobody will knowingly purchase WHS to experience the loss of their family photos, personal videos, email, financial records, PC backup files and anything else that is important.
I agree, unless Microsoft can repair the serious flaw in WHS regarding data corruption, all OEM vendors such as HP need to boycott WHS. Because no vendor customers will be willing to accept their data to be corrupted!!!
WHS isn’t functional at this point in time with such a huge serious flaw like this…
It’s also interesting in that, HP isn’t putting all its media serving eggs in the Windows Home Server basket and has turned back to Linux (HP MediaVault mv5150 1.5TB) for a refresh of its dual-drive MediaVault line.
As usual…missing the point and obviously did not read the MS article detailing the replicated cause and affect. I mean no disrespect, but I’ll call it like I see it. So, here goes. ….
If you read the knowledge base article, you will see that it is created under VERY SPECIFIC AND UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Which, if I did my math correctly, affects a SMALL percentage of the customer population currently using WHS in that EXACT capacity. The article also states that the corruption issue can be avoided until the hot fix is released by NOT uploading HUGE amounts of data to WHS ( i.e. transfer of personal files onto a new install), WHILE AT THE SAME TIME working from and then saving a file from one of the seven applications found to be affected by the corruption problem OR abstaining from the use of said programs until the fix is released. Which, unlike a previous poster stated, the fix is in developement process now.
I personally don’t update/save an Outlook 2007 PST file to my server while simultaneously transfering 200 gig of movies onto a new HD. Sorta makes for a slow process and tends to lock up any computer I’ve ever worked on ;-). Also, I don’t use any of the programs listed in the corruption article (except OLK 2007) and I’ve had NO issues with lost data, precious family heirloom photos, MP3’s etc. My WHS functions just fine as it was designed… No doom and gloom to report here, whatsoever.
HP, eggs and baskets? Well, no company should EVER rely on only one product or variety of a product to produce all earnings for its shareholders over the long term. Otherwise it will not be in business for long. That’s Business school 101 and is no indication that HP is bailing on WHS anytime soon. They also sell printers, cameras, computers, WHS and network storage, etc. Product diversity and multiple revenue streams. It’s just smart business…not a sign of weakness in a certain product line offering. No doom or gloom there either…..
Read the articles, understand it, if still confused….sharpen you sticks for another blog or forum. Competitors, propaganda mills and fellow geekers with heartfelt hate for MS, over inflated hype or nothing better to do will not stop consumers from buying what they need and/or want. Sorry, hasn’t worked and it won’t work. It never does.
Now go out and buy your copy and get on board Centralized Storage and Backup. You’ll never go back once it saves your butt just once!
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/946676/
http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2663159&SiteID=50
Someone posted above, the fix is in development process now. You mean since April 3, 2007 when Microsoft posted KB 946676.
… and “affects a SMALL percentage of the customer population” which obviously someone thinks that’s acceptable. However, many of us don’t agree, as we don’t want to suffer our data to be corrupted if even one person out of nine.
… and unlike the statement someone had suggested only seven software programs are effected, again that’s NOT honest. But, isn’t it ironic that these seven software programs are also from Microsoft? You mean, Microsoft didn’t even bother to check their own software to know their own software programs don’t work with Microsoft’s WHS? Bit Torrent applications, which make up the largest Internet bandwidth and Quicken financial data files are also experiencing data corruption with WHS, etc…
But when someone said, don’t uploading HUGE amounts of data to WHS, then what good is WHS for, 30 kilobyte files? Why should transferring files to WHS be limited to small amounts of data, right?
… and when someone said until a fix is provided, by all means DON”T use any of the programs, so who wants to purchase WHS having to wait to use the product?
And another thing, just because someone personally doesn’t save his own PST files to WHS, why not get WHS fixed instead of providing a DO NOT LIST to use WHS?
And as for transfer 200GB such as movies, that shouldn’t even be an issue, unless someone thinks WHS should live with this issue. You know everyone can transfer 2TB of data in XP without it corruption your data. Why should WHS be allowed to corrupt your data or movies, photos whatever files when transferring to WHS?
The fact someone’s WHS locks up, seems to indicate issues with WHS. Which brings us to yet another issue about WHS, it’s slow throughput of bandwidth requiring WHS functions to be turned off to improve transfer speeds!
And as for someone suggesting, HP isn’t bailing WHS, think about, because Linux is indeed being sold side by side as a contender. For every dollar earned by HP Linux is yet another dollar lost for Microsoft.
If this makes me a Microsoft basher, so be it. But, the rest of us bashers want our products to work, without serious data corruption issues rather than downplaying the significance.
Nobody needs a centralized storage like WHS to backup their PC. Save the headaches $$$ USD, use Acronis True Image. And if your looking to save even more money consider for yourself the following NAS solutions:
FreeNAS, Naslite v2, Clark Connection Linux Distro,
Synology, Ubuntu 7.10 Server, QNAP …
Thanks for your comments guys.