Existing EX470/EX475 Owners will get Updated Features
One of the most frequent questions which I have been asked today is, will existing MediaSmart owners get the updated features of the new server range?
Well it’s now official. I have word direct from HP that the Mac Backup feature, which is to be made available on the new EX485/EX487 models of the MediaSmart Server will also be available to existing EX470/EX475 owners as well.
HP have also stated that the server online backup add-in (Amazon S3) will also be made available and although no time frame has been given we are told that both features will be available soon via the HP Software Update utility which is built into the console.
This is good news to all of us who own one of the original MediaSmart Server’s, I just hope we get the new black scheme interface as an upgrade too, and additional software upgrades in the future. But knowing HP and how they have handled other products in the past, I’m sure we will!
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Now HP just needs to release the Mac backup feature to the rest of the WHS community. That’s an add-in that would definitely add to the value of WHS as a total home backup solution, not just for those who go the MediaSmart route. I’m sure a lot of those who went the do-it-yourself route would appreciate the Mac backup feature.
Great news! Thanks for all the info today! Your site is great!!!!
Hi robert m,
Glad I could be of service.
Eureka!
As an early adopter of the EX470 who suffered through through all the sleepless nights, I can only tip my hat to HP for offering up these new features.
I have maxed out my EX470 RAM, and can’t wait to be able to add my Mac clients to the backup world.
Thanks!
I seriously doubt HP will sell the Time Machine add-on separately, as much as I’ve advocated for that to happen.
I think it’s much more likely that some savvy WHS developer will monitor what the MediaSmart add-on does, and replicate that as a third-party add-on.
From the looks of it, the app works by creating a separate shared folder, enabling Mac OS X to see unsupported mounts, and possibly a MacFUSE driver to bypass problems with Apple’s SMB implementation. Not that hard when you pick it apart.
I’ve used iTimeMachine to enable SMB-based backups for Time Machine, however I experienced one major issue when backing up to a WHS-based share: Time Machine queries the amount of free disk space on the share, and WHS reports that amount of free disk space on the first hard drive rather than the amount of free space in the storage pool. Although my WHS has more than 1TB of free space, my primary HD is only 160GB in size, with about 80GB free and Time Machine refuses to attempt to backup to the share because not enough free space is reported for the amount of data that needs to be backed up.
As a work-around, I have created a share on my Media Center PC (the other PC that is on 24×7 in my home) to perform Time Machine backups.
Any word on when this is going to happen?
I have been waiting for months for the new software but I still don’t see anything about it.
Ditto. I’m anxious to get this update so I can backup the Macs in my house!
Still no sign of any upgrade for remote media and i-pod streaming after four months.
Most of us have upgraded our EX470/475s to 2MB and added disks, so the only real hardware difference is a slightly slower processor. Why can’t we have the remote media streaming stuff. I’ve been using a flaky and unsupported webguide addin for too long. HP haven’t provided a decent upgrade to this servers features since I got it last year and now seem to have abandoned existing EX475 customers while the new product gets all the attention.