Michael Thomas has written a review on his experience of using CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Home Server 2011, an online backup solution for Vail users.
CloudBerry leverages amazon S3 Storage and Michael takes us through its installation and the different options available to you, which you can read about here.
Before The Home Server Show went on air John and Jim were killing time and decided to tear apart the HP N40L ProLiant MicroServer.
So if you haven’t got a HP MicroServer and would like to see its innards, then you can in this 26 minute pre-show video.
Iv been playing with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview for the last 2 days with Windows Home Server 2011 and here are two issues which I encountered:
In Windows 7, a client PC and WHS will have the same user accounts and passwords, so that access to the Shared Folders on WHS is transparent to the user.
Now, in Windows 8, we’re supposed to use our Windows Live ID (or Microsoft Account, as it seems to be called now).
That means that when you try and access Shared Folders on WHS, you get a pop-up asking for your old Windows 7 account name and password. Even though there’s a checkbox to remember your credentials, I found that if the Windows 8 PC is rebooted, the credentials have been lost, and I have to enter them again.
Thankfully for now you can use the Credential Manager (Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\Credential Manager) to get this sorted.
The network credentials for the WHS 2011 server only had a validity of "Logon session" – so that’s why they weren’t surviving a reboot/logoff.
Within the credentials manager you need to create new Windows credentials for the WHS 2011 server. This time, when looking at it, it was be marked as "Enterprise", which will survive a reboot/logoff.
Microsoft have issued the following important issues for Windows Server "8" Beta regarding Storage, and in particular Storage Spaces the technology which is similar to what Drive Extender was on version 1 of Windows Home Server:
Microsoft WHS MVP, Grey Lancaster explains in two short YouTube videos how to setup RAID on the HP ProLiant MicroServer (part 1) and getting it configured in SBS 2011 Essentials (which also applies to WHS 2011 too) in part 2.
My Movies for Windows Home Server 2011 has been updated to version 2.11 PR1.
Here is the change log:
You can download a copy from here.
Seagate have beaten WD as the number one HDD maker in the last 3 months of 2011, beating Western Digital, which suffered heavy losses in the devastating Thailand floods last year.
“The new rankings mean that Seagate in the fourth quarter controlled 38 percent of overall HDD shipments, with Western Digital coming in a distant second at 23 percent. Toshiba had 16 percent, followed by Hitachi GST with 14 percent and Samsung with 9 percent.”
Regarding hard drive pricing:
“…pricing is not expected to return to preflood levels anytime soon, especially because there will be fewer manufacturers left after both Seagate and Western Digital complete their individual buyouts of Samsung and Hitachi GST, respectively. Also, higher pricing can be expected with the relocation of HDD production following the flood, increased component costs from manufacturers impacted by the disaster, and lofty costs in general associated with the continuing development of high-technology drives.”
More details are available from here.
PerfectDisk 12.5 SP3 (Build 310) for Client and Console has been released.
Here’s the change log:
Client:
Console:
You can wait for an autoupdate or check for updates by running PerfectDisk, clicking Help and then selecting Check for Updates to immediately update to this latest release.
More details on PerfectDisk Home Server can be found here.
Now is a good time to grab yourself a copy of Windows Home Server 2011 as it can now be found for as cheap as $44 in the US and £36 in the UK.
The English language version with the SQU: CCQ-00128 can be found in the US at CostCentral for $44.32 (plus $8 shipping) or for $52.99 including free shipping at newegg. In the UK it can be found for £36.39 at We Are Electricals or £36.96 at CCL Computers.
Western Digital (WD) has selected KeepVault online backup for its new WD Sentinel DX4000 series of small office storage servers.
Here’s the full press release:
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 1, 2012 – AuthenTec (NASDAQ: AUTH), a leading provider of mobile and network security, announced that Western Digital® (WD®) has selected its KeepVault backup service to provide optional offsite data protection for the new WD Sentinel™ DX4000 series of small office storage servers. KeepVault™, which was recently added to the AuthenTec portfolio via the Company’s acquisition of Proxure, is the only offsite/online backup provider to be integrated with the WD Sentinel DX4000 storage servers. The addition of KeepVault helps to ensure that data stored in the WD Sentinel DX4000 storage servers is protected even in the event of a natural or manmade disaster.
The WD Sentinel DX4000 small office storage server acts as the "on premise cloud storage" for today’s small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) and by adding the KeepVault “off-site cloud storage” the SMB’s have a cost effective disaster recovery solution all from a single solution from WD. KeepVault features real-time backup, encryption and data compression for the WD Sentinel DX4000 and offers SMB’s the speed and convenience of local protection and the peace of mind that they are also protected in the event of a disaster via the KeepVault solution.
”AuthenTec’s KeepVault adds important capabilities to the WD Sentinel small office storage server by providing offsite data storage for fast yet economical disaster recovery,” said Thomas Gallivan, vice president of marketing for WD’s SMB Solutions Group. ”The combination of WD Sentinel and AuthenTec’s KeepVault not only ensures automatic backup of PCs, laptops and Macs within the office network but additional peace of mind by providing businesses economical offsite backup as an insurance for their valuable data.”
“We are pleased to team with storage industry leader Western Digital to offer our KeepVault cloud storage service for the WD Sentinel DX4000, which can help save a small business hundreds of dollars per year compared to competing services,” said Tom Aebli, AuthenTec Vice President of Software and eCommerce. “KeepVault has been uniquely designed to work with the new Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, operating system powering WD Sentinel, protecting the Microsoft backups to secure offsite storage and enabling quick data recovery and system restoration. This will further expand the growing number of SMBs who depend on KeepVault for cost-effective and reliable data and system backup.”
The WD Sentinel server hardware and software, and AuthenTec’s KeepVault service are designed for always-on and hands-free operation. Once setup, protection of business systems and data is automatic. KeepVault software is now shipped preinstalled with the WD Sentinel DX4000 server, and Western Digital customers receive a special offer pricing via their custom signup link: http://wdc.keepvault.com
AuthenTec’s software and eCommerce business supports the millions of fingerprint sensors already integrated into laptops, tablets and mobile phones. The software and eCommerce portfolio includes AuthenTec’s TrueSuite identity management software, Eikon fingerprint readers for PC and Mac, KeepVault online backup services, and mobile and PC applications that enhance security and the user experience.
