By on July 12th, 2011

KeepVault 4.10 Improvements Announced

Online backup solution KeepVault and KeepVault Pro have both had improvements made to them today.

KeepVault Logo

KeepVault Pro now has a new flat rate pricing of $0.15/GB/month (when paying yearly) and no per device/seat fees. So you can now buy exactly the storage you need, with no pricing tiers and upgrade at any time. This new pricing and increased flexibility makes KeepVault Pro very price/feature competitive in the Pro/Small Medium Business market.

KeepVault Pro now also provides an enhanced backup reports web console showing details per device on the state of your backups.

Also both KeepVault Pro and KeepVault now provide the following enhancements:

  • Web access available to both Pro and regular users
  • New mobile enhanced website with WebApp for iOS users
  • Live chat support in addition to email support

KeepVault sate that these price reductions have been made possible through cost reductions due to the on-going reductions in storage costs and are passing these savings straight to the customer.

Here is part of their press release:

Proxure, Inc., a leading developer of information backup and synchronization technologies for consumer and small/medium business users, announced today the availability of Version 4.00 of its KeepVault.com data backup solution for Microsoft Windows Server, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP. New with this release are custom versions of the KeepVault client software designed specifically for Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011, Windows Small Business Server 2011, and Windows Storage Server 2011, and a new Mac OSX client for the KeepVault Connector file archiving functionality.

The KeepVault data backup solution provides backup to a secure online storage account with the option of simultaneous backup to local and network devices such as internal/external hard drives and USB flash drives. Emphasis is placed on ease-of-use, reliability, security, and quality customer service; all at an affordable price. Competing solutions like Mozy, SOS Online Backup, Backblaze, or Carbonite offer some but not all of these essential elements.

KeepVault and KeepVault Pro are the perfect solutions for consumers and small-sized businesses looking to ‘offsite’ their important files and protect them from disasters or loss. Purchase the amount of storage required and backup an unlimited number of devices and servers for no additional cost. Pro users can create and administer sub-accounts to partition different users or clients. Backup is automatic, continuous, and in real-time, or can be scheduled. ‘One-Click Restore’ intelligently finds only the missing files, while ‘Selective Restore’ and ‘Selective Download’ (pro only) give users complete control over which computer and which files to restore from and to.

Some features of the new KeepVault 4.00
· Backward compatible with existing KeepVault storage accounts
· New platform support
· Windows Home Server 2011 (code name Vail)
· Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials (code name Aurora)
· Windows Storage Server (code name Breckenridge)
· Protect and store multiple versions of files (pro only)
· 256bit encryption (pro only – regular accounts continue with 128bit)
· Updated web.keepvault.com download portal. Easier navigation. Faster downloads (pro only)
· Administer your storage. Allocate “sub-buckets” for family, friends, and co-workers (pro only)
· Optimized file deletion process
· File queue viewer. Prioritize your files. View, order, and delete files before they are protected
· New OSX Mac Client for KeepVault Connector

More details on KeepVault for Windows Home Server are available from here and here.

add-ins • News • Windows Home Server
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By on July 12th, 2011

PerfectDisk 12 Service Pack 1 Build 275

The defrag program for Windows Home Server users has had an update.

PerfectDisk Logo

PerfectDisk 12 Client and Enterprise Console have been updated to Build 275. These latest builds include various bug fixes.

You can “Check For Updates” in the products or wait for Autoupdate.

Client fixes:

  • There were several issues where the S.M.A.R.T. tab indicated outrageously high temperatures. This was due to PerfectDisk not recognizing the drive model and trying to apply an incorrect set of rules to interpret the S.M.A.R.T. data. In this build PerfectDisk will only provide S.M.A.R.T. data for drives in recognizes. More drives will be added in later service packs.
  • Real time defragmentation aggressively allocated space to prevent additional fragmentation. This resulted in consuming large amounts of space unnecessarily. The main symptom was rapidly growing log files. This has been corrected.
  • On some Windows XP systems the drives were grayed out and PerfectDisk could not be used. This was due an issue with WMI which has been corrected.
  • On Windows 7, the hidden 100mb partition created to support bitlocker has been added to the excluded drives list automatically. There is no benefit in defragmenting this partition.
  • Multiple text changes were made to maintain the PerfectDisk consistent with the PerfectDisk Console.
  • When enabling or disabling the SMART feature, the PerfectDisk GUI did not reflect the changes until you closed and reopened the GUI. This has been fixed.
  • There was a bug in displaying the MFT statistics. Text was inserted where numerical values should have been. This has been corrected.
  • When SMART polling occurred, the SMART Tab refocused to the first disk in the list. This has been fixed to leave focus on whatever disk was selected.
  • When entering a license key the Help menu still allowed you to reenter it. This has been fixed.
  • When right clicking on a file in the Most Fragmented Files list, and choosing to open the folder you would get an error if the file path contained a space. This has been fixed.
  • Ability to set partitions as Thin Provisioned has been removed from the PerfectDisk consumer product line. This feature is for corporate thin provisioned SAN environments.
  • There was a bug in the VMware Host product which caused the GUI to crash when performing an offline defrag on a virtual volume. The crash was in the PerfectDisk GUI and did not affect the virtual volume. This has been fixed.
  • Data retention rules were added to prevent the log file growing too large. Before Service Pack 1, all alerts were saved. Now Alerts are saved for two weeks and then purged.
  • During a defrag pass, the hibernate file is temporarily removed to free up space to improve defrag performance. If the computer was shutdown during a defrag pass or when a defrag pass was PAUSED, the hibernate file was not restored. This has been fixed.
  • Additional information was added to the log when performing a Zero Fill pass (Server product only).
  • Some of the Alerts had the incorrect text. The Alert indicated you had exceeded a threshold when it should have indicated you dropped below the threshold value. values were also being incorrectly flagged as alerts when they were not. These have been fixed.
  • S.M.A.R.T. temperature graph appeared to be out of date. This was due to only graphing 1000 data points, where there could have been up to 44,600. This has been fixed.
  • After an Analyze pass, PerfectDisk made a recommendation on what type of defragmentation pass was needed and allowed you to start that pass right away. There was a bug which caused PerfectDisk to start the default defrag pass not the currently recommended. This has been fixed

Console fixes:

  • Functionality to ignoring console alerts was broken (Error interface not registered). This has been corrected.
  • The PerfectDisk Console allowed more than one managed group to have the same name. This has been corrected.
  • Multiple text changes were made to maintain the PerfectDisk Console consistent with PerfectDisk.
  • Alert and Warning icons were incorrect. This has been corrected.
  • Manual synching of the PerfectDisk 12 clients is handled differently then in PerfectDisk 11. In PerfectDisk 12, the client initiated the synch. In PerfectDisk 11 the Console initiated the synch. This caused issues when manually synchronizing from the Console to v12 clients. The v12 Console was upgraded to allow manually synchronizing with v12 clients.
  • Computer Description was incorrect. It displayed the Computer Name not the description. Description has been removed.
  • Synch schedules were displayed as DAILY even though they were WEEKLY schedule types. This has been fixed.
  • There was some cutoff text on the Reporting Tab. This has been fixed.
  • The offline help check box was removed as there is no offline help for the console. Last defragged date was inconsistent between the Client and the Console. This has been corrected.

More details on PerfectDisk 12 for Windows Home Server are available from here.

add-ins • Windows Home Server
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By on July 12th, 2011

WHS v1 – A History Lesson

Paul Thurrott’s Supersite for Windows has a article on the history of Windows Home Server (v1).

WHS Install Screen

From being announced at CES in January 2007 to Power Pack 3 being released in December 2009, it’s an interesting read with links to Paul’s existing articles on version 1 of Windows home Server.

Windows Home Server: A Look Back

News • Windows Home Server
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By on July 11th, 2011

BBS2 Power from Tranquil PC

If you would like to build a server your own way then the BBS2 Power unit from Tranquil PC could be the answer.

BBS2 Power

With the same basic core components as used in the Leo HS4 and Leo SS4, the BBS2 Power delivers huge amounts of processing power for a high performance platform, yet consumes as little as 21W when idle.

The motherboard supports hot swap HDDs for all 4 bays and supports on board RAID 0,1,5,10.

The BBS2 Power comes complete with the following:

  • 4x Hot Swap HDD bays (tool less)
  • Intel 1155 socket – factory fitted with i3-2100T (upgradeable on order)
  • Integrated RAID (Intel RST) on board (4 ports)
  • 2x DDR3 RAM slots (1x populated with 2GB)
  • 1x Low Profile PCIex slot (factory fitted cards)

Features

  • Fan less cooling of the CPU (even i7)
  • Small stylish cabinet
  • 1x eSATA port
  • 2x USB3.0 ports
  • DVI / HDMI / DisplayPort
  • 1x GBE LAN
  • Multi channel Audio incl SPDIF
  • Low acoustic level (HDD cooler fan only)

Applications

  • Home Server
  • Business Server
  • Media Server
  • CCTV IP camera Server
  • High capacity, high performance work station

What do you get

  • BBS2 Power appliance
  • 2GB DDR3 RAM (1x spare slot)
  • Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor (i3-2100T 2.5GHz)
  • 120W internal and 120W external (12V) fan less AC adapter
  • 24 month RTB (return to base) warranty

The BBS2 Power unit provides great value, for the self builder @ £479.00 and for a limited period that drops to £434.00 (using coupon code BBS2SAVE) – and that includes the i3-2100 CPU and 2GB DDR3 RAM (both upgradeable).

More details are available from here.

Hardware • News • Windows Home Server
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By on July 10th, 2011

BYOB Podcast Episode 50

BYOB Logo

Episode 50 of the BYOB podcast is up for the Build Your Own Box enthusiasts.

This weeks episode has special guest Andrew Edney talking about various systems, which you can find here.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on July 09th, 2011

TwonkyServer 6.0.34

Twonky T Logo

The media server TwonkyServer is now at version 6.0.34 and includes the following changes:

  • Bug Fixes:
  • fixed: File scanning issue on Windows network drives
  • fixed: Roku soundbridge cannot stream aac/m4a
  • fixed: UPnP Discovery broken w/ Linn control point
  • fixed: Web Config UI not working properly with Internet Explorer 9
  • fixed: improved ssdp responses to M-Searches with MX=1
  • fixed: Aggregation not always indexing all items, if there are items of unknown type to TwonkyServer

Changes:

  • Disabled the NMC Stationary service in TwonkyServer
  • Added Linn Bubble DS to clients DB
  • Removed useless client adaptatiion option XM:NOAAC320FORAAC192

More details on TwonkyServer are available as well as a WHS installation guide in PDF format.

Since version 6.0.33 was never released, release notes for that version can be found here.

Other Software • Windows Home Server
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By on July 09th, 2011

Mac Backup with a Homemade Time Capsule

Website makeuseof have an article on how to backup your Mac with a homemade Time Capsule.

After losing some fairly important accounting files recently, I realised that my backup strategy is quite flawed. Although I take a weekly bootable backup of my Mac, that doesn’t really help when I deleted the file I want a few weeks ago. To do that, I would need to make use of Apple’s built-in Time Machine functionality, but I don’t really want another drive attached on my beautiful zen desk space – and I’m certainly going to pay Apple £200-300 for a glorified router with built-in hard drive.

No, instead I’d like to just throw another 1TB into my home server and be done with it. Unfortunately, this isn’t entirely supported by Apple, so it’s going to need a little hacking together.

We are then guided on how to set this all up, with the required configuration for both the Mac and Windows Home Server.

Homemade Time Machine

How to backup your Mac with a homemade Time Capsule, is available to read here.

Tutorial • Windows Home Server
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By on July 09th, 2011

WHS2011, CrashPlan and the Windows Phone 7 Connector

space-monkeyThe AwesomeSpaceMonkey blog give their option on using Windows Home Sever 2011 along with CrashPlan and the Windows Home Server 2011 Windows Phone 7 Connector.

“Overall I am really enjoying Windows Home Server 2011 and the integration with Windows Phone 7.”

You can find their blog entry here.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on July 08th, 2011

DVBLink Public Beta of Version 4

The DVBLink software from DVBLogic which we have written about a lot in the past has a new version in the works.

DVBLink TVSource and Home Server v4 products are now in public beta and there are a lot of new things and improvements comparing to version 3.x. Some features are the same but done/accessed in a different way.

DVBLink Version 4 Beta

The DVBLink Server Network Pack is now split into two separate products:

DVBLink Home Server

  • DLNA and networked MediaCenter server

DVBLink Connect! Server

  • Web interface for Guide/timers/web streaming
  • Server for IPhone/IPad, WinPhone and Android apps
  • Server for 3rd party DVBLink clients

So what’s new:

  • Web-based DVBLink server configuration –Specifically designed for headless servers
  • Localized in 10+ languages

Virtual PBDA drivers provide MediaCenter integration:

  • Easy and more intuitive TV Setup procedure
  • Removed 4 tuner limit (8 virtual tuners will be available at release)
  • One-to-one mapping between source instance and virtual tuner instance

DVBLink Home Server:

  • New DLNA server module provides improved DLNA clients compatibility and improved channel change speed (using smart stream burst technology)
  • New streaming module for MediaCenter clients provides improved streaming reliability (works over WiFi now!)

DVBLink Connect! Server:

  • Improved web interface and a more robust web streaming
  • Bundled IPhone/IPad, Android and WinPhone apps (can be downloaded free of charge)
  • Exposes DVBLink Remote API to build custom DVBLink clients. The API is http/xml based so should work on any client and is publicly available
  • Includes (optional) DVBLink recorder module for WMC-independent timer recordings functionality

DVBLink Remote API

  • HTTP/xml based
  • Delivers the following functionality
    –Channel list retrieval
    –EPG information retrieval (leveled, can be optimized for low bandwidth connections)
    –Recording timers management
    –Live streaming
  • Supported streaming formats
    –Raw mpeg-2 transport stream over UDP or HTTP
    –Transcoded ASF streaming over HTTP
    –Transcoded HLS (iphone/ipad format)
    –Transcoded mpeg-2 TS with mpeg-4 video/AAC audio over RTP

More information on version 4 beta 1 is available from here.

Other Software • Windows Home Server
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By on July 08th, 2011

WHS 2011 Worldwide Price Drop

WHS Blue Logo

The Windows Home Server 2011 software has seen a price drop around the world, with the English SKU being available for $52 + $7 shipping state side from online retailers such as Superbiz (take an additional $5 off using coupon code WOMBAT bring the total down to $47), whilst Newegg and Amazon still have it listed for over $100.

Likewise across the pond in the UK it is being listed for £42.49 at CCL and for £46.99 at Kikatek and the same is happening in Germany with the German SKU being available for around €42 from independent retailers and around €48 on Amazon.de (Euro)

Its great to see this price drop, which will make WHS2011 more accessible and into more homes.

News • Windows Home Server
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