Add-In: WHS Outlook, Quicken and QuickBooks

The add-ins WHS Outlook, WHS Quicken and WHS QuickBooks have had an update.

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The update is to address an issue that arose from the Microsoft Windows Home Server Update Rollup 2 (KB981089), and address the issue where these add-ins had problems with web access.

More information is available from HomeServerLand.

RC (Release Candidate) of Vail Imminent

The Windows Home Server Team yesterday posted a tweet on Twitter stating that they had signed off on the final RC (Release Candidate) of Vail, with a link pointing to the Windows Home Server page on the Microsoft Connect beta site.

Vail RC Twitter Notification

The link has since been removed and website Winrumors are also predicting that the RC will be available on the Connect site this Thursday.

It looks like we may have the RC of Vail very soon!

A Sluggish Home Server

A blogger was building a decent Windows Home Server using spare parts from around the house when upon installing SyncToy and mapping his network drives to his existing WHS he noticed things were running a bit sluggish:

Not sure where to go I poked around through device manager.  In the ATA controllers section I saw there is a speed test button: one of many thoughtful Nvidia features.  I checked both WD Green drives: one was operating at 146 MB/s and the other at 14 MB/s.  Running the test several times made no difference.  I checked the Western Digital site and they mentioned setting jumper 7-8 for XP systems with Advanced Format drives: while this isn’t an XP system all the drivers were and it was worth a shot.  I removed both drives, added a jumper to pins 7-8 and reinstalled WHS.  The system was fast and the speed test showed 146 MB/s for both drives.

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You can read the full story here.

Add-In: Feedsource for Windows Home Server 1.0.0.19

Add-In that publishes secure Really Simple Syndication (“RSS”) feeds for Shared Folders through the Remote Access web site.

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Authorized users can access the Feedsource RSS feeds from inside or outside the home network to view new and changed files in Shared Folders using any RSS reader that supports authenticated feeds

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Features

  • Authenticated RSS feeds for Shared Folders that show create, delete, rename, and change events for files and directories
  • Granular control to enable or disable RSS feeds for each Shared Folder 
  • Automatic integration with the Remote Access web site to view feeds from outside your network with no extra port-forwarding or configuration
  • Simple setup through the Windows Home Server Console
  • Secure authentication and authorization using SSL and existing Windows Home Server access controls
  • RSS 2.0 and Atom support

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Feedsource for WHS is available as a 30 day trail and is priced at $10. More details are available from Tentacle Software.

The Home Server Show Podcast Episode 121

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Episode 121 of "The Home Server show" podcast is available, which this week is about Update Release 2 for WHS V1.

Including the weeks news plus Dave’s crazy thoughts on the future of Windows Home Server, you can catch this weeks episode here.

An Xbox Home Server?

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An Xbox Home Server? Why not says ZDNet’s Simon Bisson whilst talking about the future of Windows Home Server.

Simon asks the question:

So if Home Server is on the move, where should it go?

And states:

Thinking about it, there’s one logical home for Home Server’s software, and another for its hardware.

Personally I think Windows Home Server’s future is a bright one. We may have lost Drive Extender but as the clique from the 1800’s states: “Onwards and upwards”.

You can read Simon’s article here.

Update Release 2 for WHS v1 Available

Update Release 2 (UR2) for Windows Home Server v1 is available today and will be available from Windows Update and will automatically download as long as you have automatic updates turned on within the console.

UR2 also known as Knowledge Base article 981089 fixes 8 issues with Windows Home Server:

  1. When using Windows Internet Explorer 9 to access the computer page of the Windows Home Server Remote Access website, the connection fails if your Windows Home Server Remote Access website is not added to the trusted sites zone.
  2. If you change you the calendar to the Japanese format the TV archive add-in in Media Center fails on the TV archive page.
  3. The uninstallation process fails on your first attempt to uninstall Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Client Connector from a home computer
  4. When you shut down a home computer, Windows Home Server may report that antivirus software is not installed or is out of date. This occurs even though the antivirus software is installed and up-to-date.
  5. A home computer that is joined to one of the following servers is not blocked when the computer tries to join Windows Home Server, thus causing software compatibility issues:
    • The next version of Windows Home Server
    • Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials
    • Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials
  6. The current version of Identity Client Run Time Library that is included in Windows Home Server contains a potential privacy issue.
  7. A function call may fail if you use the Windows Home Server software development kit (SDK) to retrieve user information on a German or French version of Windows Home Server.
  8. The Remote Access website may be vulnerable to cross-site request forgery attacks.

Its great news to see that these problems are all fixes in the latest UR1 update for Windows Home Server v1.

Help Improve Vail Online Help

Microsoft would like your help.

Happy User at Home

The Home and Small Business Server documentation team would like you to visit the Windows Server Code Name “Vail” Online Help and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials Online Help websites, check the content, then click What do you think of this website? Take a quick survey at the top of the page.

Your anonymous information will be used to improve the experience and content on the relevant website.

Add-In: CloudBerry Backup for WHS 1.9

CloudBerry Lab has just announced version 1.9 of CloudBerry Backup for WHS.

CloudBerry Backup for WHS 1.9 Intelligent Include Folder Functionality

Available for Home Server v1, Vail and also Aurora this latest version includes the following new features:

Intelligent include/ exclude folder functionality

Imagine the situation:  you select the folder to backup up and then select only a subset of folders and files underneath it. In the previous release if you add more files to the parent folder they would not get copied when CloudBerry Backup runs.

In this latest release all new files in the parent folders will get automatically copied when backup process runs.

Amazon S3 Multipart Upload support.

Now enables you to upload large files more reliably while accessible using other Amazon S3 tools. Also, supports objects up to 5TB

More details on CloudBerry Backup for WHS are available from here.

Presentation on SBS 2011 in BC Canada

Microsoft’s Sean Daniel is giving a presentation on SBS 2011 Essentials and Standard in BC, Canada.

The Vancouver Island Computing Experts(?) User Group presents the event which takes place in Victoria, British Columbia at the Camosun College Lansdowne on the 2nd February between 06:30PM  and 09:30 PM.

Join Sean Daniel Senior Program Manager from Microsoft Corp. as he talks about small business server solutions coming from Microsoft and HP. See what’s new with Small Business Server 2011 Standard and Essentials and learn about HPs offerings for Small Business server hardware.  As a Small Business program manager for 10+ years, he’ll talk about the new servers as well as be able to answer questions on the old servers from Microsoft.  Come with questions on the new or old products, with his experience in the field, he’s perfect to bounce questions off.

If you are an IT support shop, your companies "go to IT person", an independent IT person, the manager/implementer for your small business, or interested simply interested in small business technology, this evening is for you!!

Registration is free and if you would like to attend then please fill in the relevant documentation which you can find here.