Add-In: AdminiMe for WHS Update-Release-1

A new version of AdminiMe for Windows Home Server is available.

The add-in constantly monitors your server in the background, without you having to do anything and will notify you in case something goes wrong.

Update Release-1 includes the following fixes:

  • APP:CA002 Cpu Analyzer Index (zero based) must be greater than or equal to zero and less than the size of the argument list.
    A proper message is now shown to indicate that the CPU is overloaded.
  • Isn’t possible to change the network card, Apply button doesn’t enable
    The button now gets enabled and selecting a card should work.
  • Documentation on using the mail functionality in the Communication dialog has been increased.
  • Server: Nag screen contains control characters
    Control characters have been removed.
  • The part of the add in that shows the add in is registered says: ‘Registrd to:Name’
    Changed to: ‘Registered to: Name’
  • Sent emails are german and contains formatting code \\r\\n in the text, right before the text \""In der registrierten Version …\"" "
    Control characters have been removed.
  • Server: Console crashes when invalid license file is on the server
    An extra check is done and handled.
  • Server: Settings aren’t all saved
    Now when changing settings (like events,…) these are saved as well.
  • Server: In some cases, selecting the networkcard wasn?t persisted
    Now when changing the networkcard in the config settings the selected card is saved.
  • Server: Error when starting ?There was a problem while checking the registration file:The device is not connected.?
    Now an extra check is done and this error should be handled.
  • Server: Checking the last item in the list of Application Logs (Config tab) doesn’t submit the change, isn’t saved
    Now you can select the last item and save the change too.
  • There was a problem while checking the registration file:The type initializer for ‘Microsoft.HomeServer.Controls.ShareManager’ threw an exception.
    This led to problems that mails were sent as unregistered, while the license file was present.
    Now an extra check is done and this error should be handled, in some cases it could still occur.
    If this is the case, send a mail to support@asoft-ware.com for a workaround.
  • Server: When a user chose to ignore messages, in the WHS Console then these messages were also reported.
    Now when you choose to ignore messages, they will not be reported anymore.
  • Server: In some cases where there was high memory consumption it could be that AdminiMe reported this, while the treshold was not yet reached.
    This was not a bug but the algorithm has been changed slightly so that it is more sensitive.
  • The links to the registration page/AutoExit page on the console toolbar where opened locally in the console
    Now they are opened on the client itself.
  • You can now disable the monitoring of a disk’ usage, by setting the treshold to 0.
  • The disk id’s in the disk overview tab are now padded with a zero and sorted correctly
  • The disk rate is now converted to the best format (Kb/s,MB/s,…)

The disk rate is now converted to the best format (Kb/s,MB/s,…)

AdminiMe  Update Release-1

More details are available from here.

Developing for the Launchpad in Vail

The second edition of the Vail Engineering blogs is up, and this time they are talking about Launchpad.

What is Launchpad

If you are a developer then you will want to know what Lauchpad is, why you should care about it and when to extend it and when not to. Then this is a read for you.

Add-In: WHSThumbnailer 1.0.0.2

WHSThumbnailer is a photo resizer/thumbnail generator add-in, which is currently available for beta testing.

Do you have a lot large photos on your Windows Home Server which are difficult to manage and that take too long to share with your friends and family? Are you a professional photographer and want to sell your photos from your website? Photos and graphics use a lot of server space. This can make Web pages load a lot slower. One option you have is to use thumbnails of your pictures instead. Meet WHS Thumbnailer which makes the creation of image thumbnails a breeze to manage and automate. A thumbnail is a smaller version of the same picture.

WHSThumbnailer 1.0.0.2 Console

Version 1.0.0.2 (22 May 2010) changelog:

  • Removed support for bmp / png files, since its not working correctly yet.
  • Fixed an exception thrown in the settings dialog during background service start / stop
  • Fixed a problem that would prevent settings changes from taking effect immediately
  • Many minor bug fixes
  • Added a keepalive timer to stop timeout exceptions between the UI and the background service
  • Apply button now working properly in settings dialog
  • Added correct file type filter in add file dialog
  • Increased maximum thumbnail dimensions to 2048 * 2048

 WHSThumbnailer 1.0.0.2 Settings

You can download WHSThumbnailer from here.

HomeServerSync – Additional Information

As you may be aware, Tranquil PCs HomeServerSync add-in will be available from July 2010, bringing the data connection and data sharing functions of Home Server to new levels in the real world by:

  • Multiuser multi folder synchronization both on the local area network and also via the Internet.
  • Included 100GB off-site backup facility, upgradable to 1 TB, is hosted in our own data centre in Manchester

HomeServerSync Share and Sync

Tranquil PC has also planned that the connection to the console and shared folders is achievable whilst away from the office via the built in secure HomeServerSync VPN instead of the built in Home Server external communications protocol. The secure VPN tunnel is simple to use without the need of changing firewall settings or port forwarding etc

HomeServerSync Off Site Backup

You may register your interest in HomeServerSync on their website, and 25 lucky registrars will receive a free 12 month subscription to HomeServerSync, once it is released in July.

OR

Order ANY SQA-5H server before the end of June 2010, and you will automatically receive a 12 month subscription to HomeServerSync.  To claim your copy, just reply to your emailed order acknowledgement – with the words "Give me my FREE HomeServerSync" and you will receive it once it’s released. 

Additional information and the latest news on HomeServerSync can be found here.

CloudBerry Online Backup for WHS Reviewed

The How-To Geek has a review of the add-in “CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Home Server”.

Getting a Geek rating of 4 out of 5 stars, their thorough review takes you through the installation of the add-in and the setup of a Amazon S3 account, which is also needed.

How-To Geek CloudBerry WHS

How it performs in actual use and the features of this particular online backup add-in are covered, including the web interface and the restore process.

If you’re looking for an effective and easy to use front end application to backup your Windows Home Server data to your Amazon S3 account, CloudBerry is a recommended affordable choice.

You can read their review here.

HP EX490 on Sale

newegg.com has the HP EX490 MediaSmart Server on sale for an impressive $389.99. With a limit of up to 5 per customer this deduced price saves you $160 off the original price of $549.99.

Newegg EX490 on Sale

You may purchase one from here.

Update Realtek Network Driver During a Bare Metal Restore

Microsoft have published a KB article for Home Server users on "How to update Realtek network adapter drivers during a Bare Metal Restore of Windows Home Server".

During a Bare Metal Restore of Windows Home Server, the updated network drivers for the Realtek family of network adapters may have to be manually updated. You can update the drivers by using a Windows XP/Windows Server 2003 driver. The restore CD for the Windows Home Server will indicate that the inbox driver for the restore CD is present. However, this driver may not work as expected. Additionally, there is no network connectivity. To resolve this issue, download the drivers from the Realtek site and then install them during the Bare Metal Restore by using a USB flash drive…

If this affects you, you can find out more information about it here.

About Vail – The Video

Jonas Svensson, Program Manager on Home Server dropped by to have a chat with Larry Larsen, in this 11 minute video about Vail. Jonas talks about the big features for this release, which as we know include the ability to stream your media outside of your house, simplified setup, and expanded development tools.

WHS Vail Jonas Svensson

You can watch it here.

The Home Server Show Podcast Episode 91

home_server_show_small

Episode 91 of the Home Server Show is available with the the top Vail bugs and feature requests as found on Microsoft’s Connect site, as well as the weeks Home Server news and views.

Episode 91 is available from here.

AMD to Support Vail

AMD are promoting their new breed of x86 processors designed for Home Media Server (HMS) solutions and Windows Home Server (WHS) Vail.

AMD has a range of new embedded solutions based on the ASB2 and AM3 platforms.  The processors offered as part of these solutions range from single-core 8W TDP processors for fan-less designs to multi-core 25W TDP processors with enterprise-class capabilities such as ECC to memory.  AMD offers a variety of solutions that can be used with Microsoft’s Home Media Server family of operating systems.  And Microsoft has been hard at work on the next version of Windows Home Server. The beta of this next version (code name “Vail”) is now available and can be downloaded from the Microsoft Connect site.   

More details here.