MS Windows Home Server

By Al West on February 09th, 2010

Wuala on Windows Home Server

Wuala (http://www.wuala.com/) is an online storage platform from Lacie. It differs from many other platforms because you can trade storage with other users. That is you can allocate a certain amount of storage that can safely and securely be used by other users and in return get access to storage provided by other users.

From the Wuala Website they describe their product as:

… innovative

Wuala is based on unique and innovative technology. In stark contrast to other online storage services, Wuala can harness idle resources and store files redundantly in its growing grid network.

… secure

Like you, we care about security. That’ why all data is encrypted and stored in different locations. Your files are encrypted on your computer, letting you define who has access to your folders. Since your password never leaves your computer, no one – including us – can see your private files.

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By Philip Churchill on February 09th, 2010

Configure your Computer to Backup to WHS

"Configure your Computer to Backup to Windows Home Server" is the latest tutorial from the How-To Geek which looks at the process of configuring a computer on your network to be backed up automatically to WHS.

You can catch it here.

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By Philip Churchill on February 08th, 2010

Tranquil PC Series 2 Home Servers

Tranquil PC are now offering a new line up of Series 2 Home Servers which are similar to the original series 1 but based on new low power Intel CPUs and equipped with the new D510 powered main board and extendable RAM (up to 4GB of 800MHz). Providing higher performance, at new reduced prices as well as lower prices for optional parts.

There are 3 models to choose from – the Harmony T7, the Harmony T2 and the SQA-5H.

Harmony T7 – Series 2

The Harmony T7 – Series 2 Home Server is an ideal, affordable starter unit. Powered by the latest Intel Atom D510 Dual core CPU, this Home Server delivers outstanding performance, coupled with low power consumption. This high quality unit will be at home anywhere, similar in size to a typical hard back dictionary. With wall mount option, it can be secured out of sight and out of mind. Supporting 4x external HDDs, this is an excellent Server start up option. Why not couple it with the slot on T7-HDx units (and have up to 9TBs of storage)

Harmony T2 – Series 2

The Harmony T2 – Series 2 Home Server for mid range users. Powered by the latest Intel Atom D510 Dual Core CPU, this Home Server delivers outstanding performance, coupled with low power consumption. This slim server supports 2x internal high capacity HDDs, 4x high speed USB HDD ports, and optional 4x eSATA ports. With numerous professional mounting options, this server can sit on your desk, fit in a 19" rack, sit on the floor, or even be secured to a wall.

SQA-5H – Series 2

Tranquil PC’s flagship Home Server, the SQA-5H, powered by the latest 64 bit ready Intel Atom D510 (2×1.66GHz) Dual Core and running Microsoft Windows Home Server. This server provides high capacity, quick installation storage, and a long list of new features. The power consumption is still very low, and it’s still a very quiet server too!
With new accessories such as the SQA-Ex (additional 5x HDDs) and the SQA-HDD1 (HDD carrier) along with a 3 year warranty, this is the Home Server for the discerning buyer.

All models have the following features in common:

Windows Home Server (PP3) Operating system
Powerful Intel 64 bit D510 CPU (Dual 1.66GHz)
High Speed Network – Gigabit LAN
High Speed 800MHz RAM (up to 4GB)
Silent and reliable Fanless CPU cooling
Power efficient and cool HDDs
Designed and manufactured in UK
AVA CD ripping engine + various Media servers
24 month warranty (Except SQA-5H which is 36 months)
Prices range from £249+VAT for the basic Harmony T7, up to £399+VAT for the SQA-5H-1000

More information and a comparison chart comparing all 3 models is available here.

Hardware • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 08th, 2010

How to Restore 64-bit PCs from Windows Home Server

If you are finding it difficult to restore a 64-bit PC with Windows Home Server then we have a solution for you.

These problems are mostly due to network interface and/or SATA AHCI/RAID drivers and Matt Whitlock explains in the first place where to find the drivers and then how to restore a 64-bit PC using 32-bit drivers as a workaround since their is currently no 64-bit restore disc.

You can read it here.

Tutorial • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 08th, 2010

Restoring Shared Folder Permissions on Home Server

Upon reboot, Windows Home Server (WHS) automatically resets the permissions for all shared folders in the shared directory, which is not good if you are using one or more of the shared folders to host files for other services that require customized access for users other than the Home Server accounts. Those services, like IIS or Apache web servers will likely stop functioning properly after a server restart, spitting out Access Denied messages, or in the case of FTP servers returning read or write errors.

If this is happening to you then "Restoring Shared Folder Permissions on Windows Home Server" will guide you through the process of accomplishing this task.

Tutorial • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 08th, 2010

Developer Smackdown Podcast on WHS

Developer Smackdown Podcast

The Smackdown (also known as Developer Smackdown) is a podcast by Mark Nichols and Clark Sell who use their consulting experiences as a base for discussing how software is designed and created. Their latest musing #13 is all on Windows Home Server and why the guys like it, which is a great listen.

Its available from here.

News • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 06th, 2010

SCALEO Home Server Replacement Recovery Disc

WeGotServed and the German www.home-server-blog.de site have been reporting issues where owners of the 1500 and 1900 Series Fujitsu SCALEO Home Servers have had problems when using the Home Server recovery disc to perform a server recovery.

This is due to incorrect labeling within the restore wizard confusing users by not letting them know whether their data would be deleted or not during the restore process.

Fujitsu have advised checking the server recovery disc for the following 2 affected codes:

10600914335 DVD Server Rec. –d /FSP:550001096 This shows the error “for FSC-PC only”
10600951197 DVD Serv.Rec.new-d /FSP:550001135 This deletes the content of the 1st HDD completely

If your code is one of the ones above then contact the Fujitsu support team who will offer the latest version (10601017968 DVD Serv.Rec.V2 d /FSP:550001190), where the system partition can now be deleted and recovered separately.

More information and contact details for support are available from here.

News • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 06th, 2010

A Guide to CloudBerry Backup for WHS

Sean Daniel has posted his experiences of using CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server, which is an ideal solution for backing up your backups as hard drive failure is the leading cause of data loss.

The online backup (cloud) solution for Home Server users uses Amazon S3 for its back-end storage. Sean goes through the setup, use and recovery of data in this comprehensive write up on CloudBerry Backup for WHS.

You can read it here.

add-ins • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 06th, 2010

WHS and Media Center Integrated v2

Version 2 of the DVBLink software is now out of beta and has been officially released.

By installing your TV tuner card/s into your Windows Home Server the software allows your tuner cards to become network aware, enabling you to watch TV in the lounge on Windows Media center, which is accessing those tuner cards on WHS.

This new version has a huge list of improvements and new features compared to the previous version. Almost every aspect of the program is improved – new easy-to-use user interface, improved reliability, compliance to UAC rules, increased number of supported tuner cards, network streaming to other MediaCenter computers to name just a few.

Supported hardware:

FireDTV, FloppyDTV (including CI support)
Hauppauge WinTV Nova (S and HD S2), WinTV HVR (all models)
Pinnacle PCTV
Prof Red and Prof Revolution
Technotrend Budget (including CI support)
Technisat SkyStar2, SkyStar HD, HD2, SkyStar USB2 (including CI support)
Terratec Cinergy (including CI support)
Twinhan (including CI support)
Azurewave (including CI support)
TeVii
Genpix
All other cards, having BDA drivers, are supported as well. However diseqc and CI control availability may differ. Please use DVBLink TVSource Preview to check whether your tuner card works with DVBLink TVSource. No installation is required.

Whilst the software is mainly of use to European users, DVBLink v2 supports DVB-S in the US and can now assign channel numbers by PID.

The price for DVBLink TVSource plus the DVBLink Server Network Pack are €25 each or as a bundle (as you need both) for only €40 whilst the client software is free.

The prices include all future product updates and the DVBLink Server Network Pack includes an unlimited number of clients.

More details are available from here.

Other Software • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on February 06th, 2010