How to Maintain a Solid Backup Strategy

Steve Bargelt writes how he setup and maintains a solid backup system for all of his data by using Windows Home Server, Live Mesh, Keep Vault and an external hard drive.

Steve Bargelt Backup Strategy

Steve’s backup strategy is defiantly worth a read for those of you that require an extra layer of protection for their data.

You can read it here.

Day 6 – Win PerfectDisk 10 WHS Family Pack

Only 2 days remaining to win yourself a copy of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack, the defragmenter for our Home Server’s

To win today’s copy worth $99.99 all we want to know is why you would like a copy to reside on your WHS. Leave your comments below – Normal rules apply, winners will be announced tomorrow (11th Oct).

FACT: Defragment your Windows Home Server when it’s most convenient for you – daily, weekly or even during system idle times. PerfectDisk for Windows Home Server’s exclusive AutoPilot Scheduling lets you customize your defragmentation to run automatically, when you want it to. And once it’s set up, you never need to reconfigure it again.

If you would like more information on PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server, just click here.

UPDATE: Day 6 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

Day 5 – Win PerfectDisk 10 WHS Family Pack

Its day 5 and you can win a copy of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack which we are giving away courtesy of Raxco Software.

Over the course of the week we are giving away a total prize fund worth over $699 and for your chance to win a copy of the defragmentation software for your WHS, we want to know why PerfectDisk 10 is better than the competition. (Hint: Check here) Leave an answer below and 1 winner will be announced Sunday 11th October – Good Luck!

FACT: PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server’s patented SMARTPlacement feature is the most sophisticated defragging solution available. It identifies the files you use most and organizes them according to your unique usage patterns. This comprehensive process yields faster subsequent defrag passes, quicker boot times, slower rates of fragmentation, reduced resource consumption and improved Windows Home Server performance.

More details on PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server are available from here.

UPDATE: Day 5 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

The Home Server Show Podcast #59

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With the latest news, views and the add-in of the week the Home Server Show podcast this week also interviews add-in developer Brent Friedman.

Show #59 is available from here.

The Undocumented NetworkUtils WHS Class

Add-in developer Nick Asseloos has written about some more undocumented WHS classes. This time it’s the NetworkUtils class which which is located in WHSCommon.dll

Nick has the details here.

MediaSmart Server Software Upgrade Coming December

HP has an update to their announcement which they made back in May regarding upgrade software for existing EX470/475/485/487 customers, to bring your MediaSmart servers to the latest version:

Back in May, we announced a plan to allow current MediaSmart Server customers to upgrade to the most current software version beginning this Fall.  Below are additional details on the plans to deliver these upgrades.

HP recently announced the new EX490/495 MediaSmart Servers.  These Servers provide our latest software capabilities including an enhanced video converter, greater Mac Support including bare metal recovery, and a simplified user interface.  It is this software version (3.0) that will be made available to existing EX470/475/485/487 customers.  Note that these software upgrades are optional and will be available as a new installation DVD as opposed to a software download.

We are currently proceeding down the path of a server recovery solution that will not only upgrade your software to the 3.0 version, but also preserve the data in your shared folders.  This approach is preferable to a factory reset that would otherwise require customers to manually offload and restore all server files that the customer wants to preserve.  However, the server recovery approach requires additional testing cycles to validate the approach and the resulting data integrity.  We expect the upgrade DVDs will be available to order through hp.com beginning in December, 2009.  Note that if testing shows the server recovery solution to be problematic, our plan is to change the upgrade process to a factory reset.

As previously communicated, there will be certain limitations of this software upgrade depending on your product.  For example, customers using the Photo Webshare feature in the EX470/475 products will lose this feature if they choose to upgrade (although we expect existing Webshare album photos will be moved into the Photos shared folder).  In addition, customers who have not upgraded their DRAM in the EX470/475 products will likely experience sluggish behavior or limited functionality running certain aspects of the latest 3.0 software.  Finally, the 3.0 software will not be made available for the LX195 model.

The final cost of the upgrade DVD is pending, but is expected to be in the US$25 range.

We thank everyone for their continued support of the MediaSmart Server family of products.

Great news, especially the added feature of preserving data in the shared folders. December going to be a great time for MediaSmart owners and at $25 its not going to break the bank either.

HP MediaSmart Server LX195 $270

The list price for the HP MediaSmart Server LX195 is $399.99, but with $100 straight off the price at hp.com it comes down to $299.99. And if you use coupon code SV2132 (expires 11th October) you will get an additional $30 off the price bringing the grand total down to just under $270, and that’s with free shipping – Not a bad saving at all.

Buy it here.

Maximum PC Publishes Build a Kick-Ass WHS Article

Maximum PC has published a massive "How to Build a Kick-Ass Windows Home Server" article online.

The 8 page guide starts with an overview of Windows Home Server and then goes through their parts list. You are then shown step by step how to build the server from installing the hardware to installing and configuring the software.

The console is also explained as well as a look at alternative Home Server hardware from the likes of HP and Acer.

Finally we are shown the 5 essential Windows Home Server add-ins and tips on how to beef up the Swap File as well as how to use Microsoft’s SyncToy software and transcode high def video.

You can read the article here.

Recover Files from WHS Network Shares – But be Quick

Website spackle explains how you can actually recover files that are accidentally deleted from a WHS network share for up to 12 hours afterwards by using "Previous Versions"

The writer explains some key points to know about when it comes to previous versions in WHS as well as some Windows 7 audio tip bits too.

You can read about it here.

Day 4 – Win PerfectDisk 10 WHS Family Pack

Another copy of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack is up for grabs today.

To win yourself a copy of the defragmenter program for your Home Servers all you need to do is leave a comment below telling us which version of Windows 7 you will be purchasing (Home Premium, Ultimate etc), if its the 32-bit or 64-bit and why.

FACT: Get the largest piece of consolidated, contiguous free space possible. PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server’s exclusive Space Restoration Technology ensures that new files are created contiguously. This combined with PerfectDisk’s patented SMARTPlacement optimization strategy speeds up processing times so that your Windows Home Server works more efficiently.

More details on PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server are available from here.

UPDATE: Day 4 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.