HP LX197 MediaSmart Server in the Works

Whilst exploring the HP support site I stumbled across details of a HP LX197 MediaSmart Server, which whilst looking like a upgrade model to the LX195 this new model has not been announced yet, but looks like it isn’t far away

LX195 HP Support

Website WeGotServed also has details at his site which also links to an article in an Australian blog where a HP sales rep mentioned that the unit would be officially announced mid to late October. In the meantime further product information is available from the HP support site alongside troubleshooting and usage information.

More details from HP.

Day 3 – Win PerfectDisk 10 WHS Family Pack

Its day 3 for your chance to win 1 copy of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack. And for the chance of winning a copy we want to know your favorite piece of software which you install directly onto your Home Server which isn’t an add-in. e.g. like Nod32 antivirus or Live Mesh etc.

Leave a comment below with the details on the piece of software and how you use it. Winners will be announced Sunday 11th October.

FACT: PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server’s new StealthPatrol feature lets you set up a defrag schedule that works with your busy life. Schedule defragmentation of your Windows Home Server to run seamlessly in the background only during system idle times.

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

UPDATE: Day 3 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

Day 2 – Win PerfectDisk 10 WHS Family Pack

Its day 2 of the great giveaway from Raxco Software who are giving away 7 copies of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack over the next few days, that’s 1 a day every day till Sunday (11th October). And for the chance of winning a copy we want to know your favorite Windows Home Server add-in and why you like it so much. Just leave your answer below and 1 lucky person will get there self the Family Pack edition of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server.

Remember winners will be announced on Sunday 11th October

FACT: Unlike typical defraggers, PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server completely defrags your virtual drives (all files and metadata) and consolidates free space in just one pass – no matter how large or fragmented the system. With revolutionary minimal-free-space requirement, you can defrag an entire drive with as little as 1% free space.

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

UPDATE: Day 2 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

Add-In: Directory Watcher 1.0.0.0

Directory Watcher is a new add-in which enables you to monitor any folder on your home server for changes and emails the user when changes occur. If email at the time is not accessible then you can retrieve the list of changes on the public website.

Directory Watcher View

The Directory Watcher add-in allows you to:

  • Set the folder to be monitored
  • Set the file types, which are to be monitored
  • Set the type of notification (Notification to clients, RSS feed, email)
  • Check the status of the service
  • Number of days to log the events
  • Configure the email settings

Directory Watcher Settings

More information is available from here.

Day 1 – Win PerfectDisk 10 WHS Family Pack

Raxco Software the makers of PerfectDisk 10 are giving us 7 copies of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack to give away.

PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server is defragmentation software for our Home Server’s which defrags in one pass, allows scheduling and free space consolidation amongst many other features.

Why 7 copies you may ask?
As we approach the launch of Windows 7 on the 22nd October, PerfectDisk is the only disk defragmenter certified by Microsoft for Windows 7 and carry’s the Windows 7 Compatibility logo – So Windows 7 thus 7 copies!

These digital copies of PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Family Pack are worth $99.99 each, and contain 1 WHS site license and 10 PerfectDisk Pro licenses to also defrag every connected PC in your WHS environment – A great bundle.

So, what do I have to do to win a copy?
All you need to do is leave a comment to this post naming a key feature in PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server (Hint: Check here) and explain why you would like a copy. One copy is up for grabs every day between now and Sunday 11th October.

FACT: PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server’s innovative Selected Files Defrag feature gives you complete control over the files you defrag – from a single file to selected files, to the entire drive.

More information on PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server is available from here.

UPDATE: Day 1 of the competition is now closed and so are the comments.

HP X500 Data Vault for Small Business Podcast

The Enterprise division of HP have posted a podcast which goes into details about the HP StorageWorks X500 Data Vault for small business.

Cartoon Calvin Zito

HP Storage Guy Calvin Zito chats to Product Manager Bill Johnson in this Around the Storage Block podcast. Bill explains that the unit is designed for the small business who have no dedicated IT staff with either one or no dedicated server.

You can listen to this short 4 minute podcast here.

Write About How You Use WHS

As you may be aware Microsoft’s Windows Home Server has an official home on facebook, where the team are currently asking for your help.

Facebook Logo

The guys (and girls) at Microsoft want to learn more about all the different ways that you use Windows Home Server at home or in a small business situation.

“Are you doing something unique and different with the product? Do you have a great story about how Windows Home Server helped your family or your business? We’re looking for people who are willing to talk publicly about their experiences. If it’s cool enough, we may even feature your story in the press!”

You can submit your stories here, where you will also find details on the type of stories they are after.

HPs Product Manager Chats EX49x

HPs "Future" Product Manager Charlie Shilling chats about the new EX490 and EX495.

Charlie chats about the hardware and the new features in the software which make up HPs third generation of MediaSmart Server over at MediaSmartHome.com, which you can read here.

Add-In: WordPress Installer for WHS 0.0.5

Nigel “Cougar” Wilks has released his much anticipated add-in "WordPress Installer for WHS".

WordPress Installer for WHS

The add-in will install the popular blogging platform onto Windows Home Server and requires that the PHP and MySql Installer add-ins are already installed. Once the WordPress Installer for WHS is installed all that’s required is the creation of the WordPress Database and User Account by using PhpMyAdmin before running WordPress for the first time.

All the required info is available from here.

Cnet Reviews the HP EX495

Cnet reviews the HP MediaSmart EX495 Server and gives it a 4 out of 5 star "Excellent" rating.

The review looks at the design, the setup and the feature set of the unit, as testing it’s write performance to see how it compares to other units.

For setup and ease of use the unit scored a 7, for features 9, Performance 8 and Service and support 7. Giving an overall score of 8.1. Not to bad at all.

“For a reasonable price, the HP MediaSmart Server EX495 is a great network storage, content managing and backup device for home and small business environments. The device offers stellar performance, a great backup solution, and remote access options that are easy to use.”

You can read the full review here.