MS Windows Home Server

By Philip Churchill on July 01st, 2009

Cheap Colorful Windows Home Server

UK based Tranquil PC have just launched the T3N.

Based on the popular T3 chassis, the T3N is powered by Intel’s Atom N270 processor and is compact, cost effective and finished in a range of colors. The most interesting feature is the power consumption, even with a HDD spinning you will be using much less than 20W.

And as the current global financial situation appears to be not getting any better, we can breath a sigh of relief at the T3Ns price tag of only £119, which is approx $196.

More info is available from here.

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By Philip Churchill on July 01st, 2009

New Windows Home Server MVPs

Its that time of year when Microsoft announce new MVPs, a program designed to highlight a group of experts that represents the technical community’s best and brightest, who share a deep commitment to community and a willingness to help others.

And with that, joining the Windows Home Server clan is:

David McCabe from The Home Server Show podcast
Add-In developer Alexander Kent
MediaSmartServer.net forum moderator Nigel "Cougar" Wilks
Masahiko Sada moderator of the Japanese community forum
Japanesse Technical Editor Masashi Shimizu

Congrats to all 5 of you!!!

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By Philip Churchill on June 30th, 2009

Watch Netflix, Hulu, ESPN and more via WHS

By installing the PlayOn Media Server onto your Windows Home Server (Service Pack 1 or later) you are then able to watch Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, CNN, ESPN and Revision3 amongst others on your PS3, Xbox 360, HP MediaSmart TV, Popcorn Hour or other UPnP/DLNA compliant device.

This is all done via the PlayOn software pulling RSS feeds from the content providers and then presenting them to your DLNA-compliant networked media devices. So how do we use it?

You first have to install Windows Media Player 11 onto WHS and then disable Internet Explorers enhanced security configuration.
Once complete you can then install the PlayOn Media Server onto WHS by using Remote Desktop.
The PlayOn interface will then appear on your UPnP/DLNA device – Simple!

The software is free and fully functional for 14 days although after this, a one-time $39.99 licensing fee is required.

Please note that channels like Hulu and CBS, geographically restrict their viewers to within the United States.

Other Software • Tutorial • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 30th, 2009

Use WHS as an FTP Server – No!

The Home Server Land series on Securing Your WHS & Network is now at part 13, and this installment is about FTP Hosting Threats.

As well as explaining what the FTP protocol is, the article explains about FTP Servers and why you shouldn’t install FTP add-ins or use the WHS as an FTP server.

You can read all about it here.

Tutorial • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 29th, 2009

Add-In: LightsOut 0.8.2

The add-in which can put your Home Servers into suspended mode or hibernation and resume on a user defined event has been updated.

Version 0.8.2 of LightsOut include the following changes:

Added Chinese (simplified) and Italian language support
Added Menu shortcuts
Added Keyboard support in calendar
Bug fixed in backup time calculation
Bug fixed in action setting "Shutdown" for Acer Aspire models

The add-in plus PDF documentation are available from here.

add-ins • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 29th, 2009

The Home Server Show Podcast #46

The Home Server Show Podcast

The Home Server Show podcast #46 is up with a chat about the top 10 add-ins from the add in challenge 2009. You can listen/download this edition from here.

News • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 29th, 2009

Acer easyStore H340 Mini Review

“The hardware is solid, the performance is acceptable, and the price is stellar…”

Gadget blog "CrunchGear" have a mini review of the Acer easyStore H340 Windows Home Server unit which you can read here.

Hardware • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 25th, 2009

Save 25% Off PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server

PerfectDisk are offering 25% of off all their PerfectDisk 10 products including PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server as a summer special.

Just purchase or upgrade by June 30, 2009 and simply add any PerfectDisk product(s) to your cart and enter coupon code PDJUNE25 during checkout to receive 25% off any licenses.

More info is available from here.

News • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 25th, 2009

NOD32 Antivirus for Windows Home Server

NOD32 Antivirus from makers ESET is one of 2 antivirus products which I recommend to clients on a day-to-day basis, as it both has one of the best detection rates and has a small footprint to it too.

And what has this got to do with Windows Home Server?

Well the good news is that version 4 of NOD32 Antivirus Home Edition can be installed on our Home Servers but it has to be done by using the client computers Remote Desktop Connection and thankfully ESET have put up a Knowledgebase article explaining how to do so.

Read it here.

Other Software • Windows Home Server

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By Philip Churchill on June 25th, 2009