Website Home Server Land have published part 2 of their Securing Your WHS & Network series of articles (Part 1 available here).
This part part continues with the methods to identify and address network topology vulnerabilities and takes a look at the typical Windows Home Server network.
You can read it here.
TLG Jaymz tells us how he converted a Thecus NAS Server, which he used for his weekly backups into a Windows Home Server.
Jaymz tells us how he pulled the N5200 apart and converted it, and all without a soldering iron!
You can read his exploits here.
More information has come to light on the HP MediaSmart Server LX195.
From the pictures it looks like it has no expandable hard drive bays, but it does come with 4 USB ports and the standard Ethernet port which means that this unit could be a single drive unit
FirePlay for Windows Home Server is an add-in which allows you to remotely stream all the music stored on their server over the internet .
FirePlay is a Flash Add-In for the Firefly media server, which is a media server designed to serve digital music to iTunes and is the “iTunes Server” solution delivered by HP as part of the MediaSmart Server software. Note that if you do not have an HP MediaSmart Server you’ll need to install the Firefly Media Server before the FirePlay WHS Add-In will work.
More details are available from here.
The Home Server Show podcast #40 has details on the HP MediaSmart Server Video DVD iPhone Software Update.
The 21 minute show has the live feed from the virtual HP press event which you can listen to here.
Another new add-in for Windows Home Server users is Update History, which displays the complete system update history so that you can make sure that your Home Server is fully patched and up to date.
For updates which contain a Knowledge Base article a direct link to the article is also provided and the Windows Update and System Event log files can be reviewed via the toolbar button enabling you to find out why an update installation may have failed.
More info is available from here.
WebRadio is a new add-in which provides access to 65 online radio streams via the Windows Home Server console with the ability to delete and edit the supplied station information.
The stations can be selected via a drop-down list, with the last selected channel stored for the next time you open the add-in.
Although English is supported, please note that website documentation is in the German language only.
Thanks to the German Home Server Blog for the details, more of which is available from here.
Back with another update is the WHS File Manager add-in for Windows Home Server. Now at version 1.0.1.0, this update adds support for removable storage, support for opening files from the server (music, movies, docs etc) and numerous bug fixes.
More details are available from here.
HP have announced a free software update for the 2nd generation MediaSmart Servers which will provide the following features:
Additional enhancements include:
This Spring entertainment update which will be known as software update 2.5 will be available from late April. Lets have a look at the major features in detail.
Automatically Convert your Library of Videos
The Video Converter powered by ArcSoft will automatically transcode AVI (DivX, Xvid, MJPEG), MOV (MJPEG), DVR-MS (MPEG-2), MP4 (MPEG4), WMV and unprotected DVD VOB file types to the MPEG-4 (H.264) format with AAC stereo encoding with both/either original (full) and mobile resolutions.
The original, high resolution file you can stream to most devices attached to your home network including PCs, Macs and the Xbox 360 and PS3 gaming systems. Whilst the mobile resolution version of the video you can stream remotely to your PCs, Macs, iPhone or iPod Touch.
Unprotected DVD .vob files are automatically stitched together resulting in the one original (full) and/or mobile quality MPEG-4 (h.264) version of the DVD, although naturally copy protected (CSS) .vob files cannot be transcoded due to legal reasons.
Most digital camera video clip formats are also supported for conversion and whichever the source, video files are not deleted after conversion, allowing you to either archive them, delete or to re-convert them at a later stage.
Although its not enabled by default the HP Video Converter will defiantly be enabled on my ex487.
Remote Video Streaming
As well as music and photos you can now also stream your videos from the server to any internet connected computer all courtesy of Twonky Media. And the good news is that over a gigabit network 5 hi-def streams can be streamed simultaneously, but your upload bandwidth will be the deciding factor.
Stream Media to your iPhone or IPod Touch
If you own an iPhone or a iPod Touch you will also be able to access your media library via that device. The HP iPhone application “iStream” will be available from Apple’s App Store for free, and will enable you to stream your photo, music and video library’s straight to it wherever you have an internet connection.
All without the need to sync anything, and knowing that all the files are protected at home on your MediaSmart ex4x Server. And the good news is that an Edge connection on the iPhone is ok for streaming, but 3G or Wireless will give a better experience.
Excellent news for owners of the HP MediaSmart Server ex485 and ex487 – Eagerly awaiting April!
The WHS File Manager add-in has been updated to version 1.0.0.5
The add-in provides a simple dual-pane file manager for the WHS management console, which allows you to safely copy, move and delete files on your home server. It will only show your shared folders and it uses UNC for file copying.
Changes to this version includes:
More details are here.
