The Windows Home Server Team Blog has details of a great set of videos by Canadian tech guru Steve Doto. The set of short videos demonstrate the features of WHS using the HP MediaSmart Server and is great to show to friends and family to persuade them to purchase Windows Home Server.
All videos are available for viewing from here.
How would you like to write an add-in for Windows Home Server?
A common answer from a Windows Home Server enthusiast might be:
“I would love to, but I have never programmed anything in my life and don’t know anything about code either”.
Well, that needn’t be a problem. By following the resources below, you will be on your way to building your own add-in, and the only extras you will need are:
With a step by step process, fellow Windows Home Server MVP Sam Wood has a 5 part series of tutorials aimed at guiding novice developers though building a add-In, using freely-available tools, and is one of the most complete resources available. From installing and configuring your development environment to building a installer package for your add-in, Sam shows us how, with plenty of screen shots and sample code.
MSDN, Microsoft’s developer network is the main official source for would be add-in developers, and the best starting point is the brief step by step guide which links to further resources on the MSDN portal for help with your would be creation including the Windows Home Server SDK Portal. This page includes links to the essential Software Development Kit for Windows Home Server, a Developer’s Guide which includes a programming tutorial, the Windows Home Server API Reference and finally the sample code for a Windows Home Server Health Notification add-in.
Also essential for add-in development is a read of Microsoft’s PDF document Windows Home Server Developer Guidelines which is a supplement to the Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows Home Server, and upon following the guidelines within, will enable you to improve the user experience of your add-in. Essential reading as this document also illustrates the proper and improper use of add-ins.
Another great resource is by Microsoft developer Brendan Grant who has a series of developer tips aimed at both add-in and standalone application developers. The series of 15 tips covers some of the neat features that programmers can take advantage of.
Finally after all that reading, we have a couple of videos to help you on your way. Developing Connected Home Applications and Services for Windows Home Server and Building Add-Ins.
Images with extra tips courtesy of the Windows Home Server Team
And now after this bunch of links you can finally have a play at being a developer, that is off course unless you already are one!
A number of Seagate hard drives manufactured through to December 2008 may become undetectable by the BIOS after a system re-boot.
The issue is due to a firmware bug and is affecting some Barracuda 7200.11, DiamondMax 22 and Barracuda ES.2 SATA hard drives. Your data is not lost and still resides on the drive, but you can’t get it back without specialist hardware. In extreme cases data can become corrupted, and in this case Seagate will provide free data recovery services and work with you for a speedy remedy to minimize any disruption.
New firmware to correct the issue has been available, but the firmware SD1A was taken down due to reports of the firmware update ‘bricking’ numerous drives, especially the smaller 500GB drives. New firmware for all 21 affected models is still being validated whilst testing is still being undertaken but should become available soon, but In the meantime make sure you have backed up your files somewhere else.
Support is available through Seagate’s call center on: 1-800-SEAGATE (1-800-732-4283) and you can also expedite assistance by sending an email (discsupport@seagate.com) with your affected drive’s model number, serial number, and current firmware revision.
A complete list of the model numbers affected is available in a Seagate Knowledge Base article [207931] which explains 3 different ways on how to check your drives to see if they are affected
UPDATE: You can also check the various threads in the Seagate Community Forums for additional help and information and the following placeholder for the firmware here.
The Home Server Show podcast #30 features three interviews from the Consumer Electronic Show. Todd Headrick from Microsoft, Allen Buckner from HP and Steve Harris and Tracey Croughwell from Packet Video all talk Windows Home Server.
The podcast is available from here.
Tranquil PC have just released a great add-in for Windows Home Server users with large CD or DVD collections.
Called AVA Media, the add-in collects and compares the meta data (track titles etc) from multiple data providers, including GD3 which is a premium data provider and then rips your CDs to high quality (lossless) formats.
The software can also convert to a second format for mobile use (MP3 players etc) and then stores the files on Windows Home Server, making it available on your network as well as on portable music players (subject to the server type), i.e. SONOS etc.
There is also an option to upgrade the add-in to a fuller DVD/Film monitor version, with the following additions:
All you need to add is an external USB CD/DVD drive connected to your Home Server, to rip from and the AVA Media software does the rest. And if you haven’t got one, then Tranquil PC can provide that for you too.
The CD software costs £39 and the CD/DVD software £49. Adding the external drive only adds an additional £40 to the price.
More information is available from here.
Version 1.1.0.0 of the add-in Remote Alert is available as a private beta to registered members. The add-in provides remote access notification, additional security layers and remote access activity logging.
The developer "Kentdome Technologies" have a page where you can create your own free account to beta test their add-ins.
More generic information on Remote Alert is available from here.
The official Windows Home Server Team Blog has announced that the next minor release of the software which is in development will be called Windows Home server Power Pack 2 (PP2), which is internally referred by the codename SnoQ (short for Snoqualmie).
And for those of you who wonder where the codename came from, Snoqualmie is a mountain located 28 miles east of Seattle and is home to a ski resort and the Snoqualmie Falls, where water falls 270 feet into the lower Snoqualmie river
Technology website TechRadar.com has more details on the minor update to Windows Home Server coming some time later this year and also what will be coming up in Vail in 2010, which is the codename for the next major release to WHS.
The story is available here.
If you would like to learn more about the new HP MediaSmart Server’s, then there is a great video of a HP rep at CES walking through the features over at the website Digital Home Thoughts.
You can view the video here.
The PC news and review site “Computing on Demand” (C.O.D) have reviewed 2 pieces of hardware which may be useful to Windows Home Server users.
The first is a 4 bay hard drive module, which occupies three 5.25′ bays and allows you to mount up to four 3.5" hot swappable SATA hard drives.
The review can be found here.
The other is a rack which holds one 3.5" SATA hard drive and is designed for quick and easy installation of a HDD which occupies one 5.25 drive bay and comes with a security key-lock. An ideal rack for those who test a lot and need to add or remove a drive without the hassle.
You can find the review here.
