Home Server Media Server and TV Recorder all in one

The Media one (M one) is the new offering from Tranquil PC.

mone

It’s a Home Server, Media Server and TV recorder all in one. This single “One Box” solution from Tranquil PC enables you to:

  • Watch live DVB-T television with time shifting (TV Pause)
  • Playback of recorded TV programs
  • Setup TV recording schedule
  • Easy to use Electronic Program Guide
  • Listen to your music collection
  • View your picture albums
  • Playback of DVD files held on the central server 
  • Watch downloaded videos
  • Watch online media content (incl HD)

With 4x DVB-T digital TV tuners built in, you can enjoy simultaneous multi-channel viewing / recording.  With up to 2000GB of internal storage, and optional external storage you should never run out of entertainment content.

The HD Set Top Boxes, simply and silently control and stream media content from the low energy M one device to your television.  The M one box can be located anywhere that provides a wired network + TV antenna + mains power.

More information is available on the Tranquil PC Blog.

Add-In: Photo Timeline

Photo Timeline is an add-in by French developer Atomusk which allows you to show your pictures in a timeline and enables you to to zoom in and out using the mouse wheel.

Photo Timeline
Full installation steps and additional information is available at the following forum post.

Fujitsu Siemens Scaleo Home Server FAQ

We Got Served has stated that Fujitsu Siemens have posted a Scaleo Home Server FAQ

"Invalid file handle" Error Message – Help is at Hand

Have you ever experienced the “Invalid file handle” error message when moving, copying or trying to delete files that reside on your Windows Home Server?

We have a couple of ways for you to correct this problem. The 1st is a blog entry on the site “My Name is better than yours” that takes you step by step through reassigning permissions on your home server.

The other is the Windows Home Server Cleanup Tool which tests if your home server files are readable. The .cmd file by catsaver is available with additional information from here.

Windows Home Server saves Whiist!

Even experienced PC users like Whiist developer Andrew Grant can accidentally erase their Vista install. Luckily the Windows Home Server restore CD comes to the rescue!

http://www.andrewgrant.org/2008/03/19/windows-home-server-saves-whiist.html

Backup Data and More

Tranquil PC have put up two some flash demos on Windows Home Server.The first is dedicated to the home user and takes you through backing up, streaming, centralizing storage, remote access, adding hard drives, network health and user accounts.

The business use demo takes us through some amazing facts and figures, which is good since 55% of Tranquil PC sales of their Home Servers are actually in use, protecting and supporting small businesses. Larger business will no doubt be using other Microsoft Server OS, but for small business, it seems WHS is a real winner.

Some useful facts……

  • In the UK there are 1.7M businesses with under 10 employees.
  • 98% of all business do not carry out a daily data backup.
  • 55% of file backups that are carried out are incomplete.
  • 55% of data backup restore processes fail.
  • By the 7th day of a major data loss, companies experience a 25% loss in overall income. By the 25th day it is 40%. For modern businesses with IT based systems, the effects from losses are more aggressive.
  • 43% of companies that experience a severe data loss and that have no data backup plan in place never re-open.
  • Even those companies that try to recover could be out of business within 2 years of major data loss, according to a study by the National Archives and Records Administration

All worrying stuff really, and data often used by PC backup software companies to sell their products.

Add-In: LightsOut

LightsOut

The power management add-in LightOut  is now available for download. The add-in allows you to place your home server in standby or hibernation mode at specific times as set via a calendar. To avoid the risk of data loss, the server will cleverly never go to sleep during an active data backup or during the cleaning up of a data backup.

The documentation is currently only available in German. English language will follow.

More info from the German language Home Server Blog. (English translation via Google)

WHS Can tell you when it's about to shut off due to a power outage

Have you ever wished that your Windows Home Server would tell you when it’s about to shut off due to a power outage?

Well it can be done. Blogger Sean Daniel shows us by using a UPS, configuring the alerts in the power management control panel and by using 1 of 2 VBS scripts. All the details are in Sean’s article I can’t do it Captain, I just don’t have the power!

The Week in Review – Sunday's Summary

What was going on this week at mswhs.com? Here’s your chance to catch-up if you missed something!

  • Tranquil PC T2-WHS-A3 Harmony Home Server Wins A List Award
    • In the May (2008) edition of the magazine PC Pro, the Tranquil PC T2-WHS-A3 Harmony Home Server wins a PC Pro A List award. To celebrate for this weekend only Tranquil PC are offering their acclaimed Recovery Kit  valued at £29 FREE of charge on all Home Server orders.the review concludes that:…
  • AnandTech – Data Corruption due to Faulty Algorithm in the Drive Extender software
    • The IT source for hardware analysis and industry news AnandTech has a look at the data corruption bug in a more technical light taking us through the Drive Extender technology. What you shall read is a mixture of things they know for sure, along with some educated guessing based on what sources told…
  • Home Center from Iomega Delayed due to Market Conditions
    • After our post yesterday regarding an article in Personal Computer World, George Melissargos from Iomega who was interviewed for the piece contacted us.  Iomega’s Windows Home Server product called the Home Center has been placed on hold for now due to market conditions and was not delayed due to…
  • Existing Connector Software works on Windows XP x64 SP2
    • We have shown you before how to install the Connector Software on Vista x64 machines even before Power Pack 1 with that technology is released.Readers leaving comments found that it also worked on Windows XP x64 SP2 also. One by the name of budious said: …to my surprise, found that it detected the…
  • Power Pack 1 could be available end of April
    • As announced previously Todd Headrick the Product Manager of the Windows Home Server Team  posted a question over on the WHS forums asking if you would like Power Pack 1 released prior to June 2008, the date when the Data Corruption fix is due.More than 220 replies later and with Windows home…
  • Iomega Drops Windows Home Server
    • Storage company Iomega has dropped it’s Windows Home Server product because it could not be made at a price low enough for its target audience. The 500GB unit would have sold at approx 600 euros (£450), but price was not the only factor in the decision to drop it from its range. George…
  • General Manager Charlie Kindel talks Windows Home Server
    • General Manager of Windows Home Server Charlie Kindel talks about what’s in Home Server for IT Pros on Microsoft’s Edge site. Charlie runs 5 servers at home, and had no problem integrating Home Server and its functionality. He talks about two guys, Jeff and Oliver, that don’t really exist, but…
  • How to make VCalendar run on Windows Home Server
    • Our Norwegian friend Sgaah has posted a guide on how to make VCalendar run on Windows Home Server. VCalendar or Virtual Calendar is an open source Web calendar application for posting and maintaining events and schedules online, in calendar format.The guide is in Norwegian but as Sgaah says pictures…
  • Windows Home Server Presentation – New York
    • The Mid-Hudson Computer User Group is holding a presentation on Windows Home Server this Thursday 13th March at Poughkeepsie in New York.John Bickford you tell you all you need to know about Home Server with a Q & A session beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed at 7:00 p.m. by business announcements.…
  • Add-In: TiVo Publisher 1.3
    • The latest version of the add-in TiVo Publisher is available for download. Version 1.3  fixes numerous bug fixes and adds the following features: FLAC, OGG, M4A (AAC unprotected) audio formats are now supported. Video Aspect Ratios are preserved. Updated ffmpeg to newer release (2/5/2008, r11870).…
  • Windows Home Server Bible – Sample’s
    • The new book by Greg Kettell and Jennifer Ackerman Kettell is about to be published by publishers Wiley. The Windows Home server Bible is a 600 page comprehensive guide that covers all the techniques and step-by-step instruction you need to succeed with Windows Home Server. Choose the out-of-the-box…
  • Connect Your xBox 360 to Your Home Server

    Website Train Signal Training have a post detailing How to Connect Your xBox 360 to Your Home Server taking you through from the physical connection to the xBox 360 configuration setup. Read it here.

  • Would you like Power Pack 1 sooner rather than later?
    • The Product Manager of the Windows Home Server Team Todd Headrick has posted a question over on the forums asking if you would like Power Pack 1 released prior to June 2008, the date when the Data Corruption fix is due.With already over 100 replies to the question, the consensus seems to be yes…
  • Data Corruption Issue Q&A
    • With the Knowledge Base Article (KB) 946676 detailing the data corruption issue being updated today (see here) we have more detailed information available for you in a question and answer format that should help you understand the problem easier.What is the issue?When certain programs are used to…
  • Data Corruption Knowledge Base (KB946676) Article has been Updated
    • The data corruption Knowledge Base (KB946676) Article has been updated today to revision 5.0 with updated information about symptoms, the cause and giving the status on the issue with guidance also.When certain programs are used to edit or transfer files that are stored on a Windows Home…

Tranquil PC T2-WHS-A3 Harmony Home Server Wins A List Award

FINAL A LIST

In the May (2008) edition of the magazine PC Pro, the Tranquil PC T2-WHS-A3 Harmony Home Server wins a PC Pro A List award. To celebrate for this weekend only Tranquil PC are offering their acclaimed Recovery Kit  valued at £29 FREE of charge on all Home Server orders.

the review concludes that:

…the T2-WHS-A3 Harmony Home Server is a very appealing product. It may be bulky, but its low price, quietness and efficiency mean it’s well worth the money.

WGS_AD83a

Click on the image above to go to Tranquil PC

A copy of the review is available as a PDF download.