MS Windows Home Server

Add-In: Drive Bender v1.8.1.0

Drive Bender v1.8.1.0 has been released with a bunch of improvements and fixes.

Here is the change log for this latest release:

• Bug fix: Removing the second last drive from a pool with duplication enabled can fail.
• Bug fix: Removing/swapping a drive can fail if the file being moved off contains a "%s" (issue with writing the event to the log).
• Update: During the drive removal/swapping process, the mount point is no longer taken offline.
• Bug fix: Drives not displaying correctly in the Drive Bender Manager.
• Update: Improved HDS support for certain drives.
• Update: The pool and duplication state of a folder is now display under the "Server Folder" tab (Windows Server family).
• Update: You can now manage folder duplication form the "Server Folder" tab (Windows Server family).

As always you can find the download here.

Add-In: StableBit DrivePool for WS2012e v2.0.0.227 BETA

StableBit DrivePool are hot on their releases this week, this time with an update to the beta build for users of Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

Version 2.0.0.227 BETA has the following change log:

• Added check box to per folder duplication that hides hidden folders.
  Defaults to whatever the OS is set to.
• Added DrivePool_VerifyAfterCopy advanced setting (off by default).
• [D] Fixed MDL based Fast I/O calls. (port from 1.3.2)
• [D] Added support for file IDs. (See CoveFs_OpenByFileId advanced setting) (port from 1.3.2)
• [D] Fixed volume information query.
• Duplicated files that were not yet duplicated were not being selected for re-balancing. (port from 1.3.2)

[D] = Driver was modified (reboot required after update)

This latest release can be downloaded from here.

Add-In: CloudBerry Backup for WHS v3.4

Version 3.4 of CloudBerry Backup for WHS (v1, 2011, SBS 2011 Essentials and  Windows Server 2012 Essentials) , has been released.

This latest release has lots of changes:

FTP/SFTP server support

Cloudberry Backup now supports FTP and SFTP servers. With the new version users can backup their data to FTP and SFTP servers that are widely used for data storage. You can find more details in post covering backup to FTP and post coveringbackup to SFTP.

Master password

We added an ability to set master password in CloudBerry Backup. It may become very useful for IT administrators and users who need to lock software from unauthorized access. Once specified, master password will be required to access Cloudberry Backup, even if it’s already running in background.

Local backup speed improvements

Local backup is an option in CloudBerry Backup that allows backup to local drives, NAS, mapped network drives and network shares. Most of our users found local backup very useful feature but some complained on the low backup speed. In the new version we have improved local backup performance to allow users backup their data locally much faster.

Multiple emails notification

In previous versions Cloudberry Backup users were able to specify only one address for email notifications. From the new version users can set multiple email addresses to receive notification messages on backup completion status. You just have to write email addresses to proper line and separate them from one another with commas.

Clone backup plan

Also we introduced an ability to clone existing backup plans. Now instead of creating new backup plan from scratch users can copy an existing plan and modify it as required.

Ignore self signed SSL certificate

In previous versions backups to online storage with outdated SSL certificate were aborted by the software. Now your backup will run even if an issues with SSL certificate occur. This may be necessary for example for the local OpenStack Swift storage implementations.

Backup files < XX MB

We have also added new file filter based on a file size. Now users can specify the maximum size of the files to backup. For example you can set the application to backup only files that are less than 500 Mb, 1000 Mb, 5000 Mb or any other size that fits your requirements.

More information of this latest release can be found on the CloudBerry blog here.

Add-In: SyncBerry v1.0.0.1011 / 1012

A new add-in has been released for Windows Home Server 2011, SBS 2011 Essentials and Windows Server Essentials 2012 that allows you to synchronize your PC, server, drives and folders.

Similar to SyncToy and Robocopy, SyncBerry uses the power of the Microsoft SyncFramework. It use the build-in functionalities from the Server Dashboard and clearly displays the most important synchronize functionalities.

The synchronize workflow is broadly similar with SyncToy. To synchronize files and folders from different sources, you initially need to create a “folder pair” that represents the two folders (“left” and “right” folders) and one of the following action:

• Synchronize
• Echo
• Contribute

Here’s a run down of what each actions does:

The synchronize function mirrors two folders and makes sure they have exactly the same files. New and updated files will be copy in either direction . Rename and deleted files will be deleted also on the other side.

Example: You use a Windows Server and the server has a access to a remote  network folder. The files on the network folder should be exact mapped on the server side and the changes on the server should also be updated on the network folder. The network folder  is a image of the local server folder and vice versa.

Notice: Every deleted file will be moved by default to the recycle bin. You can change this in the options.

The echo (one way sync) function looks for changes in the left folder and execute them in the right folder. File modification in the left folder (new files,updates,renames and deletes) will be modificated also on the right folder.

Example: You have a Microsoft Server and a external hard drive. You want to make a daily Image from one Server folder to the external hard drive. The Echo function search for changes in the Server folder and execute the changes on the eternal hard drive. Notice: Every deleted file will be moved by default to the recycle bin. You can change this in the options.

The function Contribute looks for changes in the left folder and execute them in the right folder. But it does not delete any files on the right folder that may have been deleted in the left folder. Contribute is like Echo without deletion of files.

Example: You have a Microsoft Server and a external hard drive. You want to make a daily Image from one Server folder to the external hard drive.File modification in the left folder will be modificated in the right folder but for the History without deletion of files.

Using the built in wizard you have a clear overview of the Sync Type, where you can select the folder pair, except files and files extension and choose the schedule type and before the synchronization starts, you can preview changed and updated files.

The preview function is always available in the Dashboard, to easy validate if a synchronization is necessary, if so you can automatically schedule the synchronization for daily, weekly or monthly.

SyncBerry is priced at €5.95 and a 30-day trial is also available.

Add-In: StableBit Scanner v2.4.0.2900 / 2901 BETA

The beta release of StableBit Scanner has had an update and now adds support to automatically check the health of your file systems.

Here is the full change log for version 2.4.0.2900 / 2901 BETA:

• SMART Failures were not being reported in the Dashboard. (WSS only)
• Drive letter assignment is now refreshed properly.
• Added support to automatically check the health of your file systems.
  – File system scanning is streamlined into the existing scanning process and is automatically performed after a surface scan.
  – chkdsk is used, but with some additional features.
          – Ability to scan using Background I/O, which also lowers the paging priority (since chkdsk tends to use a lot of RAM).
          – Ability to suspend a scan if a drive overheats.
          – Support for temperature equalization.
          – Scan progress is reported in percent.
  – File system health is reported when you expand a disk and in the "Status" panel at the bottom.
  – You will get a notification if a problem is found (Email, System tray, Speech and WSS).
  – File system scans can have a separate re-check interval and can be suspended globally or per disk
• Scanned sectors will now slowly turn from green to yellow, to indicate the "age" of the last scan. If a sector has not been re-scanned in 2x the scanning interval, it will turn fully yellow. This gives you a quick visual indication of how log ago the last scan was performed over those sectors.
• Fixed SMART Warning vs. SMART Failure notification mix-up.

You can download this beta release from here.