By on April 22nd, 2013

The Home Tech Podcast Episode 113

Home Tech Podcast

Microsoft MVP John Zajdler talks WHS 2011, Windows Server 2012 Essentials and Western Digital Sentinel DX4000, on the Home Tech podcast.

Jim (@jcollison) is joined this week by long time Home Sever Show host and Microsoft Windows Home Server MVP John Zajdler (@Dieharder) for Home Tech episode #113.  John spend some time talking all things Windows Home Server, the Western Digital Sentinel DX4000 running Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, Stablebit DrivePool, his own Windows Home Server that he runs, the leaked version of Windows 8.1, Antivirus and much, much more.  I very packed hour and 30 minutes of content.

You can find episode 113 of the Home Tech podcast here.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on April 21st, 2013

The BYOB Podcast Episode 119

BYOB Logo

It’s time for another episode of the BYOB podcast:

“Short show this week. Troubleshooting Intel Rapid Start, Windows Blue rumors of boot to desktop and the return of the start button. Last we discuss Durango from the opposite perspective from last week.”

You can find episode 119 here.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on April 20th, 2013

Third Home Server Show Meetup

The guys over at the Home Server Show are organizing their third meetup in Indianapolis, Indiana.

city_dusk

So keep September 21, 2013 clear and head on over to The Home Server Show website for all the details.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on April 19th, 2013

WS2012e Integration Module for Windows Azure Backup

Microsoft have released the Windows Server Essentials Integration Module for Windows Azure Backup.

Windows Azure Backup Forum

The add-in for WS2012 Essential users has been updated and can be downloaded directly from here.

A reboot might be needed if you don’t have the Visual C++ redistributable installed because it requires the server to reboot. After reboot, please launch the add-in installer again.

If you already have an old version of the Add-in software installed, then you need to:
1.Uninstall the old Add-in from the Dashboard;
2.Uninstall the Windows Azure Backup agent from the Control panel;
3.Reinstall the new Add-in

NOTE: During step #3, we’ll automatically reinstall the new Windows Azure Backup agent.

Known Issue

If you update the Windows Azure Backup agent before uninstalling the previous Windows Server Essentials Integration module for Windows Azure Backup, the Dashboard will crash. This is because of the compatibility issue between the old add-in and the new Windows Azure Backup agent. To fix this issue, follow the steps below:
1.Open the Dashboard in safe mode.
2.Disable the online backup add-in.
3.Go to Dashboard to uninstall the add-in.
4.Reinstall the new add-in.

Additional help and support is available in the Windows Azure Backup forum.

add-ins • Windows Home Server
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By on April 18th, 2013

The Home Server Show Podcast Episode 221

home_server_show_small

Episode 221 of "The Home Server Show" podcast is up:

Jim Clark from wegotserved.com joins the podcast to discuss his new book, Windows Server 2012 Essentials Step by Step. We talk about the book, writing it, and it’s content. Jim Collison and I wrap the show up with a few news tidbits and I share my cable pulling adventures and the pain that it is. Literal pain. Third annual meetup and more! Enjoy.

You can find episode 221 here.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on April 16th, 2013

Using Windows Server 2012 Essentials – Step by Step eBook

Using Windows Server 2012 Essentials Step by Step

We Got Served has a new eBook for Microsoft’s all-new server platform, Using Windows Server 2012 Essentials – Step by Step is available to buy at just £14.99.

Using Windows Server 2012 Essentials – Step by Step is our comprehensive guide to Microsoft’s ideal “first server” platform. Written specifically for home and small business owners new to servers, or those migrating from Microsoft’s Windows Home Server, Using Windows Server 2012 Essentials provides easy to follow steps for installing, configuring and extending Windows Server 2012 Essentials – at home or at the office!

Fully illustrated with hundreds of colour screenshots, this 586 page eBook (available to download in both PDF and ePub formats) is designed to provide a friendly deep dive into the features and workings of Microsoft’s server platform – no IT degree required! Author and Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Jim Clark walks you through first steps with your server – from the computer hardware you’ll need to host Windows Server 2012 Essentials, through installing the software, configuring user accounts and security settings, connecting client PCs, mobile devices and Apple Macs.

We take a look at backing up and restoring your vital data, sharing files and folders across multiple users and devices, accessing the server remotely via the web or VPN, streaming music, video and photos and a whole lot more. The eBook wraps up with a high level guide to additional software you could consider installing to extend the Windows Server 2012 platform as well as an introduction to advanced server management tools and features.

The chapter list including a link to download chapter 1 (in PDF format) for a taste of what the eBook is like, can be found here.

News • Windows Home Server
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By on April 15th, 2013

Add-In: StableBit DrivePool v1.3.2.7545 BETA

Stablebit_drivepool_M4_logo

The beta build of StableBit DrivePool for WHS 2011, Windows SBS 2011 Essentials and Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials now has NFS Server support.

Here is the change log for version 1.3.2.7545 BETA:

  • [D] Enabled File ID support by default.
          This enables compatibility with the NFS Server, and has a memory usage and performance impact.
          The file system only consumes extra resources if there is a service that is actively querying it for file IDs.
          (Controlled by CoveFs_OpenByFileId)
  • [D] File IDs are now recycled when a file is deleted or renamed.
  • [D] Fixed MDL based Fast I/O calls (used by NFS Server).
  • Duplicated files that were not yet duplicated were not being selected for re-balancing.

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

This latest beta build can be found here.

add-ins • Windows Home Server
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By on April 12th, 2013

DVBLink v4.5.3

dvblogic have released version 4.5.3 of their DVBLink product suite.

DVBLogic Logo

This new release contains many fixes, stability improvements and several new usability features.
In a view of a number of crucial stability fixes this new version is a highly recommended upgrade for all DVBLink users.

The highlights of this release are:

  • More intuitive Sources configuration page
  • Support for the Australian IceTV EPG provider
  • Support for x86-64 QNAP products
  • Genre search EPG function
  • Improved DLNA clients compatibility for trick modes
  • A number of serious stability fixes

The detailed list with fixes and additions per platform/product can be found at their forum.

News • Other Software
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By on April 11th, 2013

Add-In: Drive Bender v1.8

Drive Bender Logo

Version 1.8 of Drive Bender is available which now includes faster mount loading and the Windows Search Indexer fix.

Here is the full change log:

  • Bug fix: Converting and merging a drive can result in one or more folder being missed during the convert/merge operation (these folders remain untouched on the drive).
  • Bug fix: The Windows Search Indexing service can fail to index a Drive Bender pooled drive.
  • Bug fix: The comparison of primary and duplicate files during a health check can incorrectly identify files to be different when they are in fact identical.
  • Bug fix: Under certain conditions the Manager’s drives list is not populated correctly.
  • Update: Improved drive identification in drive offline messages.
  • Update: Mount points now come online earlier during the boot process.
  • Update: The Drive Bender console application can now access S.M.A.R.T. details.
  • Update: The Drive Bender console now displays the drive’s model and serial number.
  • Bug fix: The initial creation of the first pool could result in 2 pools being created (the second remains empty and unused).

This latest release for users of WHS 2011, SBS Essentials 2011 or Server 2012 Essentials can be downloaded from here.

add-ins • Windows Home Server
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By on April 11th, 2013

Ordered File Placement for StableBit DrivePool

Stablebit_drivepool_M4_logo

Ordered File Placement is a new plugin for users of StableBit DrivePool.

Ordered File Placement changes StableBit DrivePool’s default file placement strategy.

By default, StableBit DrivePool always places new files onto the disk with the most free space. This tends to equalize the amount of free space across all the disks in the pool.

With this plug-in, StableBit DrivePool will place new files in a way that will fill one disk at a time. Once a disk is filled to a pre-set threshold, StableBit DrivePool will then move onto filling the next disk.

This has a number of benefits:

  • Files copied at the same time will tend to be on the same disk. Because those files were copied at the same time, it stands to reason that they might be related. It can be beneficial, in terms of file recovery, to have related files be placed on the same disk.
  • You may want StableBit DrivePool to write to one disk at a time in order to implement an efficient power savings policy.

Ordered File Placement can be downloaded from here.

add-ins • Windows Home Server
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