computers & hardware:

	HP EX475 MediaSmart Home Server (AMD Live, Windows Home Server, 1 TB Hard Drive) Hewlett Packard Hewlett Packard average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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The stylish HP MediaSmart Server easily fits into your living room or office decor.

Its small size will fit on top of even the most crowded desk, and it offers wireless access when connected to a Wi-Fi router (via the Gigabit Ethernet port). This sleek, streamlined micro-tower design is perfect for use in the home office or the living room, and its perforated steel exterior panels provide cool, quiet operation. The EX475 MediaSmart Server features 1 TB of capacity (2x500 GB drives, SATA, 7200 RPM), 512 MB of installed DDR2 RAM, four hard drive bays for additional expansion using off-the-shelf SATA I or II hard drives, a Gigabit Ethernet port for ultra-fast networking (and connection to a wireless router), four USB 2.0 ports (1 on the front, 3 on the back) for connecting to additional hard drives, and an and an eSATA port for high-speed data transfer to external storage devices--up to 6 times faster than existing solutions.

It's quick and easy to set up your HP MediaSmart Server and create up to 10 user accounts using the Microsoft Windows Home Server software. You can also open a predefined Guest account for additional file sharing capabilities. The HP MediaSmart Server also lets you set up your own secure personal web address to allow file access by remote users.

Easily Enhance Your Network


Expand your storage possibilities with the MediaServer's four hard drive bays. Every PC on your network will have the Control Center software, giving users the ability to browse shared folders on the HP MediaSmart Server, add photos to the HP Photo Webshare and perform an immediate backup of their computer. Set the access privileges for each user at the shared-folder level to allow Read/Write, Read Only or No Access. You also control the remote access privilege for each user. Approved users will then be able to remotely access shared files and even applications on their home PC through a secure connection from any Internet-connected PC.

AMD LIVE Smarter Digital Entertainment

Share Your Media
Use included HP Photo Webshare software to easily and securely share photos stored on your HP MediaSmart Server with select friends and family. A quick link to Snapfish allows easy photo printing. Enjoy digital music, photos, video and files from any networked PC. Stream content directly to your home entertainment center using a digital media adapter (DMA). The DMA device accesses the media files and coordinates the streaming process between the HP MediaSmart Server and your entertainment device.

Protect Your Data
Keep your PC files safe with automatic backup for multiple PCs. You can customize the frequency of backups and how many backups are stored. Files accidentally deleted can be easily found on the backup image and copied to your PC. In the event of hard drive failure, the included HP PC Restore disc is all you need to return your PC and all your data to their original condition.

Other Features
Centralize your iTunes music libraries and playlists on the server for playback to any PC or notebook running iTunes on your home network. Incremental backups: After initial backup, only changes are backed up. Efficient single copy backup: A single copy of each file is backed up, no matter how many computers that files resides on in your home network. Add an internal or external hard drive to the HP MediaSmart Server, indicate that you want to add the disk in the Windows Home Server Console, and the HP MediaSmart Server storage grows. No need to power down the unit or manage drive letters for multiple hard drives. Remote access compatibility: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Media Center Edition 2004 or higher, or Windows Vista Ultimate or higher File sharing compatibility: Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Professional SP4, Mac, OS X, Linux. Backup compatibility: Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP

What's in the Box
HP MediaSmart Server, power cord, Ethernet cable, software installation disc, PC restore disc, server recovery disc, Quick Start and HP support guides.

Important: The HP MediaSmart Server is not a stand-alone computer. You connect it to your networked computer system. No monitor is needed because its user interface is accessed from another computer.

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A Great Product Once You Get Passed All the FUD

Last year my wife's computer died. Of course she hadn't backed up her computer in months (or was it years) even though she had a USB Drive with a semi-automated (One Touch) backup system. Backing up her computer should have been trivial, but it required a manual step, which she never remembered to do. She lost irreplaceable data and pictures.

This isn't the first time we've lived through this scenario. In her frustration, she asked me to solve this problem once and for all. I knew that there were expensive commercial systems to automate backups (we use them at work). After looking around for a while, I considered piecing together a system and buying commercial software. Then I ran across the Windows Home Server from HP. The system was less expensive than what I was considering building and it was turn-key. It seemed like a slam-dunk.

I bought the HP WHS system in December. It was trivial to hook up. I had the computers in our house automatically backing up in just an hour or so. It also gives me a status of the server and of the computers that have been configured for backup. If it detects something amiss, it lets me know about it. That's a big win.

There are several other cool features that I consider a bonus:
1. PC software for backup and recovery is on the server file system. I can easily install it as I need it without hunting for CD's.
2. I can access the server remotely (via the internet) to access files and to remotely log into my home systems. This is very nice feature.
3. The HP system comes with extra drive bays. If I need more storage I just buy a drive and slam it in, the server takes care of the rest.
4. The unit is tiny and quiet. This makes it much easier to find a place to put it.

Not long after I got the server I heard about the infamous KB946676 "Data Corruption" bug. At first I was very concerned - after all I was putting my trust in its ability to safely backup my computers. But after looking into it further, it turns out I have a 0% chance of running into this problem (which is true for most people). To see for yourself read the following article [...]. In my case, I normally use the system for backups so this problem is not going to affect my typical usage.

I believe that you can safely ignore much of the negative comments based on KB946676. The negative bias based on KB946676 is mostly a knee-jerk reaction. Having said that, you should probably avoid editing files on the server while it is heavily loaded (which is something I never do). It is my understanding that this is the only time this bug can occur.

The bottom line is that I would heartily recommend this system to any family with multiple computers.

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Near Flawless

I've had it running for about 3 months now. As always, I had to have one just as soon as it was released for sale. (An OEM WHS, that is.)

It installed in about 20 minutes on my first computer and less than that on my other computers. I elected to buy a new "N" wifi router that had gigabyte ethernet as both my desktop computer and the WHS supported it. Glad I did. 50 or 100 Meg file transfer almost instantly.

The Media server has been as reliable as an anvil. It just sits there and works.

The much over-discussed "data coruption bug" is supposed to be fixed by Microsoft in June. Meantime, the workaround is a no brainer. Just drag the file you want from the server to your computer, open it and do what you want and when you're done, drag it back to the WHS. The fix, I hear, will allow you just to open the data on the server. Minor and temporary inconvenience.

Much more serious was changing the the dumb welcome screen picture to one of my own. :-)

The webshare photo album is great and really easy to use. Remote access using the HP offered dynamic IP access site works flawlessly. I have my work files available wherever I need them.

Really a great, great product that does exactly what it's supposed to do.

Joe

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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