Events

WHS Phone Update to 1.3.3 In Process

Jim McCarthy

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May 17, 2011

Paul Juenger from WHSPhone has been in contact to tell me that WHSPhone 1.3.3 is in the process of being released for Android and Windows Phone 7. Read on for details!

WHS Phone 1.3.3 is in the process of being released. The add-in is available for download here now, and the client-side application for Windows Phone 7 and Android have been released to their respective application marketplaces. Look for them to be downloadable immediately for Android and very soon for Windows Phone 7 assuming no issues with application approvals.

Here is how Paul describes his application:

WHS Phone is a phone application for Windows Home Server. Connect to your server and browse files, stream music, view photos, and much more.

WHS Phone for windows phone 7 let’s you stream music from your Windows Home Server directly to your phone using your wireless internet!

Capture photos with your phone and send them to your Home Server. You can also view your photos from your Home Server on your phone.

With WHS Phone you can view your server’s resources, manage users, view the status of your computers, and more.

Features in this release:

Completely new UI. I think you’ll like it!
Streamlined Photo browsing a little.
Cleaned up the Audio Playback a little.
Added Server Restart and Shutdown
Added full search of shares (uses windows search) and it’s pretty damn slick.
Added photo upload from the Gallery and/or SD card.
Ability to download ANY file to your phone.
Added the ability to add Users and Shares from the phone.
Video Streaming. YAY!

I told you about the beta here.

In addition, Paul Tweeted the news that he has begun development on an iOS version for iPhones and iPads. That is great news! I look forward to trying this application on my iPad soon.

If you are looking for mobile access to your WHS data and system, give this application a shot!

WHS Phone Our Prior Coverage of the Beta

DataCore DriveHarmony Public Beta Announced

Jim McCarthy

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May 17, 2011

3

DataCore DriveHarmony Public Beta Announced

Carlos Caerreras from DataCore has been in contact to tell us that the beta for DriveHarmony has been announced at Tech Ed. Read on for details!

Here’s the press release, announced from Tech Ed this morning:

Microsoft Tech-Ed 2011: DataCore Software Adds Extra Data Protection, Flexibility and Speed to Windows Home Server with DriveHarmony

Welcomes beta testers to trial DriveHarmony’s new pooling, mirroring and caching features that boost performance and sidestep hard disk drive limitations
ATLANTA and FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – May 17, 2011 – DataCore Software, the industry’s premier provider of storage virtualization software, today announced the Beta release of DriveHarmony™, a simple to use add-on software package for Microsoft Windows Home Server (WHS). Users who are eager to protect, pool, accelerate, and easily expand storage capacity are welcome to request an early version of DriveHarmony for their personal beta testing by visiting DataCore’s booth (#1629) at this week’s Microsoft Tech•Ed 2011 or by sending a request to WHS@DataCore.com.

Easily Pool and Expand Storage to Simplify File Sharing and Folder Management
Leveraging techniques learned from a decade of experience in large data centers across the globe, DataCore™ DriveHarmony maximizes the value home users get from their hard disk drives. The software integrates into the familiar WHS dashboard with a simple, easy-to-use control panel. From there, users can combine one or more physical disks of variable sizes and types into one “Virtual Big Disk” pool. When this virtual drive is created, it is automatically initialized, formatted, assigned a drive letter, and selectively mirrored for data protection. The virtual drive is then ready for use by any application running on the WHS 2011 operating system.

Growing with the Needs of Today’s Digital Lifestyle
As families and small businesses gather more digital assets, their disk space consumption naturally grows. DriveHarmony delivers the right combination of power, capacity, and ease-of-use for today’s home consumers. It allows them to expand appropriately by adding more drives to virtual disks without having to split up or re-organize their files. The rest is done behind the scenes without any need for intervention.
“With more and more content going digital, people increasingly want a simple way to access, store, and enjoy the wide range of photos, personal videos, music, and films they save at home,” said Carlos M. Carreras, vice president of alliances and business development, DataCore Software. “Through the gathering of feedback during the beta process, we look forward to working closely with Microsoft and the Windows Home Server Community to bring to market a powerful solution to help home users easily protect, organize, and manage their growing disk requirements in a digital age.”

Availability
DriveHarmony is currently in Beta release and will be rolled out via select OEMs later this year. Visitors to DataCore’s booth (#1629) at Microsoft Tech•Ed 2011 can request an early version of DriveHarmony for their personal beta testing. Tech•Ed takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from Monday, May 16 until Thursday, May 19, 2011.

About DataCore Software
DataCore Software is the industry’s premier provider of storage virtualization software. Its software-as infrastructure platform solves the big problem stalling virtualization initiatives by eliminating the storage-related barriers that make virtualization too difficult and too expensive. For additional information, visit the DataCore website at www.datacore.com or call (877) 780-5111.
# # #
DataCore, the DataCore logo and DriveHarmony are trademarks or registered trademarks of DataCore Software Corporation. Other DataCore product or service names or logos referenced herein are trademarks of DataCore Software Corporation. All other products, services and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Carlos advises that he expects the beta to be available for download at some point next week. If you are at Tech Ed and are interested, stop by their booth, booth 1629, or ping them at WHS@DataCore.com. I know I will!

DataCore DriveHarmony Public Beta Released

Family Diary Locates Support Forum on UsingWindowsHomeServer.Com

Jim McCarthy

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May 17, 2011

0

Family Diary Locates Support Forum on UsingWindowsHomeServer.Com

When Andrew re-launched the UsingWindowsHomeServer.Com forums, he touched base with several developers and offered free hosting for their support forums. Malcolm Ball, developer for Family Diary, has located his support forums on UsingWindowsHomeServer.Com.

Malcolm, welcome to the UsingWindowsHomeServer.Com family! You can see his support area here. And if you are a developer and need a place to put your support forum, drop Andrew a line at andrew@usingwhs.com.

If you have not done so yet, please check out the new forums board here. Sign up and start posting!

And if you are a Family Diary customer looking for support, here it is!

Family Diary Support Forum Family Diary Website

ioSafe Launch 3TB SoloPRO

Storage & NAS

Andrew Edney

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May 17, 2011

0

Our friends at ioSafe have been in touch to let us know that they have just released a 3TB SoloPRO.

I have a SoloPRO and will be posting a review shortly.

ioSafe produce some pretty cool, and hard wearing products. Just take a look at a video of my blasting one of their Rugged Portable drives back at CES in January.

Here is what ioSafe told us:

A 3TB version of the award-winning ioSafe® SoloPRO is now available, providing an unparalleled combination of speed, physical security and storage capacity.

AUBURN, Calif., May 4, 2011 — ioSafe today announced the availability of a 3TB version of the fireproof and waterproof SoloPRO external hard drive. The 3TB SoloPRO enables users to store up to 1,500 hours of DVD-quality video, 45,000 hours of digital music or more than 500,000 digital photos.¹

SoloPRO features include:

A choice of eSATA and USB 3.0 connections providing fast transfer speeds up to 3 to 4 times faster than USB 2.0.
Rugged disaster proof design. Both the USB 3.0 and eSATA versions of the SoloPRO protect against data loss at temperatures up to 1550° F for 30 minutes per ASTM E119 or being submerged to a depth of 10 feet for up to 3 days.
12 months Data Recovery Service Standard. Up to $2,500 towards the cost of third-party forensic data recovery, one time, for any reason including accidental deletion, hard drive failure, fires, floods, etc. Upgradeable to 3 or 5 years for $49 or $99 respectively.
Available in capacities of 1TB, 2TB and now 3TB.

“Both homes and businesses need to store every-increasing volumes of data,” said ioSafe CEO Robb Moore. “The 3TB SoloPRO provides users with an easy and cost-effective way to quickly and securely back that data up.”

The USB 3.0 SoloPRO supports both Windows and Mac desktop operating systems while the eSATA versions adds support for Linux and Windows and Mac server operating systems.

Pricing and availability

Priced at $499.99 the 3TB SoloPRO is available now via the ioSafe website, resellers and international distributors.

About ioSafe

Like an aircraft black box for data, ioSafe provides rugged, fireproof, waterproof hardware and disaster recovery services as a cost-effective way for corporations and consumers alike to protect their irreplaceable data. ioSafe is a privately held company with headquarters in Auburn, Calif. For more information, please visit www.iosafe.com .

UWHS Community Forums Update

News

Andrew Edney

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May 17, 2011

0

Last week we re-launched our community forums, well today we have updated them to make them fit seamlessly into the site.

New Changes

Ok, so what have we changed then?

Firstly the look and feel of the forums have been integrated into the main site, as you can see below:

Also, if you are using a mobile device to access the forums these have changed as well:

What Do YOU Need To Do?

What we would like you to do is register if you haven’t done so already and create a profile. Then just jump straight in. You can ask anything you like and talk about anything you want. If you already have a profile make sure it is up to date and complete, including with an image as it makes it that much easier to use.

Is there anything you think is missing? Let us know and we will do our best to add it!

Remember, we will be giving away random prizes for the best contributors, and more!

Access the Using Windows Home Server Community Forums now

BYOB Episode 43 Out Now

Tech

Andrew Edney

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May 16, 2011

0

The guys over at the BYOB podcast, including our very own Tim Daleo have just released episode 43.

Here is what is included in this weeks show:

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]Low cost parts scavenging, High cost copper GPUs, and a special guest on this week’s BYOB.[/box]

As usual you can listen to the show from here.

How To Install Windows Home Server 2011 on to a Tranquil PC SQA-5H

Andrew Edney

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May 15, 2011

33

How To Install Windows Home Server 2011 on to a Tranquil PC SQA-5H

If you already have a Tranquil PC SQA-5H Windows Home Server you might be considering how you would run Windows Home Server 2011 on it. In this guide we will show you just how to do that.

Remember there is no possible way to upgrade a Windows Home Server V1 installation to Windows Home Server 2011 because 2011 is 64-bit and you just cant upgrade!

Pre-requisites

Before you start the process, you will need to have done the following:

either copied / moved off all your data from your existing WHS installation to a temporary location, OR you have put in a new System hard drive and have pulled out all the data drives
obtained a copy of Windows Home Server 2011 (at the time of writing this article you can only get it from MSDN or TechNet – the System Builder channel will have it at a later time, but remember it is not a retail product)
the latest SIL 3124 drives (more on that later)
Tranquil SQA-5H front panel drivers for WHS 2011 – these control the lights (more on that later too)
you have made a note of the user account details you will need to set up again and a note of any add-ins you had so that you can check if there are any WHS 2011 versions available as the V1 versions will not work with 2011
a few hours of time
and in honour of Tim – a few beers (or in my case soft drinks!)

This process works perfectly well if you use either a normal hard drive as your system drive or a Tranquil PC SAFE drive. I have tried it on both, with the SAFE drive being my main system drive.

If you don’t want to do this yourself, or you are unsure, Tranquil are offering an upgrade service, which includes the cost of a WHS 2011 licence and moving all your data for you.

Tranquil PC’s Windows Home Server 2011 Upgrade Service

Step 1 – Preparing the SQA-5H

Once you have performed all the pre-requisites, its time to start the actual installation.

For this step, the easiest way of installing Windows Home Server 2011 is to connect a mouse, keyboard and monitor and perform it that way, although most Windows Home Server’s from OEMs don’t have a monitor port.

As you probably know if you look at the back of the SQA-5H there is no visible monitor port. Fortunately Tranquil provided a monitor port, but it is hidden under a small Service plate.

So, do the following to be able to access the monitor port:

Unplug everything from your SQA-5H.

Turn it around so that the back is facing you.

Unscrew the four screws on the Service plate to access the monitor port.

Step 2 – Installing Windows Home Server 2011

Install Windows Home Server 2011, either from DVD using a USB connected DVD reader, or from a USB stick.

How to install Windows Home Server from a USB stick Windows Home Server 2011 Installation Overview video

HDHomeRun PRIME is now available for preorder for $249.99

Timothy Daleo

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May 14, 2011

9

HDHomeRun PRIME is now available for preorder for $249.99

SiliconDust has just announced that the new HDHomeRun PRIME is available for preorder with a ship date of June 29, 2011. This is a major milestone for SiliconDust and we are excited to see the PRIME available on NewEgg. Read on to find out more about the PRIME!

HDHomeRun PRIME is available for pre-order from NewEgg today, with HDHomeRun PRIME 6CC to be available for pre-order in the coming week. Orders will be fulfilled by Newegg in the order in which they are received for each model. Both models are expected to begin shipping in volume in July, with the 6-tuner model expected to ship a little ahead of the 3-tuner model.

Pre-Order your SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME CableCARD from NewEgg at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815345006

HDHomeRun PRIME is a cable TV tuner for computers – Ethernet attached. Once connected to your home router you can access the HDHomeRun Tuners from any computer, anywhere in your home. Watch / Record TV from you Family Room / Kitchen / Garage / Backyard, anywhere you have a computer.

To find out more about the HDHomeRun PRIME visit their website at:

http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun/prime/

Snoop-De-Dupe Developer Interview

Windows Home Server

Jim McCarthy

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May 14, 2011

6

I recently caught up with Jim from electrongoo, the company that developed Snoop De Dupe, and have some information on that add-in. Read on for details!

Here is how electrongoo describes Snoop-De-Dupe:

Keep your server’s storage space optimized! Snoop-de-dupe will automatically scan your server storage and display duplicate files in an easy-to-view layout directly within the server’s user Console. Once snoop-de-dupe locates duplicate files then you can respond to them as you choose. You can delete the duplicate files, ignore/keep the duplicate files, or replace the duplicate files with a hard-link (available in WHS/SBS 2011 only). You will be in command of your server storage space like never before!

Product features:

Supports Windows Home Server

Automatic, real-time continuous file de-duplication scanning

160-bit SHA-1 de-duplication hash for optimum results

Windows Home Server Console integration

Pause and Resume operation at any time for maximum efficiency of your server

Select any folders of your choosing on your server for de-duplication scanning

Simple, easy-to-view heads-up status display to monitor progress

Easy to navigate list of duplications for: deleting, linking, or ignoring duplicate files

Quick-launch feature allows for viewing contents of duplicate files

15 day free trial available

And now the interview.

Tell us about your firm.

We’ve actually been around for over a year. We have five add-ons currently shipping for the WHS/SBS community: TimeTravelerWHS, Integrity Checker (WHS + SBS), and Snoop-de-dupe (WHS + SBS). Our company name is electrongoo (www.electrongoo.com) although we have not advertised the company behind the products; generally we let the product take focus on itself. Our average engineer has over 12 years of industry experience.

What is Snoop De Dupe for those who have never tried it before? Key features, capabilities, etc.

Snoop-de-dupe is an add-in for Windows Home Server (WHS/SBS 2011 support to be released soon). The add-in alerts you to duplicate files. You can simply log into the Console at any time and view the current list of duplicate files. You have the option to ignore, delete, or create a hard-link (WHS/SBS 2011 only). Snoop-de-dupe allows you to re-cycle used space on your hard drive by reclaiming space from duplicate photos, music, documents (or any file for that matter). Invariably, duplicate files can be a problem most people are not even aware of. In a home/family environment where multiple people are copying data to a server, you typically find a lot of duplicate files within the different user folders.

Who is the target audience for Snoop De Dupe?

The home user, small business, and IT consultant.

Why does a WHS user need to use it?

Duplicate files can waste valuable hard disk space. Knowing where duplicate files exist is the first step in re-claiming the wasted space. Also, consider backup/protection solutions. Unless your backup solution has a de-duping feature then every backup operation wastes more storage space and process time than it needs to. If you’re using an online-backup service then you’re probably paying for that extra space too.

What are the key draws that you think will excite potential users about this application?

Automatic real-time monitoring of file duplicates (I recommend installing and configuring the add-in then open the Console to the snoop-de-dupe add-in tab and create some duplicate files on the server. Maybe I’m just a nerd … but it’s pretty cool when the duplicate list displays the updates immediately in real-time).

Ease of install and use.

Just saying the name, “snoop-de-dupe” … rolls off the tongue!

What was the inspiration for Snoop De Dupe? Can you tell me why you set out to deliver the application?

The hard drive on my home server was getting close to capacity. When I was cleaning up my home server storage and noticed a huge amount of space (GB’s!) wasted due to duplicate music and photos. I thought, “Hey, there must be a better way to stay on time of this!” This add-in works great for my needs. I simply log into the Console at my discretion and view the duplicate files which have been copied to my server since the last time I viewed them. Easy!

How is your application differentiated from the competition?

Snoop-de-dupe locates duplicate files in real-time; there is one other add-in which will search for duplicate files but you must log-in, configure a job, and let it run

WHS/SBS 2011 will allow you to replace a duplicate file with a hard-link thus keeping the file available in its current location but freeing the wasted hard drive space

Better price

We’ve got a much cooler product name

What are your plans for future development? Are there any features that you plan to add in future releases?

We’re finalizing support for WHS/SBS 2011 now (should be available very soon).

Scheduling (some users would rather not watch duplicate files in real-time). Although the current version of the product allows you to pause/resume scanning at any time; this is a manual process that we’d like to automate with a scheduling feature.

Integration with the health meter. Real-time updates to notify of duplicate files.

More Information on Tranquil PCs Upgrade to Windows Home Server 2011 Service

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

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May 13, 2011

1

More Information on Tranquil PCs Upgrade to Windows Home Server 2011 Service

We mentioned a few weeks ago that Tranquil PC were going to offer an upgrade service to Windows Home Server 2011 if you had one of their SQA-5H Windows Home Server V1 boxes. Well here is some more information.

Here are the details the provided:

Due to the nature of Windows Home Server and Windows Home Server 2011, there is no ‘user upgrade’ available, as perhaps you may have used to upgrade XP to Vista in the past. Neither has Microsoft issued an ‘upgrade’ of the operating system licence. Therefore the outcome of this means that our software upgrade offer is based on a factory upgrade.

SQA-5H Series 2 with Windows Home Server to SQA-5H with Windows Home Server 2011 (Operating System upgrade + new Disk Management Add In, with data transfer service, and fully factory re-test)

What do you get ?

Customer returns SQA-5H Series 2 to Tranquil factory
Tranquil copy all customer data to a secure storage server
The unit is then upgraded to Windows Home Server 2011, including a new licence
DataCore’s ‘DriveHarmony’ Add-In is installed and any additional HDDs in your server are added to the storage pool.
The unit is then initialised to your requirements (Admin password and machine name)
Your data is then moved back to your server folders
The unit is then fully factory tested, prior to shipping it back to you.

Please note – any add in which you have installed on your current WHS will be lost during this upgrade. If you want to still use AVA Media CD/DVD then please click on the drop down option below.

The cost for the above process is £189.00, irrespective of the amount of data that is protected and then moved back. Return shipping costs and VAT are not included but will be added on checkout.

Turnaround times may vary, but the normal service level for the above process is 5-7 days.

Learn more about the service from the Tranquil PC website

I know that a few people have made comment about the cost of this service from Tranquil, however when you take into account that it includes a WHS 2011 licence, a DriveHarmony licence and all your data is migrated, I think its good value. Of course, you could do it all yourself if you are confident and have both the software and free space to move the data.

I’m currently working on upgrading my SQA-5H myself, and will be posting something very soon, so watch this space.