Installing Windows Home Server Vail on VMware Server

Andrew Edney
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0

The How-To Geek site has published a great article on running Windows Home Server Vail on VMWare Server.

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Earlier in the week we talked about Installing Windows Home Server Code Name Vail on a Virtual Machine.

In that post we mentioned that the How-To Geek website had published a great article on installing WHS Vail on VMware Workstation. The issue with this method is that you need a licenced copy of VMware Workstation.

Now they have published an article on installing WHS Vail on VMware Server, which is free!

You can read the full article on how to install Windows Home Server Vail on VMware Server from the How-To Geek website.

The Media Center Show 265

Andrew Edney
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3

Ian over at the DigitalLifeStyle.com has released the Media Center Show number 265, and I’m on it again.

TDL logo

Here is what Ian has to say about this weeks show:

Joining me for another round table recording are Andrew Edney and Garry Whittiker. We discus some listeners emails including DVB-S, digital audio and talk about some of the weeks news including new Media Center apps, Windows 7 Tablets and my new toy the iPad. I am trying to integrate the iPad with my Media Center systems so Garry and Andrew have some app recommendations.

Links from this weeks show:

As usual you can listen to the show by clicking here.

These round table shows are a lot of fun to record as we often don’t have any real set script. Watch out for more of these coming up.

KeepVault New Features Announcement

Andrew Edney
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0

Proxure, the makers of the KeepVault add-in for Windows Home Server have announced some new features due to released shortly.

Hot on the heels of the Windows Home Server Code Name Vail support news earlier this week comes another announcement.

Here is what Proxure has to say:

The success of the ‘KeepVault Pro & Business’ (www.keepvaultpro.com) solution is its ground-up design targeting small to medium businesses (SMB); easy to setup with no special IT skills required, almost no maintenance thanks to its automatic operation, and it is significantly cheaper than the competition with prices starting at under $7/month. Most other SMB vendors try to re-purpose highly technical enterprise solutions, resulting in a poor user experience and high prices with hidden bandwidth and per seat fees.

Importantly we also listen to our customers and we continue to improve our service based on their feedback; which has helped to shape these new SMB features:

Enhanced Administrator Control & Reporting

Ensuring data is secure and that backups are functioning successfully is of particular importance to business owners, where any loss of data can jeopardize their company. The KeepVault Pro & Business software ‘admin lock feature’ prevents unauthorized changes to settings that control, amongst other things, the what, when, where of backup, and how much bandwidth each device uses.  These controls are now enhanced with the new ‘web-based admin console’ which provides an overall backup status report as well as health reports for each device being protected.  The administrator or account owner can review (per device) the date of the last backup, device status, and the amount currently protected.  These reports are in addition to the existing automated ‘health’ notifications via SMS, email, and Twitter.

Access to data via the web is included at no additional cost for ‘Pro & Business’ users. The new admin console allows the administrator to control web access, greatly enhancing  overall security.  Web access control and backup ‘health’ reporting can be managed on a ‘sub user account’ basis for extra flexibility.

Sub User Accounts

Securing sensitive financial data, personnel or patient records, or product roadmaps is now a lot easier with the Sub Account feature. As the name suggests, account owners/administrators can now create sub accounts within their main account, easily letting them section-off data for different departments within the company and prevent unauthorized access. Best of all we’ve kept it really simple and easy to use, no complicated permissions rules to manage or keep in-sync. For example, a 100GB account could be subdivided with 20GB for the accounting department, 30GB for senior management, 50GB for marketing etc. As needs change, those storage amounts can be increased or decreased with the click of a button. Usage, status, web access can all be tracked by sub account.

I have been using KeepVault Pro for a number of months now and have been very happy with it and am very happy to see some new features.

The planned public release date for these features is August 4th 2010

Office for Mac 2011

Andrew Edney
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1

Microsoft is starting to show off some of the features for its forthcoming Office for Mac 2011 suite – so if you have a Mac you may want to take a look at what’s coming down the road.

Office Mac 2011 Logo

I’m mainly a Windows guy, and I have been for a very long time, but I also use Apple products. To me, its all about using the product that’s right for me and what I want to do – I have an iPod, an iPhone and I have an iPad and I have Windows computers. I also have an older MacBook Pro (which I run Windows on) – ok, don’t get me started! Ian Dixon and I even talk about Apple products on this weeks Media Center Show podcast.

I’ve used Microsoft’s previous edition of Office for the Mac – Office 2008, and frankly I wasn’t blown away.

So when news started to come out about Office for Mac 2011 I wasn’t exactly rushing to take a look, but now I have I am actually kind of interested.

What interests me the most is the Ribbon and actually Outlook, so I will be keeping a close eye on those developments.

Microsoft have also published a couple of videos to show you some features:

You can learn about all the new features from the Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 website or by reading the Mac teams blog.

Do you use a Mac? What are your thoughts?

Review of the Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor

Andrew Edney
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2

If you want to start using USB 3.0 hard drives but don’t have any USB 3.0 ports on your laptop you will need an adaptor. We take a look at the Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor.

Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor

What is USB 3.0?

The website EverythingUSB.com describes USB 3.0:

USB 3.0 is the next major revision of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, created in 1996 by a consortium of companies led by Intel to dramatically simplify the connection between host computer and peripheral devices. Fast forwarding to 2009, USB 2.0 has been firmly entrenched as the de-facto interface standard in the PC world for years (with about 6 billion devices sold), and yet still the need for more speed by ever faster computing hardware and ever greater bandwidth demands again drive us to where a couple of hundred megabits per second is just not fast enough.

In 2007, Intel demonstrated SuperSpeed USB at the Intel Developer Forum. Version 1.0 of the USB 3.0 (confusing, isn’t it?) specification was completed on November 17, 2008. As such, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has taken over managing the specifications and publishes the relevant technical documents necessary to allow the world of developers and hardware manufacturers to begin to develop products around the USB 3.0 protocol.

In a nutshell, USB 3.0 promises the following:

  • Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8 Gbps)
  • Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
  • New power management features
  • Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
  • New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer…although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers

With USB 3.0 drives now starting to be released, and with people wanting faster speeds, more people are finding that their current computer hardware doesn’t support USB 3.0 – because unless you have a fairly new machine you won’t have USB 3.0 ports!

Obviously this is a problem and unless you really feel like buying a new computer you need an adaptor.

If you have a laptop we recently reviewed the Iomega USB 3.0 ExpressCard Adaptor.

If you have a desktop computer, with a spare PCI Express slot, then the new Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor is the one for you.

Adding this little card will give you two USB 3.0 ports.

Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express AdaptorIomega USB 3.0 PCI Express Adaptor

Iomega USB 3.0 PCI Express AdaptorIMG_2791

4K Sectors and the Future of Hard Drives

Andrew Edney
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1

You may have heard about 4K sectors on new hard drives and want to know and understand more – then this video is for you.

RAM TV have posted a short, but very informative video on 4K Sectors.

RAM TV Video

Here is how RAM TV describe it:

Over the past 30 years, hard drives have gotten bigger and faster. Interfaces have changed – I remember back to MFM and RLL. But the logical block format size know as a sector has remained at 512 bytes.

That is changing. Hard drive companies are migrating to a larger, more efficient 4096 byte sector size, generally referred to as 4K. That may not be something a user sees results in short term but in the long term, it should lead to higher densities and capacities.

“As hard drive capacities have increased, sector size has increasingly become a limiting design element in improving hard drive capacities and error correction efficiency,” explains Seagate’s David Burks.

Generally, manufacturers will be transitioning  to 4K technology over the next 12 months but it’s important to understand the potential short term negative effects resellers could encounter and how companies like Seagate have developed technologies to make that transition smoother.. We set David Burks down in front of a camera to explain.

Here is the video from RAM TV.

This really is worth the few minutes of time it takes to watch the video. There has already been scares about advanced format drives, and a lot of misunderstanding, so it is good to see very clear information being presented. Sooner or later we are all going to buy a new hard drive and it will be one of the newer advanced format drives, so its good to understand now what it means.

Great job RAM TV!

Seagate also have a great 4K Sector Hard Drive Primer which is worth a read as well.

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Image Credit: The Digital Den

So what are your thoughts on these new drives formats?

TwonkyServer and the New Xbox 360 Slim Video

Andrew Edney
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2

Would you like to see TwonkyServer being used with a new Xbox 360 Slim? Then we have a video to show you.

Here is how Twonky describe TwonkyServer:

Is your Playstation® 3 connected to your home network? Do you have a digital photo frame with a wireless Internet connection, or what about an Internet radio? Provide your favorite devices with that missing link to your computer’s music, video and photo collections. Download the popular, powerful TwonkyServer and truly experience the connected home.

TwonkyServer makes it possible for your devices to retrieve your media files from wherever they’re stored. Using your device’s remote and menu system, view your computer’s media library, or an online media feed, and just press play.

TwonkyServer is available for Windows®, Mac® and Linux, so it will work for any connected home.
We even offer a mobile version of our server. Currently available free in the Android™ app store, TwonkyServer Mobile lets you serve music, photos or video from your phone to devices all around the home.

The video shows a Qnap ts-439 server running TwonkyServer and a new Xbox 360 Slim – and it has some funky music as well. You will see how easy it is to use TwonkyServer to stream to your devices.

Credit for the video goes to TubeYou70. Now if we could convince him to replace his Qnap ts-439 with a Windows Home Server……

Installing Windows Home Server Code Name Vail on a Virtual Machine

Andrew Edney
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2

If you don’t have spare hardware available to install the Windows Home Server Code Name Vail beta you can still try it out in a virtual machine.

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Two of the best guides out there come from the How To Geek and from Nigel Wilks on MediaSmartServer.net.

I was going to do my own post on this but it is so straightforward using either of the two guides above that I didn’t see the point in duplicating the effort.

I am running both “real” hardware for Vail and also virtual hardware, depending on what I am doing.

If you don’t have the beta for Windows Home Server Code Name Vail yet you should get it now from here.

Tim has also done a great video on installing Windows Home Server Code Name Vail you should check out too.

CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 5

Andrew Edney
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1

Following on from the announcement last week from CloudBerry Labs about the release of CloudBerry Backup for WHS version 1.6, we have another of our UWHS Giveaways – today is Question 5.

CloudBerry (2)

The announcement about version 1.6 came out last week.

What is CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server you might ask:

CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Home Server provides a powerful Backup and Restore program designed to leverage Amazon S3 storage to make your disaster recovery plan simple, reliable, and affordable.

Ok, so on to the giveaway.

Our friends at CloudBerry Labs have given us 5 copies of CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server to giveaway to our readers.

The way this giveaway is going to work is that for the next five days, starting today, we are going to post a question. You need to answer each question and after the 5th and final question has been posted send all the answers to us and we will select 5 correct sets of entries. Don’t worry if you already have CloudBerry Backup for WHS, you can always give it to someone else.

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

So, here we go…..

QUESTION 5:

What are the three restore options available in CloudBerry Backup?

CloudBerry have a great blog with lots of information (hint, hint).

So how do you enter? You need all the answers, and send them on an email to giveaways @ usingwhs.com (remember to remove the spaces), with your name and where you are in the world. The closing date Saturday 31st July and we will announce the winners on UWHS on Sunday 1st August.

Don’t forget you will need an answer to question 1, question 2, question 3 and question 4.

You can learn more about CloudBerry Backup for WHS from the CloudBerry Lab website.

There is also a 15 day trial you can download and install by clicking here.

Tranquil Release Final Beta for HomeServerSync

Andrew Edney
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5

Tonight Tranquil PC have released the final beta for their forthcoming HomeServerSync add-in for Windows Home Server.

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As you may recall we had an exclusive first look at the HomeServerSync add-in a few weeks ago.

Now the final beta has been released, which includes the long await VPN client.

Tranquil say:

The BETA has one issue (it only supports 32bit desktops, for the desktop Sync function) 64bit drivers are being digitally signed this week, and by the full release (later this week) 64bit desktop clients will be supported.

Are you using the beta? What do you think, let us know…

Not long to wait now…….

You can visit the HomeServerSync website for more information as well.

KeepVault Confirms Windows Home Server Vail Support

Andrew Edney
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3

Proxure, the makers of the KeepVault backup software have confirmed support for Windows Home Server Vail.

keepvault

KeepVault from Proxure is an online backup solution add-in for your important files that your store on your Windows Home Server.

Here is what they have said:

KeepVault.com confirms that a Vail optimized version of their Windows Home Server local+online backup software is currently under development; with an end of August target release date (pending OS changes from Microsoft).

So no specific information other than that, but keep checking UWHS for more news when we have it.

In the mean time, you can check out our review of the KeepVault for Windows Home Server V1: Add-In Review – KeepVault v3.0 for Windows Home Server

For more information on KeepVault, click here: http://www.keepvault.com/

BYOB Episode 5 Out Now

Andrew Edney
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0

The guys over at BYOB have released the BYOB podcast episode 5.

BYOB300

Here is what they say about this weeks show:

Welcome to episode 5 of the BYOB Podcast.  This weeks episode is on Cooling Products for your CPU’s as well as accessories and utilities.  In addition, we are covering hardware news and our hardware pick of the week (Optimus Keyboard, DIR-665).

As usual you can listen to the show here: http://homeservershow.com/byob-episode-5.html

This weeks show is a little under 1 hour and 20 minutes, so you can really get your hardware fix.

Good jobs guys, and well done Tim Smile

CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 4

Andrew Edney
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0

Following on from the announcement on Thursday from CloudBerry Labs about the release of CloudBerry Backup for WHS version 1.6, we have another of our UWHS Giveaways – today is Question 4.

CloudBerry (2)

The announcement about version 1.6 can be found here: https://moviesgamesandtech.com/2010/07/22/cloudberry-backup-for-windows-home-server-1-6/

What is CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server you might ask:

CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Home Server provides a powerful Backup and Restore program designed to leverage Amazon S3 storage to make your disaster recovery plan simple, reliable, and affordable.

Ok, so on to the giveaway.

Our friends at CloudBerry Labs have given us 5 copies of CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server to giveaway to our readers.

The way this giveaway is going to work is that for the next five days, starting today, we are going to post a question. You need to answer each question and after the 5th and final question has been posted send all the answers to us and we will select 5 correct sets of entries. Don’t worry if you already have CloudBerry Backup for WHS, you can always give it to someone else.

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

So, here we go…..

QUESTION 4:

What is Smart Delete in CloudBerry Backup?

CloudBerry have a great blog with lots of information (hint, hint): http://blog.cloudberrylab.com/

Remember, keep the answer to yourself and wait until you have all 5 before submitting. All the details of how to enter will be posted with the final question.

Don’t forget you will need an answer to question 1: CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 1

And question 2: CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 2

And question 3: CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 3

Tomorrow is the last question, so stay tuned.

You can learn more about CloudBerry Backup for WHS by clicking here: http://www.cloudberrylab.com/default.aspx?page=backup-whs

There is also a 15 day trial you can download and install by clicking here.

CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 3

Andrew Edney
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1

Following on from the announcement on Thursday from CloudBerry Labs about the release of CloudBerry Backup for WHS version 1.6, we have another of our UWHS Giveaways – today is Question 3.

CloudBerry (2)

The announcement about version 1.6 can be found here: https://moviesgamesandtech.com/2010/07/22/cloudberry-backup-for-windows-home-server-1-6/

What is CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server you might ask:

CloudBerry Online Backup for Windows Home Server provides a powerful Backup and Restore program designed to leverage Amazon S3 storage to make your disaster recovery plan simple, reliable, and affordable.

Ok, so on to the giveaway.

Our friends at CloudBerry Labs have given us 5 copies of CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server to giveaway to our readers.

The way this giveaway is going to work is that for the next five days, starting today, we are going to post a question. You need to answer each question and after the 5th and final question has been posted send all the answers to us and we will select 5 correct sets of entries. Don’t worry if you already have CloudBerry Backup for WHS, you can always give it to someone else.

The giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

So, here we go…..

 

QUESTION 3:

What is the Simple Mode and what is its advantage?

CloudBerry have a great blog with lots of information (hint, hint): http://blog.cloudberrylab.com/

Remember, keep the answer to yourself and wait until you have all 5 before submitting. All the details of how to enter will be posted with the final question.

Don’t forget you will need an answer to question 1: CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 1

And question 2: CloudBerry Backup for Windows Home Server Giveaway Day 2

You can learn more about CloudBerry Backup for WHS by clicking here: http://www.cloudberrylab.com/default.aspx?page=backup-whs

There is also a 15 day trial you can download and install by clicking here.

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