What is Windows Home Server?

Microsoft Windows Home Server code name VAIL beta Installation – Video Edition

Timothy Daleo

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Apr 28, 2010

Want to know what to expect when doing the software installation for the Vail beta? I installed the Windows Home Server Vail beta last night on my test server so check out our 10 minute video of the process.

Get the Windows Home Server code name “Vail” Public Preview at:

Microsoft Connect

What’s New

Windows Home Server Code Name “Vail” is the version 2 release of Windows Home Server and is based on Windows Server® 2008 R2.

So enough of the text, lets see the video!

IMPORTANT

Please read the official Microsoft Release Notes file BEFORE attempting to install the beta!

Have a fun time with it and make Windows Home Server a part of your life.

Timothy Daleo

Learn More About WHS Vail Drive Extender

Andrew Edney

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Apr 28, 2010

2

Windows Home Server Vail has a new version of Drive Extender and Mark Vayman from the WHS team has posted some more information about it in the forums.

Here is what Mark posted, it is worth a read:

Drive Extender is a storage technology first introduced in Windows Home Server’s first release. The 1st generation of the technology was file based, and worked on top of “vanilla” NTFS volumes using reparse points. To address the customer feedback we have received and improve the system’s resiliency to partial drive failures (seen many times by our support), the Drive Extender technology was updated to use block based storage below the file system similar to software RAID systems.

The following isn’t an exhaustive list, but does try to enumerate the major new features as well as features which are no longer supported in the “Vail” version of Drive Extender:

Features carried over from the previous release:

· Duplication can be turned on/off per folder.

· Duplicated folders can survive a single hard drive failure.

· Storage pool can be easily expanded using different drive types and various sizes.

· Graphical representation of storage usage (AKA the pie chart) – isn’t present in the beta, but is planned for the next milestone.

New/Improved features:

· For duplicated folders, data is duplicated in real time to two separate drives – there is no hourly migration pass.

· File system level encryption (EFS) and compression are now supported for Drive Extender folders.

· File conflicts are gone, duplication works as intended for files in use as it is performed at the block level now.

· The remaining amount of data to synchronize/duplicate is reported per storage pool.

· All storage operations are executed in the background without blocking other server operations. Specifically, drive removal can be issued without impacting the online state of shares.

· Drives in a storage pool can be named with a custom description to enable physical identification of the drive in the server.

· Drive serial number and exact connection type is reported for each drive.

· Drives which are bigger than 2TB can be added to a storage pool.

· iSCSI storage devices can be added to the a storage pool.

· The system drive can be excluded from the storage pool.

· A new low-level storage check and repair diagnostic operation was added.

· All storage operations are performed with very low I/O priority to ensure they don’t interfere with media streaming.

· A new “folder repair” operation is available which runs chkdsk on the folder’s volume.

· To protect against silent storage errors (bit flips, misdirected writes, torn writes), additional information is appended to each 512-byte sector stored on drive. In particular, each sector is protected by a CRC checksum, which enables Drive Extender to detect data read errors, perform realtime error correction and self-healing (up to 2 bit errors per sector if duplication is disabled, and any number of bit errors if duplication is enabled) and report the errors back to the user and application. The overhead for this additional data is roughly 12% of drive space.

· Data drives in storage pools can be migrated between servers, and appear as a non-default pool. A non-default pool can be promoted to a default pool if no default pool exists.

Deprecated features:

· A data drive from a storage pool cannot be read on machine not running the “Vail” server software.

· Data isn’t rebalanced across drives to ensure even distribution. The data allocation attempts to keep drives evenly used. A periodic rebalance operation is considered for the next version.

Known interop/support issues:

· As with other software RAID solutions, Drive Extender isn’t supported with BitLocker.

· Drive Extender cannot share the same drive with other software based RAID systems (such as Microsoft Dynamic Drives)

· Running low-level software storage tools—for example, defragmentation, full drive encryption, or volume imaging—on server folders may cause issues. These tools have not been fully tested in this release. Please avoid running these tools on the server.

· Internally, the “Vail” software has been tested with up to 16 hard drives and with up to 16 TB of total storage capacity. We’re aware of a number of bugs that occur beyond these limits, so please keep your beta installations under 16 drives and 16 TB total drive space.

Program Manager, Windows Home and Small Business Server Team

PerfectDisk Starts Talking Windows Home Server Vail

Andrew Edney

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Apr 28, 2010

0

PerfectDisk, the disk defragging solution for your computers, including your Windows Home Server, have started to drop hints about support for WHS Vail.

Here is what they said:

The web lit up yesterday with Microsoft’s unveiling of the beta for the next integration of its popular Windows Home Server OS — Windows Home Server Version 2, codenamed Vail. WHS has a passionate fan and install base now, and this group is excited to see Windows Home Server move forward. Since its release, we have seen the high energy and interest from WHS users even as it relates to WHS defrag with our PerfectDisk Windows Home Server solution.
The Microsoft Windows Home Server Blog outlines the 4 key areas of improvement with Vail:

Extending media streaming outside the home or office

Multi-PC backup and restore

Simplified setup and user experience

Expanded development and customization tools for partners.

And there’s something else that has us really excited here at Raxco Software. There are some changes with the Drive Extender technology coming in Vail that will have some big changes in the area of file management. First, a brief overview of Drive Extender – this is how Wikipedia begins its description:

Windows Home Server Drive Extender is a file-based replication system that provides three key capabilities:[16]

Multi-disk redundancy so that if any given disk fails, data is not lost

Arbitrary storage expansion by supporting any type of hard disk drive (Serial ATA, USB, FireWire etc.) in any mixture and capacity — similar in concept to JBOD

A single folder namespace (no drive letters)

We have been briefed by Microsoft and have details on changes being made with Drive Extender. We are unable to give specifics on this until this part of Vail is announced by Microsoft. But we can say that we are working on new Drive Extender-specific technology that we will announce as soon as we can legally disclose information. The technology that we are working on with Microsoft deals with free space consolidation, and goes in a direction that is outside of disk defragmentation.

The WHS Console is updated and renamed in Vail and is now the Dashboard. Our solution will be fully integrated with the Dashboard and Launchpad, and will also have full management and reporting on usage of the Server Storage Pool. Our solutions will be fully ready when Vail is launched.

Windows Home Server is moving forward with Vail. And we’re moving forward with it.
PerfectDisk 11 Windows Home Server info is here.

We have done a number of articles in the past on PerfectDisk, so if you want to remind yourself about what it does, click here:

PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server on a Friday night

Perfect Disk 10 for Windows Home Server Review

What is the Windows Home Server Vail Launchpad

Andrew Edney

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Apr 27, 2010

2

Windows Home Server Vail has a new addition called the Launchpad – just what is it?

So, what is the Launchpad?

Well, Launchpad provides an easy way for users who have the correct permissions enabled to access Shared Folders, connect to the Remote Access page, start a backup and even launch the full Server Dashboard (which is the Vail replacement for the Windows Home Server Console).

Once you have installed the WHS Vail Connector on a computer, you will notice a new icon on your desktop called Launchpad. If you are unsure how to install the connector, check out this article: Installing the Connector Software for Windows Home Server Vail

After you have double-clicked on the Launchpad icon, you will see a sign-in box.

Enter your username and password (this is the user account username and password, not the admin account as you will be used to with V1).

After this has been authenticated, you will see the launchpad, as shown below:

You can then choose any of the options that you have permission for. Obviously if you want to do more than is listed above then you will need to launch the Server Dashboard.

You may also notice a message telling you that the Launchpad will continue to run in the background – this is normal.

Should you decide that you want to exit the Launchpad, you want to click on the Launchpad icon from the task bar, which is shown below.

And that’s it. Stay tuned for more Vail articles.

The Home Server Show 87 Vail Released

Andrew Edney

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Apr 26, 2010

0

Dave has released a special early edition of the Home Server Show podcast dedicated to Windows Home Server Vail.

Here is what Dave has to say about the special show:

Microsoft has released Windows Home Server Vail to the public as a beta and I have Microsoft’s Home and Small Business Server Community Program Manager, Jonas Svensson on the show talking about all of the new features. Enjoy this bonus podcast and be sure to stay tuned for the next episode on the Vail beta coming out at the end of the week.

As usual you can listen to the show here: http://homeservershow.com/the-home-server-show-87-vail-released.html

Installing the Connector Software for Windows Home Server Vail

Andrew Edney

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Apr 26, 2010

8

Now that Microsoft have released a public version of WHS Vail, it’s time to start looking at it in more detail. In this article we show you how to install the new Connector software.

Installing the connector on your computers for use with Vail is pretty straight forward.

The first thing you need to do is to uninstall any existing WHS V1 connector.

Then, open up your Internet browser and browse to http://servername/connect where servername is the name you gave your server, in my case vailserver

Click on the Connect this computer to the server button, and then click on the Run button when prompted.

You server will then be located.

When your Vail server has been located, click Next to continue.

After your computer has been checked and the connection requirements met, click Next to continue.

Next the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with Service Pack 1 is installed for you.

You then have to enter your server admin password and click Next to continue.

You can add a computer description in if you wish, then click Next to continue.

As you did in V1, decide if you want the computer to be woken from sleep in order to be backed up, then click Next to continue.

Choose if you want to participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program (and given this is a technical preview you really should say yes) then click Next to continue.

The connector software will be configured – just be patient.

And that’s it – all done!

Nothing to it – stay tuned for more Vail articles soon.

Official Microsoft Announcement for Vail

Andrew Edney

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Apr 26, 2010

3

Here is the official Microsoft announcement for the preview of Windows Home Server Vail.

There is even a 7 minute video you can watch:

Many of you may already know that Microsoft has been hard at work on the next version of Windows Home Server. We are excited to announce today that the beta of this next version (code name “Vail”) is now available. We invite everyone to check it out by downloading the software from the Microsoft Connect site. (English language builds are available now). We are releasing this Vail beta with one express goal: to solicit your feedback!

So what’s new and exciting in this next version? Although we’re still in the midst of development work (and things may change), we can say that Vail includes feature improvements in four key areas:

Extending media streaming outside the home or office
Multi-PC backup and restore
Simplified setup and user experience
Expanded development and customization tools for partners

Check out a short demo of some of the new features here.

Before we go too much further, however, we want to pass along a couple of very important hardware-related tips on installing the Vail Beta:

In Vail, we’re moving to a new underlying server platform that will only run as a 64-bit OS. We do not recommend running Vail on a 32-bit PC or existing Windows Home Server systems (even 64-bit Home Server systems) because there may be compatibility issues with some OEM drivers.
Since it is still in ‘beta,’ please install the Vail code on a secondary computer as opposed to existing Windows Home Server v1 OEM systems (not even 64-bit systems) If you do install the beta on an existing system, you may experience a number of problems, including the inability to run WHS v1 add-in applications (even those provided by OEMs). Installing on a secondary machine will help ensure the best possible user experience, and we would like your feedback on what this scenario is like.
Installation of the Vail OS on a PC will also require users to wipe all data from that PC or device.
The hardware requirements for Vail call for a 1.4 GHz x64 processor, 1 GB RAM, and at least one160 GB hard drive. Full details and additional requirements will be posted on the Microsoft Connect download site.

Also, if you are a developer, this beta includes a new software development kit (SDK) that gives developers and partners even more ways to customize the OS and add new functionality and services to Windows Home Servers. Download the SDK here.

So after you check out all of the great features in this public beta, you’ll probably want to know when the final version of Vail is going to ship. We’re not ready to discuss delivery dates yet. We want to ship the best possible product, and as that old commercial went (sort of), “we will ship no Windows Home Server before it’s time.”

Give Vail a test run today!

– Dave Berkowitz, Senior Communications Manager

Windows Home Server Vail Public Preview

Andrew Edney

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Apr 26, 2010

20

Today Microsoft have released a public preview release of the next version of Windows Home Server, codenamed Vail.

A few months ago an internal build of Vail, that was only available to a select few, including us WHS MVPs, got released into the wild. Well this is the “official” release. And even better for us that means we can now talk about it and we are not under that part of the NDA anymore!

Here are some of the key pointers for this release:

Windows Server “Vail” server software is a 64-bit only operating system.

System Requirements:

· 1.4 GHz x64 processor.

· 1 GB RAM

· At least one 160 GB hard drive.

Vail is based on Windows Server 2008 R2.

So, you probably want to know how to get it then, don’t you?

Well you will need to get it from Microsoft Connect, which you can do so from here: https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer

Note that it may take a little while for the download to show up on Connect so keep checking.

If you want to post your questions to the official Microsoft Vail forum, you can do so here:

http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/whsvailbeta/threads

It is important to note that this is not a Beta release, it is a Technical Preview release. The difference being is that technical preview releases are aimed at people with a certain level of IT knowledge and experience, and that the build is not complete, features may be missing, things may not work as expected, etc.

So, if you are in any doubt, do not use it! And whatever you do, do not use it as your production Windows Home Server box!

Also, and I cannot stress this enough, READ THE MANUAL! There are literally pages and pages of known issues that you should be aware of with this build. And remember, before you think that maybe Microsoft shouldn’t have released this as it looks like it is not fit for primetime, it is a technical preview and not a beta!

Let us know your thoughts on Vail, and watch this space for Vail articles Smile

Review of the Synology DiskStation DS409slim NAS

Reviews
Tech

Andrew Edney

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Apr 25, 2010

2

If you are looking for a small, quiet, NAS device that takes 2.5” hard drives, then take a look at the Synology DiskStation DS409slim.

Here is how Synology describe the DS409slim:

Synology Disk Station DS409slim is designed to provide users with a budget-friendly solution for easy file sharing and backup. The snap-in 2.5″ hard drive design brings low power consumption, quiet operation, reliability and easy disk replacement in a compact design. Its sophisticated software, Synology DiskStation Manager 2.3, delivers ease of use and variety of features.

Here is so more information on the capabilities of the DS409slim from the Synology website:

Green, Quiet, and Reliable

The DS409slim is designed to work with 2.5″ hard drives. The low power consumption characteristic of 2.5″ hard drives will lower your electricity bill, as well as reduce your carbon footprint.

The smart fan design keeps the DS409slim’s fan off under normal operations and spinning up at a very low speed only when needed, thus minimizing the noise level.

In addition, 2.5″ hard drives have reduced vibration, increased MTBF (mean time before failure), and shock tolerance. It not only extends hard drive’s lifespan, but also provides better reliability.

Multimedia & Entertainment

Synology Download Station 2 functions as a 24×7 BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule, and NZB download center. The newly-integrated eMule download engine allows search-n-download capability with a web-browser without installing additional desktop applications.

Synology Audio Station supports music, Internet radio stations, and iPod playback with connected USB speakers. An optional direction-free Synology Remote allows you to freely enjoy your music. Web-streaming mode allows your music to be shared with multiple users over the Internet.

UPnP support allows users to stream multimedia files with an UPnP Digital Media Adapter (DMA) on a stereo system or a TV-set. Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox360 are also supported.

iTunes Server is an easy way to share music to other iTunes clients over the network. Password protection prevents unauthorized sharing.

Easy Storage & Backup

USBCopy provides a plug-n-save solution to store data. With just one touch on the Copy button, it quickly backs up the data on an USB storage device to the pre-defined location on the Synology Disk Station.

Synology Data Replicator 3 allows Windows users to back up desktop data to the Synology Disk Station. Immediate, Sync, and Scheduled Backup are fully-supported.

The Network Recycle Bin ensures all deleted files are recoverable from the recycle bin.

Eco Friendly

Synology Disk Station is designed and developed perpetually with the concept of energy saving.

Compared with average PC counterparts, Synology Disk Station consumes a relatively low amount of power and has the HDDs hibernate when not in use. This not only helps to save energy but also extends the lifespan of the hard disk.

Synology Disk Station truly earns the title of “green product” because of the unique Scheduled Power On/Off feature, and the smart fan design effectively cools down the system with minimum power consumption, yet keeps the system quiet on operation.

Finally, all Synology products are produced with RoHS compliant parts and packed with recyclable packing materials. Synology recognizes its responsibility as a global citizen and is continually working to reduce the environmental impact of the products we create.

SPECIFICATIONS

The DS409slim is a very small device indeed. It has four removable drive bays at the rear, along with an Ethernet port, eSata port and USB port, plus the power connector.

The front of the DS409slim also houses a USB port, plus status lights.

Here are the complete specifications:

Hardware

CPU Frequency: 1.2GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine
Memory Bus: 16bit@DDR800
Memory: 128MB
Internal HDD¹: 2.5″ SATA(II)/SSD X4
Max Internal Capacity: 3TB (4x 750GB hard drives)^*
(See All Supported HDD)
Size (HxWxD): 120mm X 105mm X 142mm
External HDD Interface: USB 2.0 port X2, eSATA port X1
Weight: 0.66kg
LAN: Gigabit X1

Wireless Support
Noise Level (fan-only):² 24dB(A)
Power Recovery
AC Input Power Voltage: 100V to 240V
Power Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, Single Phase
Power Consumption:³ 19W(Access); 12W(HDD Hibernation)
Operating Temperature: 5°C to 35°C (40°F to 95°F)
Storage Temperature: -10°C to 70°C (15°F to 155°F)
Relative Humidity: 5% to 95%RH
Maximum Operating Altitude: 10,000 feet
Certification: FCC Class B, CE Class B, BSMI Class B

Applications

File Station 3

FTP Server

Bandwidth Control
Custom FTP Passive Port Range
Anonymous FTP
Transfer Log

Web Station

Virtual Host (up to 30 websites)
PHP/MySQL
Alternative HTTP Error Page
3rd-Party Applications Support

Surveillance Station 4

Default IP cam #: 1
MAX IP cam # (licenses required): 8⁴
(See All Supported IP Cameras)

Photo Station 4

Supported Image Format: BMP, JPG (jpe, jpeg), GIF, RAW (arw, srf, sr2, dcr, k25, kdc, cr2, crw, nef, mrw, ptx, pef, raf, 3fr, erf, mef, mos, orf, rw2, dng, x3f)
Supported Video Format: 3G2, 3GP, ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, FLV, M4V, MOV, MP4, MPEG, MPG, QT, WMV, XviD, RM⁵, RMVB⁵, VOB⁵, RV30⁵, RV40⁵, AC3⁵, AMR⁵, WMA3⁵

Download Station 2

Supported Download Protocols: BT/HTTP/FTP/NZB/eMule
Custom BitTorrent Port Range
BitTorrent / eMule Bandwidth Control

Audio Station 2

Supported Audio Format: (USB Mode) AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WMA, WMA VBR; (Streaming Mode) MP3, M4A, M4B
Supported Playlist Format: M3U, WPL
Internet Radio: SHOUTcast, Radioio

DLNA/UPnP Media Server

PS3/Xbox 360 Support
Supported Audio Format: AAC, FLAC, M4A, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, PCM, WAV, WMA, WMA VBR, WMA PRO, WMA Lossless
Supported Video Format: 3GP, 3G2, ASF, AVI, DAT, DivX, DVR-MS, ISO, M2T, M2TS, M4V, MKV, MP4, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, MTS, MOV, QT, SWF, TP, TRP, TS, VOB, WMV, XviD
Supported Image Format: BMP, JPG (jpe, jpeg), GIF, ICO, PNG, PSD, TIF (tiff), UFO
Supported Subtitles Format: srt, psb, smi, ass, ssa, sub, idx, ifo

iTunes Server

Supported Audio Format: MP3, M4A, M4P, WAV⁶, AIF⁶
Supported Video Format: M4V, MOV, MP4
Supported Playlist Format: M3U, WPL

Printer Server⁷

Max Printer #: 2
Printing Protocols: LPR, CIFS, AppleTalk

Synology Packages

SqueezeCenter
Mail Station
Webalizer
phpMyAdmin

iPhone Applications

DS photo
DS audio
DS cam

Twonky Release TwonkyMedia Server 6.0 Beta

Andrew Edney

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Apr 25, 2010

3

On Friday night, Twonky released a beta for their new TwonkyMedia Server 6.0 release, bringing with it a number of new features, including aggregation.

Release notes for TMS 6.0
—————————————-
New in Version 6.0:

+ aggregation of TMS and WMC servers
+ auto update for PC versions
+ file system eventing support for MAC
+ time seek support for MPEG, WMA and WMV content
+ active connections info on status page
+ animated tray icon on Win32
+ wpl playlists can contain URLs to Internet content (radio, pictures, video)
+ can now handle albumart art that has the same file name as a music or video file, but file extension is jpg,
e.g. mymovie.mpg can have albumart file mymovie.jpg (make sure than the scanner filter is set to video only)

Changes:

o Improved URLs with fixed schema for scaling
o Improved playlist handling, enabled upload of wpl playlists

You can download the beta here: http://www.twonkyforum.com/downloads/6.0-Beta/

There is also a page you can visit to learn more here: http://www.twonkyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8016&start=0

Western Digital Photos Photo Viewer for iPhone Released

Software

Andrew Edney

-

Apr 24, 2010

1

Western Digital have released a free app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that enables you to view your photos from either a My Book World Edition drive or from WD ShareSpace Network Drives.

The app, called WD Photos, is available now from the Apple App Store and only takes a few moments to install.

Here is the full press release:

WD® UNVEILS WD PHOTOS PHOTO VIEWER APP FOR IPHONE® AND IPOD TOUCH®

Users Can Easily View Their Entire Photo Collection Stored on Their
My Book World Edition or WD ShareSpace Network Drives

WD® (NYSE: WDC), the world’s leader in external storage solutions, today introduced WD Photos photo viewer, an iPhone®/iPod Touch® app for use with its My Book® World Edition™[1] and WD ShareSpace network drives, that lets users access up to 250,000 of their favourite photos from anywhere in the world. The WD Photos photo viewer app allows users to easily log in to their drive from anywhere so they can view their entire photo library.

Users’ photos remain private, safe and secure in full high resolution format, on their network drive, eliminating the need for painstaking uploads to costly online photo services and the need to choose which pictures to sync to their iPhone – with WD Photos photo viewer, they’re all instantly and easily accessible. The app’s powerful search tools, thumbnail previews and viewing options make it easy to find that special picture to show a friend at a coffee shop or remember a special moment.

With more than 50 million iPhones sold as of Apr. 2010 (Apple®), the iPhone has become one of the fastest growing smart phones in the market and is used every day by consumers to access and share their photos.

According to research firm Parks Associates (Mar. 2010), the number of network storage drives worldwide is projected to increase from 2.6 million units sold in 2009 to more than 18 million units by year-end 2014 as consumers realize the value of having one central place to store and share all their media. In 2009, 56 percent of households rated remote access of their network storage an important feature. Combining the centralized storage and remote access benefits of the My Book World Edition network drive with the iPhone is a natural fit with this rapidly growing consumer behaviour.

Users can view up to 250,000 pictures on their iPhone or iPod touch by simply copying their pictures into the “Shared Pictures” folder on their My Book World Edition network drive. A unique application that runs directly on these WD network drives automatically creates optimised versions of users’ photos ahead of time, enabling fast viewing on an iPhone or iPod touch without having to wait for the photos to load.

Available now at the Apple iTunes App Store, the WD Photos photo viewer app is free. Registration with MioNet®, WD’s secure remote access service (included with My Book World Edition), is also free and required to use this app. WD Photos photo viewer also works with WD ShareSpace network storage systems.

“Home networks are becoming prevalent in many parts of the world, and WD’s My Book World Edition network drives are the easiest way to create one place for all your photos that is accessible to everyone from within the home, and securely from outside the home,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “With the WD Photos photo viewer app and a WD My Book World Edition network drive, users can access all of the photos from their collection via their iPhone without syncing, without extra organizing and without paying a fee. Photos are available instantly making it easy to relive those great memories or share them with friends.”

WD Photos Photo Features & Compatibility

Features of the WD Photos photo viewer app for iPhone and iPod touch devices include:

– Access to all the photos in the “Shared Pictures” folder of users’ My Book World Edition network drives and WD ShareSpace network storage systems;

– Photos are automatically resized for perfect viewing on iPhone or iPod touch, leaving originals in full resolution;

– Smart filtering to find the photos you want — view photos by album, folder or all images and search by date, folder name or file name;

– Access previously viewed photos offline;

– E-mail a photo to a friend;

– Assign a photo to a contact;

– Add a photo to the Camera Roll;

– View a slideshow; and,

– Set slideshow duration.

WD Photos photo viewer app is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch OS 3.1 or later and works with WD’s My Book World Edition network drives and WD ShareSpace network storage systems. Users must register with WD’s free MioNet remote access service to use the app.

About WD

WD, one of the storage industry’s pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organisations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users’ data accessible and secure from loss. Its advanced technologies are configured into applications for client and enterprise computing, embedded systems, and consumer electronics, as well as its own consumer storage and media products.

WD was founded in 1970. The company’s storage products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital® and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company’s Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

[1] My Book World Edition network drives second-generation with white light on the front

The Media Center Show 253 – Media Managers

Andrew Edney

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Apr 23, 2010

0

Ian over at the Digital Lifestyle has released the Media Center Show 253 and its mainly about media managers this week, so if like me you have a lot of content on your Media Center, you will want to listen.

This week we are talking Media Manager apps for Windows Media Center with Bjorn Morris and Adam Thursby. There are some great apps for managing movies metadata and we discuss the pros and cons of the various addins and whether we really need extra software.

I have email and a look at the weeks news including Zune HD hacks, a new Media Center tennis app and a child friendly UI for Windows Media Center.

As usual you can listen to the show from here: http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/blogs/podcast/archive/2010/04/22/the-media-center-show-253-media-managers.aspx

And if you are waiting for news on the next UK user group meeting, Ian is hoping for it to be in June at Microsoft UK, so watch this space!

Home Server Show Podcast 86

Andrew Edney

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Apr 23, 2010

0

Dave and the guys over at the Home Server Show have released show number 86.

Here’s what Dave has to say about this week’s show:

In today’s episode we discuss Cloud services and your Windows Home Server. Whether you backup your files to the cloud, use it to collaborate, or share files, there is plenty out there for Windows Home Server users.

Links and News Items mentioned on the show

Installing OpenFire Instant Messaging on your Windows Home Server

Western Digital EARS Drives

Sempron 140 Review

Windows inTune

Windows FixItCenter

Hohm

Crashplan Forums for Windows Home Server

KeepVault for Windows Home Server (Add-In)

Asus Web Storage for Windows Home Server (Add-In)

Wuala

Cloudberry for Windows Home Server (Add-In)

Mozy

Carbonite

As usual you can listen to the show from here: http://homeservershow.com/the-home-server-show-86.html

Will there be a drinking game this week? Tim?

Office 2010 RTM Now Available to Download from TechNet and MSDN

Andrew Edney

-

Apr 22, 2010

2

Last week Tim posted that Office 2010 had RTM’d. Today you can download the RTM if you are a TechNet or MSDN subscriber.

Only a week ago Tim posted this: https://moviesgamesandtech.com/2010/04/16/microsoft-office-2010-rtm-today/

Now if you are a subscriber to either MSDN or TechNet you can download both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2010, the full blown RTM version.

RTM, in case you were wondering, stands for Released to Manufacturing, so this is the version you will buy in the shops or in the Microsoft Store.

Normally you get 10 keys/activations with your subscription, but until the 30th April, you only get 1. But you can quite happily use Office 2010 without activating it until after that date, so go on, get it now.

And if you want a good book on PowerPoint 2010, why not pre-order mine Smile

Get the Windows Home Server code name “Vail” Public Preview at:

What’s New

Remote Access

Connecting to your Media

Computers and Backup

Drive Extender Enhancements

Dashboard and Launchpad

IMPORTANT

Green, Quiet, and Reliable

Multimedia & Entertainment

Easy Storage & Backup

Eco Friendly