Testing the HP MediaSmart server on loan from HP, via their Canadian PR company Hill & Knowlton. Yeah when you get an e-mail asking if you’d like to test a home RAID server with backup and media serving tools-the answer is yes!
Before I get into the saga of getting this server working for me (a combination of problems between the keyboard and chair, a router, and goofy software), let me tell you about this server.
I’m testing the EX475 model which comes with two 500GB SATA drives twinned to give me a terabyte of storage (sweet!). It features automatic backups of computers on your LAN, media serving (including iTunes), and even support to serve pictures and files over the Net. It runs the new Windows Home Server software, has a kickin’ 64bit Sempron and a 512 megs of RAM (I don’t think you can add more). The full spec sheet in PDF is here via HP.
Now for the saga. Oy this was a good one. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my old Netgear g router was the root of a lot of problems on my LAN, it kept me from being able to use it right out of the box. The stupid router just didn’t like network attached devices at all. So my problems with remote configuration and scanning with the Brother MCF were caused by this too. A quick trip to a Boxing Day sale let me get a new router for $30 (d-link, btw) which has been fantastic (gee is this how a router is supposed to work?).
Setting up the server is pretty simple (assuming your router behaves), you plug it in to the power, your LAN (you pretty much need a router for this machine), and then run the set up CD on one of the network computers. The software walks you through the initial configuration of the server for back up and such. One note about the setup. Be ready to make a really complex password. It has to be at least seven characters and have numbers and something like ! (or capital letters). This had be stuck for a minute or two trying to make my password of choice acceptable to it. Luckily the configuration won’t let you continue until the password is good enough. The reason for this is a good one. This master password has the keys to the kingdom. You don’t want it cracked. HP has a cool deal with TZO.com to give you a free year of "premium" DynamicDNS hosting. This is so you can host files on the net, even if you don’t have a static IP (which is most of us really). The software automatically configured my router for dynamic DNS and serving. It was rather cool to watch. There is also a deal with Snapfish for photoprinting, but I don’t think I’ll take advantage of it. A note on external users, to get to the server remotely they will need a strong password as well, just be ready for that.
Now, I should note here that I chose to wipe the server to factory before really putting it into service. Reason being that I had configured it through another router, and I wanted to (re)start fresh. This is where the problem between keyboard and chair comes in. I was trying to use the server refresh disk, and I had done it before, to refresh the server. I just couldn’t get it to connect to the server … yeah well it was because I missed the instruction to press the recessed reset button with a paper clip. Doh! After I did that we were off and running. It takes over an hour to refresh the server, just in case you’re wondering. The same program will let you recover server data if it takes a header.
I set up the XP desktop machine as the primary machine for the server. It’s the one I don’t have remote backup for so it needed it the most (you can just keep adding machines to backup don’t worry). Set up, as I said above, was sweet. I started a manual backup and it finished within an hour or so (not a ton of data).
The real fun came getting my Vista laptop to connect to it as a secondary machine for backup. Couple notes here. First if you have accounts on your machines you need to make sure that the user accounts on the server and the machine match. So I log into my laptop as "Tris" and I had to create a LAN only account called "Tris" on the server so the machine would sync up. I had already created an account on the server that allows me to get into it remotely (again a strong password was required). This wasn’t as much of a pain as getting the connector software to work on my laptop though.
Essentially I could reach the server through basic file sharing (even drop files on it), but getting the connector software…man. After lots of futzing and running the analysis tool from Microsoft, I just tried to go to the internal webpage for the server. I was greeted with a certificate error. That, my friends, was the route of the problem (and I think MSFT is aware of this little "problem"). I accepted the certificate and all was good. Software installed just fine. Sheesh.
Lots of work (hours really) to get the second machine on. I started a manual back up of my laptop. It took much longer (much more data and I was using it too). It did error out trying to back up the Acer-protected partition and I told it to stop worrying about it (through the administrative controls).
This server lists for about $800-900 (as I have it with a terabyte of storage). Two of the four drive bays are open so I could buy more storage (like another 500GB SATA drive-any drive off the shelf they say) as needed. The question is, who would need it and is it worth the money? For the who question, well that’s pretty easy. If you have multiple computers at home (or even one with a lot of stuff), or lots of digital media (do you have any idea how huge RAW image files are from a DSLR?) getting some NAS (network attached storage) is a good idea. NAS storage is good so if you have a laptop on WiFi you can get to the files with out being attached to it physically. Given how fast my photography is filling up my drive-yeah I was going to be looking at burning stuff to DVD or something soon. With this server (if I were able to keep it after the month loan), I would be archiving a lot of stuff on it and free up more drive space.
For the cost answer, I think it’s best to look at what your needs are. I don’t know if I’d buy it, but then again I might have been looking at it seriously later in the year. RAID storage is awesome and fast. The file and media sharing, especially to the Net, is very cool. Now my kids can tap into my music collection on the main computer for their listening pleasure (not sure they share my taste in music though).
Bottom line: I think this is an awesome device. With the right router getting it set up on the primary machine should be a piece of cake. For other machines, well MSFT has some work to do on that. I know many folks would be stymied by the errors I got. It was only stubbornness (and wanting to provide a complete review here) that kept me at it. If you need more than your typical NAS device (so that is media sharing, auto backups, RAID, and external serving abilities) the Windows Home Servers like the MediaSmart are worth a look. This isn’t a cheap device by any means, but it does come with a lot of features and power for those who need it. I’ll update this post soon-I’ve shared a file remotely with a colleague so I’ll give you the low down on how that went.
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