Windows Home Server

Just over a year ago I bought an HP MediaSmart EX485 Server running Windows Home Server. I thought it might be time to look back and see how it's been. 

First of all, why did I buy the HP?

1. I had a coupon
2. I have an employee discount because my company has a purchasing agreement with HP
3. I thought the software add-ons were great
4. The form factor was fantastic with the hot swap hard drive bays

Secondly, how has the last year been? Well midway through the year, HP updated the software from 2.0 to 2.5. That added and update a lot of functionality, including the ability to convert videos on the fly a lot more efficiently. I primarily use this to stream to my XBOX 360, though I've streamed it to my iPhone as well over my WiFi network as well.

It's great to have an automatic backup system for my PCs and it does work on Macs as well. I also like that I'm able to put the server to sleep on a schedule to save wear and tear on the box. I found the hot swap bays to be a little clunky but still usable and I've loaded up the three available drive bays with 1TB drives so I have plenty of space for music and video storage. 

I will say that the drive and folder management is a little clunky. It's probably easier for a lay person than for a techie like me who is used to weird stuff like RAID levels and things like that. Nonetheless, it's quite workable and shouldn't cause a lot of drama.

The system also communicates well with you, letting you know when and if problems exist with storage, anti-virus, backups, etc. These are both software-based warnings and visual cues on the box itself. A great thing too, is that Microsoft has allowed software authors to create plug-ins so you can have the server Tweet to you if there's a problem or control an un-interruptible power supply.

With anything there is room for improvement. Streaming video performance over the wired or wireless network is moderate to poor depending on the size of the video files. That's a shame too, because, the other utilities seem to combine to make a nice package for that type of thing. In addition, I dislike the McAfee virus protection. Just try to extend the 1 year trial. I dare you. It's not that it's expensive, it's just ridiculously difficult to do.

The access over the Internet is spotty at best. Microsoft gives you a free home server domain to use so that you can share your media over the Internet. Well, that's true in theory anyway. I continually get errors indicating that the server cannot update it's domain information. That's unfortunate, because it's a great way to take your media with you.

All said though, I don't at all regret buying this system. It solves a lot of problems for a multiple PC household and I'd heartily recommend folks buying one as well. Just a quick note that the model I purchased has been replaced with the HP MediaSmart Server EX490.