If you are in the market for a new receiver you might want to consider a new Denon. Besides being a fantastic multi-zone, multi-source receiver it also has an Ethernet port which enables you to stream music and playlists to it. Click More for the entire review.
Tags: ReviewAdd-In Review - KeepVault Online Storage for Windows Home Server www.keepvault.com
After reviewing a product that billed by the gigabyte I was anxious to try something that was potentially unlimited. Little did I know by the end of my testing, the entire review would change with some big news from Keepvault.
Add-In Review: Jungle Disk for Windows Home Server
by: David McCabe
It doesn’t matter how many backups you have of your data if they all reside at the same location. Enter Off-Site backups. The Jungle Disk Windows Home Server Edition BETA allows you to automatically backup your Windows Home Server shared folders to Amazon.com’s S3 Storage Service.
Trainsignal.com has sent me a copy of their Windows Home Server (WHS) training video for review. Trainsignal was just named by Inc Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America. They produce training for subjects ranging from Microsoft Office, Microsoft Server, Exchange Server to CompTIA and Cisco Training. The training is geared towards IT professionals trying to stay current with technologies and also to provide computer based training for people looking to switch careers.
The full review is after the click…
Tags: Review
Listen to podcast number 13 for all the details about Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. Kaspersky has been gracious enough to allow me to give away a couple of copies of their new product. To be eligible you simply need to register with the homeservershow.com and post a comment to this blog post. If you are already registered with the site you only need to post a comment. Register here.
Increase your chances by listening to Ian Dixon’s podcast at thedigitallifestyle.com Ian will also be giving away a few copies.
I plan on doing the drawing in two weeks so stay tuned to future episodes for more information!
In the mean time, head over to Kaspersky.com and downlaod a free trial of their lastest product and listen to show 13 for more details. Thank you Kaspersky.
Tags: Anti-Virus, Deals
Most tinkerers and enthusiasts are used to having control over their computer’s temperatures and fan speeds. There are a few freeware options available for the PC that don’t work as well on HP’s MediaSmart Server line. Thanks to Alex Kuretz of MediaSmartServer.net there is a new Add-In that enables you to change your fan speeds and a few other options. Lets have a look.
Test Environment – HP MediaSmart Server EX-475, Ambient Temperature 69c
Baseline Measurements
Upper Fan - 1442
Lower Fan - 1454
System Temperature- 32c (see note)
CPU Temperature– 24c
Note: My testing environment is rather cool so it was difficult to bring the temperature up on the EX-475.
The Add-In initial state is set as follows:
Constant Fan Speeds 50%
Enable Advanced Controls - Disabled
Fan Speed Adjustment 0 RPM
Threshold Temp Adjustment 0 Deg C
As the readme file included with the add-in states its good to start with optimized defaults. This changes the threshold temps to -20c.
Constant Fan Speed
After applying the optimized defaults the HP MSS Health Status Indicator will flash until the changes are made to the system. Until that point your WHS will not respond to any other input. Since only thresholds are changed via the Optimized Defaults you will not notice any physical changes.
So what does the MSS sound like with fans at 90 to 100%? It’s a bit on the loud side but the fan speeds are up to 2500 to 2600 RPM. You can certainly hear the fans whirring. At five feet with other PC noise I can’t hear the MSS at factory default which is around 1400 RPM. These settings, as the heading suggests, are constant. There is no logic beyond the setting of the fan RPM. (There is a safety measure included which will not allow the top fan speeds and top temp to be overridden. Should the system become too hot the fans will increase speed)
Now let’s enable the Advanced Controls.
Each individual installation of the MSS will no doubt be different so I can’t recommend an exact setup of Advanced controls. In fact, it’s probably better explained by the author.
There are 9 Fan Speed levels and 8 Threshold Temperatures defined in the MSS.
This means that for a given temperature, the fan will operate at a
specified speed. The Fan Speed Adjustment slider adjusts the Fan Speed levels
by the configured amount, so that instead of spinning at 1200rpm when the CPU
is 50C, the User can configure the fans to spin at 1400rpm by increasing
the Fan Speed slider to +200. By adjusting the Threshold Temp slider, the
user can configure the system to move from Fan State 0 to Fan State 1 when
the CPU is 31C instead of 51C by setting the slider to -20C. This is exactly
what the Optimize button does.
In my situation I don’t need to cool the system any more than it already is. I will benefit from decreasing fan speed and hopefully saving a little bit of energy.
The controls are hidden in the Settings tab of WHS which is where I think they should be. There is no need to have a toolbar icon for this Add-In. The sliders and features present very well and are easy to understand. This is the second Add-In by Alex Kuretz. He has also written Remote Notification that works well with both HP’s line of servers as well as home-builds. There are some Add-ins out there that I just don’t trust and they will never cross my shared software folder . Alex’s work is not one of those add-ins. I trust his programming skills and his knowledge with the MSS system and I am officially adding MSS Fan Control to my Toolkit that I use for WHS customers. I’m giving it 5 Drives.
Read more about the Add-In here. You can hear more about this Add-In as well as other news by subscribing to the Home Server Show Podcast. Listen to the MSS Fan Control Podcast.
