During the podcast, Jim threw down a challenge to the Windows Home Server Community to produce an add-in that works with managing Drobo devices on WHS 2011.  Mario and Drobo accepted and the challenge is on!

So here are the details:

1.  Email Mario Blandini (Mario@Drobo.com) and give him your ideas on what you might develop as a WHS 2011 Add-in that takes advantage of a Drobo device or helps manage it.

2.  Drobo will send you an evaluation Drobo to use in your development.  No APIs generally exist for the Drobo Dashboard management software, and no specific interfaces are available for the direct-attached products.  If your interest is the file sharing Drobo (Drobo FS), there is a developers kit for that product @ http://www.drobo.com/droboapps/developers/index.php.

3.  Register your WHS 2011 Add-in (beta) with the Home Server Show community with an email to podcast@homeservershow.com

4.  Be the first to complete an Add-in that works with the WHS 2011 Dashboard, can be used by the WHS community and is made available at the HomeServerShow.com for download, and the Drobo is yours!  It’s that easy.

Time is a wasting, so get the process started today.

WHS Add-Ins

Windows Home Server allows for developers to publish community and commercial add-ins designed to enhance the Windows Home Server with added functionality. As of January 2010, nearly 100 of these add-ins have been developed for WHS, including applications for antivirus & security, backups, disk management, automation, media, network/power management, remote access, BitTorrent and more. The Windows Home Server SDK (Software Development Kit) provides developers with a set of APIs and tools to use when developing for and extending Windows Home Server.

This is one of those pieces of software that was written out of desire for a past option that worked really well and yet disappears from future Microsoft upgrades. I like the developer mentality of, “If it doesn’t exist, I’ll just write it.” This “code for myself” attitude drives software today and it’s great to see.  It’s highly apparent in Home Server Status when you see little additions like the file and URL links you can personalize it with.  I love this stuff.

Download and Install

The download can be found in the HomeServerShow.com forums here.  Support for the add-in is also offered in the forums as well.  When there are updates to the software you will be able to find them here. 

The install is simple and professional.

When first launched you are given the option for the free 14 day trial or you can purchase a key and enter it.

Settings

Once installed it is very intuitive to use and set up.  The program will launch in your taskbar but when you click it nothing happens.  Try a right-click to get to the settings dialogue.

The first thing you will probably want to do is get the program off the taskbar and into your tray.  In the settings box the option is in the bottom left.

The remaining options are just as simple.  Grab the MAC address of your server if you want to wake it from it’s slumber.   Enter in your remote domain name to initiate a web remote access session to your server.

There is an admin password for the settings box as well.

The biggest feature of the add-in has got to be backup up status.  Windows Home Server 2011 no longer gives you feedback when your computer is backing up.  Home Server Status solves this problem.

If you choose to use the task bar icon, pinned or not, your icon will show the progress of your backup in green, just like you see when you download files in your Internet browser or copy a file with Windows Explorer. Hover over the icon and you will see the percentage of the backup. If you choose to use the tray icon, simply hover over the icon to see the percentage of your backup in progress or watch the counter

In the WHS version 1 days I had a list of Add-Ins that I recommended and always installed for customers.  This Add-In is now the first on the list for Windows Home Server 2011.   The price tag of $6.95 is well worth it.  Find it here to start your 14 day free trial but I guarantee that you won’t need that long to decide you like it.

jvk

Release v1.1.2.0 – beta (2011-03-21)
- Many bug fixes and enhancements.
- Windows Home Server 2011 addin.
- Add drive to existing pool enabled.
- Merge drive into an existing pool enabled (disabled on WHS addin, please use the Manager if you wish to perform a merge).
- Remove drive from a pool is enabled.
- Folder duplication enabled.
- We have included a console output application. This can be accessed from the interface of the Manager.**
- Bug fix: The Manager now starts up correctly after being shutdown while minimized.
- Bug fix: Fixed a number of long file name issues.
- Bug fix: We have fixed a number of bugs that were preventing some third-party file managers from working correctly.
- Bug fix: The health monitor could start looking outside of the pool.
- Important – Please see “Points of note” in the Drive Bender Walk Through PDF for information on known issues and workarounds.
** This feature is intended solely for beta testing and will be removed from the final release.

Follow this link to get the goods:  http://www.drivebender.com/beta-download/

Here’s what the developer Andreas Miceli has to say about the update:

“This is a maintenance release which fixes a number of minor bugs and one major bug in the update discovery mechanism which prevented Japanese and Chinese users from being notified when an update was available. In addition, a possible conflict with other AddIns has been resolved. This update improves the stability and reliability of the Advanced Admin Console and I recommend to all current users to upgrade to the latest release.”

Advanced Admin Console 0.5.4

Download Advanced Admin Console 0.5.4 and put it in the Add-Ins directory in your shared software folder. Then open the WHS Console and click Settings >> Add-ins >> Installed then uninstall the previous version 0.5.2.

After it’s uninstalled, sign back into WHS Console and go to Settings >> Add-Ins >> Available and install the new version.

Sign back into WHS Console again and you should be good to go. Go back into Settings >> Add-Ins >> Installed to verify it was installed successfully.

If you’re not using Advanced Admin Console for WHS Version 1 you’re missing out. This is one of the first Add-Ins I setup when building a new Home Server…it provides a lot of functionality to the Console.

If you want to discuss the new version of Advanced Admin Console more, leave a comment below or head over to the Home Server Show Forums.

Download Advanced Admin Console Add-In 0.5.4

Sam gives a much better description of what Feedsource is in his announcement of the Add-In’s availability:

What is Feedsource?
Feedsource is a Windows Home Server Add-In that publishes secure Really Simple Syndication (“RSS”) feeds for Shared Folders through the Remote Access web site.
Authorized users access Feedsource RSS feeds from inside or outside the home network to view new and changed files in Shared Folders using any RSS reader that supports authenticated feeds.
Features
Authenticated RSS feeds for Shared Folders that show create, delete, rename, and change events for files and directories
Granular control to enable or disable RSS feeds for each Shared Folder
Automatic integration with the Remote Access web site to view feeds from outside your network with no extra port-forwarding or configuration
Simple setup through the Windows Home Server Console
Secure authentication and authorization using SSL and existing Windows Home Server access controls
RSS 2.0 and Atom support

The Add-In will be $10 and has a 30 day free trial.  You have nothing to lose so download it and try it out!  Read more about the Add-In’s release here.

Magic WOL is a clientless solution for the Wake-on-Lan feature for PCs on your home or small office network. You install the Add-in on WHS and it doesn’t require any further software installation on the other PCs on your network.

Installation & Setup

You install Magic WOL as you would most other WHS Add-ins. Move the MSI file to the Add-ins directory in the Software Shared Folder. Launch WHS Console and you’ll see it under Available and it installs easily.

After you restart WHS Console go into Settings and you’ll see Magic WOL in the left panel and a list of computers on your network connected to WHS. It offers a free 30 day trial and is only $7.00 after that.

Once you purchase a license for this Add-in click on the Activate Now button and enter in your license credentials.

Using Magic WOL

To wake up a machine on your local network, select the machine you want to wake and click the Wake Selected button.

Then you’ll see a message that the command has been sent…just click OK to close out of the dialog.

The really neat thing about this Add-in though is you don’t need local access to WHS Console to use it as you can access it from the remote site. So what you can do is log into your WHS Remote site to access the computers on your network. When you log in click on the Magic WOL link under the Websites section.

That opens up the Magic WOL page where you can send the signal to wake up your computers and make them available for RDP.

It also allows you to add computers that are not connected to Windows Home Server but are on your network. It will automatically try to detect another computer on your network automatically (computer must be on).

If it doesn’t find it, click on the Add Computer button and manually add the IP address, MAC address, and Hostname.

If you need to change the configuration of the PCs on your network it allows you to do that too!

Another neat feature of Magic WOL is you’ll receive automatic notification and download when a new version is released. It automatically delivers the new version to your Add-In shared folder so you can easily uninstall the current version and reinstall the new one.

Configure Your Computers for WOL

If you aren’t sure how to get your computer set up for Wake-on-Lan just click the Getting Started link on the remote site and there are full instructions on how to set them up.

It’s really just a matter of making sure the Power Management for your network adapter is configured properly…and / or going into the BIOS and making sure Wake-on-Lan is enabled. If you don’t see the option in your BIOS you might want to update it to the latest version, or update the network adapter driver. Keep in mind that some computers aren’t capable of the Wake-on-Lan feature.

Full Feature List

• Automatic update notification and download when a new version is released.
• AJAX web support for data refresh without page refresh.
• IP Helper that will update out of date IPs WHS may still be using.
• ARP finder that will update MAC addresses when PCs are online if missed during install.
• Edit, Delete, and add PCs to the program to monitor and wakeup.

Download Magic WOL Add-in for WHS

If you’ve enjoy Magic WOL leave a comment below or continue the discussion further in the Home Server Show Forums.

Installation

You install it like you would most other Add-Ins for WHS. Browse to the Software Shared folder on your server and place it in Add-Ins. Open the WHS Console >> Settings >> Add-Ins >> Available and install it.

You’ll need to disconnect the Console session and when you reconnect, you’ll find it at the top. They offer a free 30 day trial and is $14.95 for a license.

To enter your license open Settings select Duplicate File Finder and enter your key.

Using Duplicate File Finder

After you have the Add-In installed, open WHS Console, select the Duplicate File Finder, and click on Start scan.

Or if you want more control over the search operation, go into settings and choose between specific filenames, wildcards, and have the dupes compared by file size and / or MD5 checksum to make sure they are indeed exact copies. Here you can also set the amount of results per page and have the ability to send the dupes to the Recycle Bin. Having the files go into the Recycle Bin allows you to retrieve files as a failsafe and get them quickly via Remote Access.

Then in the left pane select the shares you want to be scanned. Just right-click the share and select Include in Scan.

For our example we ran through searching for *.mp3 files and it took around 5 minutes with our test system.

Then you’re shown the results of what it found as duplicates.

In the results pane you can right-click a result and open the File Properties dialog box.

Or open them in Windows Explorer…

Then to delete files just select them individually or you can do a select all…then click Delete Selected Files from the toolbar.

Overall this Add-In is easy to use and I actually intentionally created duplicate files for it to find and it found the ones I created. If you already keep a tight file system on your server though, you might find the $14.95 price a bit much for what it does. They do offer a 30 day free trial so you try before you buy which is always good. If you have a large amount of data on your server you might want to try it out first to see if it’s right for you. Duplicate File Finder for WHS has the potential to help you regain a lot of space back if you have a messy server.

If you’ve tried out this Add-In leave a comment or head over to the WHS Add-In’s section of the HSS Forums for more discussion.

WHS Duplicate File Finder from Bassic

I found an add-in developer over at MediaSmartServer.net, Christian Johnson, and we got chatting.

He asked me what was the most sought after Windows Home Server add-in. According to the Microsoft Connect web site for WHS. It’s a Microsoft Security Essentials add-in.

So for those of you who took the plunge and installed the beta add-in on your WHS boxes, now you have some protection. Problem is you won’t know if updates have been installed or is virus’s have been found.

With the Microsoft Security Essentials Notifier add-in, MSEN, these notification are captured and forwarded to the WHS desktop connector.

With beta of the Microsoft Security Essentials app installed on you server, install the MSEN add-in. Once installed, there is no tab or setting to set in the Console. The notifications will popup on your PC in the WHS connector. Here are a few examples;

Here is the connector view.                                                     Here is the Console view.

Here is Microsoft Security Essentials.

So there you have it a quick and easy free Security Essentials Notifier add-in.

Read more about the add-in  here.

Download here.

John Zajdler.

System Requirements

• Windows Home Server Version 1
• Motherboard that supports hardware Sensors – Most ITE * chips, CPU thermal sensors, hard drive SMART sensors, and UPS Battery Sensors are supported.

Note: This release of Blackbox is not supported by WHS Vail. It’s also not supported on WHS running as a VM.

Install Blackbox Addin

You can install the Blackbox addin the same way you would any other addin for WHS. Place the TentacleSoftware.Blackbox.1.0.0.14.msi file in the Add-Ins folder in WHS.

Then log into the WHS Console, select Settings, then Add-ins. Under the Available Add-Ins tab find Blackbox and click Install. It only take a few seconds to install, and after it does, you will need to log out on WHS Console then back in.

After logging back in, click on the new Blackbox icon you see at the top and you’ll see a list of columns showing Hardware Sensors and Alerting Rules.

You can easily change the view of your sensors and rules by right-clicking a listed sensor and select to group by Monitor Name, Monitor Class, or Sensor Class.

Set the fan speed from the context menu connected to Fan PWM sensors by dragging the slider to the right or left, or keep it in automatic mode.

Set Alerting Rules

Click the Alerting Rules tab to create or edit rules. To create a rule expand Create New Rule and select the sensor you want to be alerted on. Then select if you want to alerted when the value compares is greater than, less than, equal to, is not equal to…etc a specific threshold.

Then select the action to take if the event happens such as log the alert to file, Create a WHS health Notification, Change system power state, and  more.

For example here we set the action to log the alert to a file. Select the path for the file, then click Create Rule.

After rules are set you can go in and reset or delete them.

If you are looking for a way to monitor your home server’s motherboard hardware sensors in a very detailed way, Blackbox for WHS is definitely worth a try. The amount of sensors you can monitor and alert rules you can create is quite remarkable.

Right now the call is for CTP Testers and you’ll be able to find more info at the Tentacle Software Blog.