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: ReviewKeepvault has announced custom data plans to meet Windows Home Server users’ needs. Follow the link to learn more and find about about discount plans for HomeServerShow.com listeners.
Add-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
Today we will be discussing the news and going over an external eSata enclosure.
MSWHS - Hi Grade Home Server Review
PCMag(I referred to it as PCWeek in the podcast) Home Server Build
HomeServerHacks.com - Home Server Build (Updated)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
74.99 July 18th price is $79.99
Review
Rosewill RX-358-S BLK (Black) 3.5″ SATA to USB & eSATA Ext. Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan
Price - $44.99
Contents List:
External Enclosure
AC power adapter
eSATA Cable
eSATA Bracket
USB Cable
Screws
Warranty – 1 Year Parts and Labor
NewEgg Customer reviews – There are 135 and 70% are 5 Eggs.
I chose this drive because it mostly resemble the WHS, it has a Fan,a fan on/off switch, a case on /off switch, USB, and eSata ports, and comes with PC eSata bracket.
The feel of the case material was good and it was sturdy. The drive slid in very nicely and the case did not feel cheap. I have some super cheap IDE external cases that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone!
WHS recognizes the drive just fine. This is not PP1 so I can’t use it as a backup external and I don’t want to add it to my drive pool for this review. The OS will not have it registered as a drive without a little work. I partitioned and formatted the drive via Server 2003 Disk Management. Assigned it a drive letter and now it’s visible under My Computer. This was all done via a remote desktop session to the server.
A non-scientific* data transfer test was performed with the unit using a Western Digital WD5000AAKS, 500Gigabyte, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache, SATA Hard drive AND, a HP EX-470.
13 Gig File transfer via eSata – 4 Minutes, 7 seconds.
13 Gig File transfer via USB – 8 Minutes, 43 seconds.
The eSata is a full 4 and a half minutes faster than USB. We all know it’s faster but here is “real world” trial with the Windows Home Server.
*This was timed via stopwatch and not the file transfer “Time Remaining” indicator. I did notice however, the time remaining predictor was all over the place with the USB connection transfer. The eSata transfer was much more reliable.
Conclusion
I find that this external drive case satisfies the requirements in which I purchased it for. I wanted it to closely resemble the HP MediaSmart Server and also have a fan, USB, and eSata connectors. The bonus of this case is the fan’s on/off switch. I also found it nice that an eSata expansion adapter was included for a full size PC.
The speed of eSata compared to USB is a no brainer. The million dollar question is will I use the drive on the eSata port? Probably not. Seeing those speeds I will save this port for a multiple drive enclosure that I will add larger drives to my WHS data pool. This enclosure will find a nice cozy USB port and it will be a PP1 external drive. Meaning, I will back up the entire WHS with this drive when PP1 is fully released.
The fan is a bit loud but I’m thankful to have it. You could fry an egg on some of the older enclosures I used to run. The last thing, it’s a bit clunky looking and I could do without the bright blue LED’s.
It’s not a big deal since I’m after function, not form but it’s not the prettiest and the “nuclear” bright LED’s will be way too bright at night if your server is visible. Speaking of LED’s, there are two on the enclosure. My unit only had one working but I was thankful for that. Lastly, $44.99 is a tad on the high side. I would like to see that price come down around $5.00.
Overall it’s a great enclosure and I would recommend it if you are in the market for one.
Purchase this enclosure:
Rosewill RX-358-S BLK (Black) 3.5″ SATA to USB & eSATA Ext. Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan - Retail
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.
