Don’t you love to share your photos with your friends and family? Those great shots of your little kids wearing their strained carrots or a picture of your daughter’s first formal dance; it’s through images that we graphically share the high’s and low’s of our most personal lives. With Windows Home Server you can easily create a private online photo sharing experience for only those individuals you permit while being accessible to the internet.
When you add a Windows Home Server to an online photo sharing site, like Flickr it gets even more interesting. We know that for many Windows Home Server users securely storing and sharing photo’s online is a main reason for them to purchase a server in the first place. Add to that the robust developer community add-ins such as Ed Holloway’s online photo sharing Photosync for Windows Home Server which automatically syncs the contents of your photo’s folder on the Windows Home Server to Flickr, Doug Barrett’s WebGuide which enables you to remotely access, listen, watch and stream your music, photos and videos stored on your home server while away from home and Andrew Grant's Whiist that allows you to create and manage web content on your Windows Home Server.
I’m a social networking geek these days, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and I blog about our cycling epics and Windows Home Server, yet I am very hesitant to share truly personal photos, especially group photos, using the current publically available online tools. I value my privacy and want to respect the privacy of my friends by not sharing photos or videos of them in a way that might make them uncomfortable, now or in the future.
It’s amazing how much information is shared across the web and photos are a means of visual sharing. These days social networking and online photo sharing sites like Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, and SmugMug to name a few, allow us to share our photos with our friends and potentially the world with a few clicks of a mouse. These sites do a great job and provide a community gathering place for those interested in visually exploring the world around them. For an in depth look at the online photo sharing ecosystem including analysis of the various services, check out Wikipedia, cnet Online digital photo printing & sharing and Lifehacker’s review of the Five Best Photo Sharing Sites.
I mentioned my cycling epics earlier; this past year I spent 2 weeks riding our tandem down the pacific coast with 28 other folks from all over North America to raise funds for the American Lung Association. Before the trip I knew only one individual, afterwards we are all fast friends who now keep in touch regularly over Facebook and email. Over the course of the trip as the miles passed we all unwound and the ensuing antics of the trip were dutifully recorded by multiple cameras including some video footage of the best dances, camping mornings and late night cribbage games.
After the trip we all wanted to check out the photos from the other riders, especially the dancing, however as many of the riders are in the legal profession it was important to ensure security for many of the pictures, especially the really good stuff; yet we wanted to make it possible for all of the riders to access the photo’s online. The answer to our dilemma was the Windows Home Server and its remote access and shared folder features.
Specifically what we did is to create one photo album (folder) and it’s link and password was sent out to the participants. This enabled them to use the web to link into the remote Windows Home Server to access the one online photo album while still keeping the rest of the information on the server private. We also leveraged the add-in Photosync to share specific photos with the masses on Flickr.
With Windows Home Server we were able to collect hundreds of photos of the trip in a private password protected online location. By allowing each rider to upload their photos, sharing became a breeze. Each of the photos is available online to anyone using web browsers who have the proper permissions. Permissions are simple to set and can be revised at any time by the Windows Home Server administrator (probably youJ). This enabled our entire cycling crew to share the experience all over again whenever they want. In addition with the add-ins like Whiist & WebGuide we were able to create a more robust viewing experience.
For families, hobby organizations, sports teams, vacation buddies, or conference attendees, anytime when privacy matters Windows Home Server is your online photo sharing solution. It provides a secure location to allow private online photo sharing in addition to robust image based backup software technology. There are alternatives to public websites, why take the chance with a public solution when Windows Home Server can create a private community where you can share photos, videos and files with your friends and family?
Moira
For those of you that have been reading this blog for a while, you may remember Dispatch from Computex Taipei (Posted: Tuesday, June 03, 2008). Last year was the Windows Home Server team's first time attending Computex.
Fast forward one year. Microsoft had a major presence at Computex last week which included a large booth, broad marketing & PR activities, and a June 3 keynote in the main convention auditorium. One of the significant announcements was the October 22nd General Availability date for Windows 7.
For the Windows Home Server team, Computex was an important opportunity to meet with existing and prospective hardware manufacturers. We also strove to increase industry awareness. Over 14,000 international buyers and attendees visited the Microsoft booth!
![clip_image001[4]](http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/homeserver/WindowsLiveWriter/WindowsHomeServerReportfromComputex2009_A2B5/clip_image001%5B4%5D_thumb.jpg)
![clip_image001[6]](http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/homeserver/WindowsLiveWriter/WindowsHomeServerReportfromComputex2009_A2B5/clip_image001%5B6%5D_thumb.jpg)
Our team in Taipei organized a terrific event presence. In the Microsoft booth, there was a section dedicated to Windows Home Server. On the main stage there was a 25-minute demonstration that featured: Easy setup, protecting PCs and files, easy storage expansion, smart storage management, media streaming, and home surveillance.
We were really pleased to unveil the D-Link ViewCam add-in for Windows Home Server, which allows control of a wide range of D-Link’s IP cameras from the Windows Home Server Console. Also notable, each scenario was demonstrated using a netbook as the interface and playback device for Windows Home Server.
Of course no booth would be complete without a "muscle beach" of cool hardware. Acer, Foxconn, Lenovo, and VIA hardware designs were showcased in the booth. For those of you seeing the Lenovo model for the first time, it is currently only available in China.
![clip_image001[8]](http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/homeserver/WindowsLiveWriter/WindowsHomeServerReportfromComputex2009_A2B5/clip_image001%5B8%5D_thumb.jpg) | ![clip_image001[12]](http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/homeserver/WindowsLiveWriter/WindowsHomeServerReportfromComputex2009_A2B5/clip_image001%5B12%5D_thumb.jpg) | ![clip_image001[16]](http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/homeserver/WindowsLiveWriter/WindowsHomeServerReportfromComputex2009_A2B5/clip_image001%5B16%5D_thumb.jpg) |
| Acer Aspire easyStore H340 | Lenovo IdeaCentre Q500 | VIA NSD 7800 |
-Steven
There is good news if you are one of the many people that purchased a netbook computer over the past while. A home server and a netbook can be a complementary solution. In addition to the image-based backup software included in Windows Home Server, the ability to augment the netbook storage space with a home server is a no-brainer. Shad Larsen commented on this solution in a post, “Making your Netbook functional using Windows 7 and Windows Home Server.”
Photo: Acer Aspire One A150
One of the benefits of a netbook is the small size and portability of the device. However, that size means a smaller screen and less visual real estate for applications. As a result, the Windows Home Server Console may not have displayed correctly on some netbook computers. The latest update, described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 963032, enables the Windows Home Server Console to support a resolution of 1024 x 600.
The update will automatically install as part of Windows Update if Automatic Updates is enabled on the home server. (How to turn on automatic updates.) Users can also click Update Now on the Settings tab of the Windows Home Server Console.
- Steven
Earlier this month, Terry Walsh at We Got Served announced the launch of a new Windows Home Server add-in competition. Announcing the Windows Home Server Add-In Idea Challenge ‘09!
With an interesting format, this competition should attract the attention of a broad group of Windows Home Server enthusiasts. As opposed to actually developing the Windows Home Server add-ins, We Got Served is simply looking for the best ideas.
Excerpt from blog post... "You don’t have to be a developer or technically minded to enter. All you need is your creativity and imagination to come up with the best idea for a future Windows Home Server add-in, which will then be coded up and released to the community for all to share."
There is still some time left to submit your ideas! The entry period closes on May 31st, and voting will commence in June. Developer Felix Kollmann (author of Router Control) will turn your idea into reality.
The Windows Home Server team anticipates seeing some terrific ideas from this community-led challenge. The winners may be featured in stories on the Windows Home Server Community web page. We showcase some of the most popular add-ins every month on the Windows Home Server add-ins page and your idea for an add-in may join the ranks of over 100 Windows Home Server add-ins available. For a comprehensive list, visit Home Server plus.
Pictured: "Hall of Fame" winner of the Code2Fame contest, Andrew Grant's Whiist.
If you need any added encouragement, here it is! Microsoft was asked to contribute some prizes for the contest... and believe me, they are awesome!
- Steven
In case folks missed this, but today was an important milestone for the Windows Home Server category, with another major manufacturer – Acer – launching their product, the Acer Aspire EasyStore Home Server H.340 here in the United States. At $399 for a 2GB RAM with 1 TB HDD included (up to 4 HDDs supported), it’s a great value for all of you looking to add a Home Server to your repertoire.
Now available for pre-order at Amazon.com.
Still not convinced? Check out the good reviews for the product on CNET, Crunchgear, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
Congratulations Acer! Welcome to the Windows Home Server family!
- MP
IT Professionals and Developers will be descending upon the Los Angeles Convention Center next week to learn about a broad set of current and upcoming Microsoft technologies, tools, platforms, and services.
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| Photo: Tech-Ed 2008 | Photo: HP MediaSmart LX195 |
Windows Home Server will have a booth presence in the Expo Hall. This is a chance for Tech-Ed attendees to get a hands-on experience with the latest Windows Home Server software and chat with members of the team. We'll be featuring the HP MediaSmart EX487 and, the newest addition to the family, the HP MediaSmart LX195.
If you know somebody who will be at the event, please send them our way. If you will be there yourself, please drop by the Windows Home Server booth.
-Steven
Yesterday marked the availability of the Windows 7 Release Candidate. On the Engineering Windows 7 Blog and Windows 7 Team Blog there were recent posts regarding this milestone.
"We want to encourage you to revert to a Vista image and upgrade or to do a clean install, rather than upgrade the existing Beta. We know that means reinstalling, recustomizing, reconfiguring, and so on."
In a prior post on the Windows Home Server Team Blog, Windows 7 and Windows Home Server, we recommended, "...before you update a PC to Windows 7, you should install the Connector software and backup your machine to your home server, so you have an image-based backup that you can return to for testing the upgrade scenario with future builds of Windows 7."
The restore task is as simple as dropping the Home Computer Restore CD in the computer and walking through the wizard. For detailed instructions, see the Restore home computer step by step.
For Windows 7 testers (and anyone else who is interested), we have made it even easier for users to try Windows Home Server! An evaluation version is available for download, as well as a kit that can be ordered for the cost of shipping and handling at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/eval.mspx. Windows Home Server is also available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers.
[Editors Note: Since the original post, I came across a terrific example by Keith Elder titled, "Ready to Run Windows 7 RC? Upgrade Advisor and Home Server Help" Check it out!]
- Steven
One of the developers on the Windows Home Server team, Gautam, was goofing around on a Mac during his off hours and put together this awesome set of instructions and screenshots for running the Windows Home Server Console on a Mac.
This article describes how to configure your Mac to be able to get the Home Server Console on it. You will need to Download and Install Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac.
If you already have it installed, you can skip to Configure it to Connect to your Windows Home Server Console
Download and Install Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac
1. On your Mac, go to the Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac website [microsoft.com].
2. Click on Download Remote Desktop Connection Client 2.
3. On the bottom right side of the page, in the Details section, scroll all the way down.
4. Click on your preferred language to start the download.
5. Once the file downloads, the Remote Desktop Connection Wizard should open up. Step through the wizard.
6. Eject the Remote Desktop Connection by right clicking on the icon on your desktop.
7. Great! Now you are ready to configure the Remote Desktop Connection Client to connect to your Home Server.
Configure the Remote Desktop Connection Client 2 for Mac to connect to the Windows Home Server Console
1. Open Finder. Click Applications in left menu. Click Remote Desktop Connection.
2. Type in the name of your Home Server.
3. In the File menu, click on Save As. Save your file. It’s easiest to save it on the Desktop.
4. Go back to the File menu and click on Edit Connection. Select the file you saved in the last step.
5. In the Login tab type –
a. User name: Administrator
b. Password: Your home server password.
c. Domain: Name of your home server.
6. In the Display tab, change the Colors to Millions.
7. In the Applications tab, make sure Start only the following Windows-based application when you log in to the remote computer is checked and type the following for Application path and file name: C:\Program Files\Windows Home Server\HomeServerConsole.exe /b
8. In the Security tab, select Always connect, even if authentication fails.
9. In the File menu, click on Save.
10. Now, right click on your recently saved file, click Open With, click Other…, scroll down and select TextEdit. Click on Open.
11. Change the number below DesktopHeight to 675 and number below DesktopWidth to 992.
12. Save the file and close it.
13. Now, click on the file you just saved to connect to the home server!
14. If you are unable to connect try connecting using your IP address of the home server.
To find your home server’s IP address, log on to the console from another computer. Go to Settings, Remote Access, Router Details
Open the file like in the above step and change the connection string to the IP address. For most of you it should be something like 192.XXX.X.XXX
Last month, Microsoft Canada reported survey results by Ipsos Reid that found Canadians value personal information but aren't taking measures to keep it secure. Zibb.com and a few other online outlets picked up the story. Read it here.
Sadly, 55% of respondents said that they have actually lost important files from their PC. Faced with this disheartening prospect, women were more likely to feel devastated or like crying (22%) and, the majority of women (51%), claimed they would pay $100 dollars to retrieve lost or damaged photos from their PC.
“It’s clear that for Canadians the PC is much more than just a workstation, there is an emotionally attachment to items stored on their PCs – like photos, music and financial documents—but it’s also clear that the majority of Canadians put those items at risk every day.” Barry Zeidenberg, Director - Retail Marketing, Microsoft Canada
- Steven
The Windows Home Server team is excited to have 2 new MVPs added to our MVP family. Please join me in welcoming our latest additions:
I look forward to their continued contributions to the Windows Home Server Community.
-Jonas
This just in! Congratulations are due to our friends at Hewlett-Packard, whose MediaSmart Server 487 product took home a coveted Engadget Editors’ Choice award for ‘Best Storage Device for 2008’.
We like to think our Windows Home Server OS had a little bit to do with the award. ;-)
It’s certainly nice to see the industry recognize quality products.…Here’s to many more awards!
- MP
Sorry, I couldn’t resist the alliteration. ;-) My enthusiasm must have boiled over after seeing all the great reception we’ve seen to the Power Pack 2 update and the MSDN release this week (we’ve counted close to 50 mentions in articles and blogs). So thank you, Home Server community for spreading the word!
In case folks haven’t seen these, here’s but a smattering of some of the articles that have been posted this week. It’s clear that the Media Center tie in enabled by Power Pack 2 is getting the bulk of the press, followed closely by the addition of Windows Home Server to MSDN.
Engadget even featured us in their weekly HD Podcast, which was nice.
And there are many more, so my apologies if I’ve omitted any others that are worth mentioning. Which articles would you want to share?
Have a great weekend everyone!
[Editor’s Note: A couple more clippings to pass along…]
MP
Possibly lost among the frenzy of the Power Pack 2 release, and the addition of Windows Home Server software to MSDN, was the update today of our very own product website. While clearly not a complete overhaul, we think it’s improved in a couple of key ways:
- A simpler and more contemporary layout
- Snappy scrolling graphics that feature direct links to popular pages on the site
- Redesigned links to Free Eval and Demo pages
- Added a few more Windows Home Server add-ins to our growing ‘featured list’ page. (Be sure to let us know if you want yours added too ;-)
We encourage you to come check it out and let us know what you think.
Here’s a quick link right to our top page: www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver, as well as a snapshot of what it now looks like.
Enjoy!
MP
A key benefit of Windows Home Server is the versatility and power it offers as a development platform. Even when Windows Home Server software was still in the beta stage, we published a software development kit (SDK) so that 3rd party developers could develop interesting add-ins for the product. See the original post, "Developers, Developers, Developers".
There are currently 100+ add-ins developed for Windows Home Server (up from 70+ in January of this year). We have a dedicated Windows Home Server Add-ins page on the Microsoft web site. There are also a number of other sites dedicated to this topic, such as the Forums on We Got Served and Windows Home Server Add-ins.
At the Professional Developers Conference last fall, we received a huge amount of interest in Windows Home Server from the developer community (standing room only in information sessions). MSDN availability will increase awareness of Windows Home Server with a larger community of professional developers and help further grow the ecosystem of software applications built for Windows Home Server. Effective today, Windows Home Server is available under Operating Systems on the MSDN Subscriptions Download Page. (Instructions for downloading.)
Hat's off to Loren on MediaSmartServer.net Forums and Alex Kuretz for catching us during the MSDN testing phase last week! Enjoy the real deal.
We are pleased to announce Windows Home Server Power Pack 2. Power Pack 2 fixes known issues and adds new features to improve the Windows Home Server experience. Enhancements include: Improvements to remote access configuration, enhanced functionality for computers running Windows Media Center, and content streaming support for Windows Media Center Extenders. Power Pack 2 adds Italian language support on new home servers.
Power Pack 2 will be made available via Windows Update. Users need to have Windows Home Server with Power Pack 1 already installed on their home server. Power Pack 2 will automatically install as part of Windows Update if Automatic Updates is enabled on the home server. (How to turn on automatic updates.) The English version release date is March 24th. Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish is currently scheduled to be available before the end of April.
Overview of enhancements:
Remote Access
· The Remote Access Settings page is redesigned to make it easier to use.
· A Web-hosted diagnostic service is used to more accurately test if remote connectivity is available from outside the home network.
· New and improved initial configuration and repair wizards, as well as better troubleshooting guidance for common home networking issues that can prevent Remote Access from working properly.
Windows Home Server Console - Remote access settings
Windows Home Server Console – Configuring remote access
Windows Home Server Console – Troubleshooting guidance
Media Sharing & Windows Media Center
When the Windows Home Server Connector software is installed or updated on a Windows Media Center computer, the next time a user starts Windows Media Center they will be prompted to install the Windows Media Center Connector.
· Windows Media Center computers will automatically have access to content stored in shared folders on the home server. Music, Photos, Videos, and Recorded TV folders are enabled by default.
· Windows Media Center Extenders can access and stream multimedia content stored on the home server. Access permission can be granted on an individual folder basis.
· Windows Home Server now supports streaming MP4 files, a popular format for high quality multimedia, to Xbox 360 and other devices that support the MP4 format. Metadata such as title, artist, composer, album, and genre now appears in the music or video library.
Windows Media Center – Windows Media Center Connector installation reminder
Windows Media Center Connector – Installation wizard
Windows Media Center Connector – Installation wizard
Windows Home Server Console – Configuring Windows Media Center Extender access
Windows Media Center – Videos folder on Windows Home Server
For additional information, please read the Power Pack 2 Release Documentation.
It is very rewarding for our team to deliver another update for Windows Home Server. We continue to hear fantastic feedback from our customers about how Windows Home Server is helping them protect and organize their digital media, access it away from home, and share it with friends and family. Thank you to our beta testers and partners for helping us ship Power Pack 2, and to the Windows Home Server community as a whole, for its ongoing support and enthusiasm.
The Windows Home Server Team
