Windows Home Server Team Blog

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2011-02-03T16:57:00Z

Please see our new blog site for future updates...

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“Vail” Launchpad and Its Extensibility

2010-05-24T20:42:00Z

Hi there! We are on to our second edition of Vail Engineering blogs, and this time we are talking about Launchpad - what it is, how it can be extended and why developers should care about it. I aso want to point out that we got pretty good response to Vail SDK with some of our MVPs covering it pretty well by now. You can check out some of these very informational posts here:

http://asoftblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/05/developing-an-add-in-for-vail/

http://blog.tentaclesoftware.com/archive/2010/05/07/89.aspx

http://blog.tentaclesoftware.com/archive/2010/05/08/90.aspx

What is Launchpad?

Launchpad is a light weight and extensible client-based user interface that we built for Vail. It was born out of a couple of pain points that our customers experienced from Home Server v1. While Home Server v1 provided the ability for developers to add what we call ‘administrative’ or ‘server management’ tasks to the Admin console, it did not provide any means by which a day-to-day or non-administrative task could be presented to users in a coherent manner that resonates its association with Home Server. As a result we started seeing add-ins for day-to-day consumption of home server capabilities that were deployed to Admin Console, but did not belong there since they were not administrative tasks. We realized that there is a need for providing a coherent and consistent grouping as well as entry point for home server related tasks that everyone in the household can perform from their client PCs. This was the first pain point.

The second one, and perhaps the more significant one of the two, was the limitation around having matching usernames and passwords on the server and the PCs. If you recall, in Home Server v1 we require users to create user accounts on the server that had the same username and password as that of the client PCs so that they can seamlessly access the shared folders on the server as soon as they login to their PCs. This generated lot of confusion with consumers, as was evident from the feedback that we got. With Vail, Launchpad acts as the login UI for signing the user onto the server, thereby granting them access to the Server shares and other platform services exposed via the SDK. We no longer have the requirement to have the user accounts matching on server and client, instead users can use Launchpad to ‘sign-in’ to the server with any user account and password combination that was set up in Dashboard!

In short, Launchpad serves the following purposes:

It is the entry point for the day-to-day tasks related to Windows Home Server from the client PCs.
It eiminates the need for matching usernames and passwords setup between server and client, and eliminates the password sync dialogs.
It Provides a logical and centralized location where all home server related tasks are exposed, resulting in much better awareness of home server and its capabilities.
It allows everyone in the household to have visibility to developers' add-ins, than just home server administrators.

Why should developers care about Launchpad?

So far, home server add-ins or applications were focused on ‘Administrative' kind of tasks that extended the Admin Console. The audience for such add ins were limited to one person in the house hold, most possibly the head of the house hold who does the ‘Administrative tasks’ on the computers. With Launchpad, we now have the ability to create end-to-end add-ins with user interfaces targeted at everyone in the home who uses a PC joined to home server. A typical example can be an addin providing the ability for everyone in the home to sync a folder on their PC to home server, and then subsequently to the cloud. The launch point for a configuration UI for adding or removing folders included in the auto-sync scenario above (which is specific to the user’s PC) would be Launchpad, and not Dashboard.

As you can see from the example this is an opportunity for developers to create add-ins with multiple facets – one server side component targeting the administrator and one client side component targeting everyone in the home. The result is more people using your add-ins and more word getting spread about your product/addin. With our add-in deployment mechanism, you can package both these components together and we’ll take care of deploying and installing the relevant pieces on the server and client appropriately as well (more on this in a later post). So, as you can see, we have built a powerful SDK for developers to build a truly end-to-end add-in spanning the client, server and the cloud.

When to extend Launchpad and when not to

Just so that we give a clear guidance on extensibility of Launchpad vs Dashboard, I am going to call this out specifically here.

You extend Launchpad when…

You have a task or resource/UI that you expect everyone in the household to access/ use. Eg: Backup my PC, access shared folders etc…
The task IS NOT related to the management or administration of the Server.
You DO NOT need Administrator privileges on the server to do the task.

You extend Dashboard when…

You have a task or resource/UI that you expect only the head of the household (home Admin – typically the person who sets up Home Server) to access/use. Eg: Add a hard drive, create user account etc..
The task IS related to the management or administration of the Server, and not a day-to-day one.
You DO need Administrator privileges on the server to do the task.

When in doubt, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Extending Launchpad

Adding entries to Launchpad

You can add entries to Launchpad to point to a client application that makes use of Home Server in one way or the other. Your entries will appear under a category called ‘Addins’ on the main page of Launchpad.

Adding categories to Launchpad

If you want to add multiple entries to the Launchpad UI, we recommend grouping them under categories. Categories can be added upto three levels deep.

Example:

Addins-> (Built-in category)

Company-> (Your category)

Antivirus -> (Your sub category)

System Scan (entry)

Scan Schedule (entry)

Online Backup-> (Your sub category)

Backup Now (entry)

Backup Settings (entry)

Enhances coming in future builds

In the later builds, we are looking at adding capability for targeting Launchpad tasks to specific users who are part of a User Group on the Server. For example, you can target only users who are part of ‘Remote Access Group’ to see a link to your remote portal hosted in Home Server. We are also making it so that Launchpad automatically authenticates the machine to home server using the username and password stored, if the user choses to do so. So, as soon as the user logs into the local machine, they are authenticated to Home Server so that all the services that require authentication to server work seamlessly. Another enhancement that is coming is the ability to control the alerts that are seen from the tray icon. User would be able to choose from three options – No alerts, network alerts or local & network alerts. On top of that you’ll see a lot more in the look and feel for Launchpad when we ship!

That’s it for today. As always, we welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions!

Introduction to Windows Home Server “Vail” SDK

2010-05-07T19:29:00Z

Hi everyone! My name is Dileep and I am a Development lead with Windows Home Server team. It has been more than a week since we released the beta builds of the next version of Windows Home Server “Vail”, and we are very encouraged by the download and the feedback pouring in through connect. Thank you for everyone who is participating in the beta program! Alongside that, we thought this is the right time to start discussing some of the features of Vail and its extensibility with the community to get the excitement started for building great, cool and useful add-ins for the next version of Windows Home Server. The SDK is also available to download from Connect and if you already tried it out, you might have noticed that the extensibility options for Vail are pretty broad in comparison with first version of Windows Home Server. There are many ways one can extend Vail – by extending Dashboard (old Admin Console), Launchpad or by building a Provider. You can even build an addin which has both server and client components to it. Vail SDK contains information about all these plus APIs for many other core features like Alerts framework, Storage (Server Folders & Hard Drives), Computers & Backup, Identity, Remote Access, Media Streaming and much more! The SDK also contains detailed documentation as to how you can build, package and deploy your add-ins to Vail Server and clients. All-in-all, you can see that we’ve tried to put up a much broader and more powerful SDK in place compared to the previous version.

There is a lot of information to digest in Vail and SDK in particular. Hence we are taking this opportunity to do a series of blog posts to talk about the various extensibility points of Vail in a much higher level than the actual SDK documentation. The idea is to give developers an overview of the capabilities of Vail SDK along with providing guidance as to how to go about building addins the right way so that the user experience or performance is not compromised. In the first of such posts, I am discussing the Vail ‘Dashboard’ and its extensibility vis-à-vis Home Server v1 here.

The Administration console in Home Server v1 has been renamed to ‘Dashboard’ to better reflect the information it provides. Just like the Admin console in v1, Dasbhboard still is the main user interface for administrative or management type of tasks on the Server. Dashboard is where you would go to monitor the health of the network, create user accounts, view backups, add shared folders, increase storage capacity, enable or disable media streaming etc. Dashboard is still not the place to put any day-to-day non-administrative tasks. I have posted a document on connect website (link is given below) which talks about the differences in the Dashboard UI compared to Home Server v1 Admin Console. In the document I talk about the new Dashboard layout, the new UI elements introduced, the three different kinds of tabs that one can build as well as plugging into the existing Microsoft tabs and wizards. I also cover the extensibility aspects of Home Server v1 Admin console which are no longer available in Vail.

You can download the complete document here.

(You will have to sign in to Microsoft Connect site.)

I hope I was able to give an adequate overview of the changes and new features in Windows Home Server ‘Vail’ Dashboard in the document, especially when compared to v1. Please remember that this document is meant as a high level overview of the extensibility points, and the low-level details of all of those extensibility APIs, documentation, samples and templates are available in the Vail SDK. We would love to hear your comments and feedback. Moreover we would love to get all of you started on writing cool addins for Vail. Please use Vail SDK Forum for discussing seeking assistance for the SDK. In subsequent posts, we’ll cover other topics such as Launchpad, building Providers, addin deployment, various object models etc. Happy coding!

Download Dashboard overview document

Download “Vail” SDK

Discuss about “Vail” SDK

New SoHO focused offering from HP using the Windows Home Server OS

2009-09-29T21:57:00Z

If you haven't seen or read the announcement that we just posted, read more here: HP Announces New Line of SoHo-Focused DataVault Product Line.

Harry Brelsford over at SMB Nation also chimed in on this announcement. SMB Debutante Ball: HP to “introduce” HP StorageWorks X500 Data Vault Series… The really cool part is HP will “debut” the HP StorageWorks X500 Data Vault at the SMB Nation Fall 2009 Conference (October 2-4, 2009, Las Vegas) which is coming up fast. I believe one of our SBS MVPs, Kevin Royalty will be jointly talking with HP about this exciting new offering at SMB Nation. So, if you want to go hit Las Vegas, there is still time to register. As an added perk, a number of our Home Server, Small Business Server, and Essential Business Server team members, Jonas Svensson, Becky Ochs, Chuck Archer, to name a few will be down there too. Please swing by the Microsoft booth at SMB Nation and talk to us. We would love to hear from you.

As you may know, we have talked about Windows Home Server in the SOHO space before, Windows Home Server – Can It Be a SOHO Solution?. You may also know that Kevin Royalty, has talked a lot about how he has been deploying Windows Home Server into his SBS customer's environments for some time now. Alex Kuretz one of our Home Server MVPs just did a story on this. Using Windows Home Server in a Small Business.

I can't wait to get my hands on this new server.

Have a great day!

Kevin Beares
Community Lead - WSSG

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 - PP3 Beta Update

2009-09-29T21:32:00Z

Hey everyone,

As some of you know, we have started blogging over on the Windows Team Blog back at the beginning of September with a new blog called the Windows Home Server Blog. So, if you haven't already added this blog to your feed, please do. For the moment we are planning on blogging from both our TechNet Blog as well as our new blog. As part of our efforts to reach out to a larger audience and our strong alignment with Windows we felt that it was important that we start communicating our message from the Windows Team Blog. In the near future, we may make a complete move from our TechNet location to the Windows Team Blog. Stay tuned...

So, back to Power Pack 3. We wanted to update everyone on where we are with the beta of PP3 and talk about the steps we are taking in this beta to inusre a smooth transition in supporting our newest OS, Windows 7. to read more, please go check out this article: Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 update.

Thanks again to all of our beta testers who are really running our PP3 beta and giving us some very valuable feedback. This is shaping up to be an amazing release for Windows Home Server.

Kevin Beares
Community Lead - WSSG

Windows Home Server Team is soliciting feedback in 2nd annual usage & satisfaction survey

2009-09-01T03:46:13Z

Did you know…

That most English language users found out about Windows Home Server through a blog or online product review, versus magazine or newspaper articles for German language users?

That product “features and specifications” was widely regarded as the most important factor, followed distantly by price, when it comes to Windows Home Server purchase?

That media sharing/streaming was the feature that could most help increase overall Windows Home Server customer satisfaction?

No? Neither did we until you told us in last year’s survey.

Customer feedback regarding usage and satisfaction of Windows Home Server is very important to our team. This feedback helps us improve how we promote the product, better understand how people are using the product, and determine what functionality we can build into future updates to increase satisfaction.

If you are a current Windows Home Server user, we want to hear from you!

English

German

Japanese

Windows Home Server category grows with the announcement of the Lenovo IdeaCentre D400

2009-08-22T02:55:42Z

As reported by COMPUTERWORLD and other sources (see below) earlier this week, Lenovo will be introducing the IdeaCentre D400 to the US next month. Previously launched in China, Lenovo’s offering will be a great addition to the category of home servers powered by Windows Home Server software.

Announced in conjunction with upcoming Q Series of compact home entertainment PCs, the IdeaCentre D400 home server has an aesthetic design that would suit the living room as well as the home office. (See Lenovo’s press release for details.)

Photo: Lenovo IdeaCentre D400 home server

Eugene Saburi, General Manager, Microsoft Solutions Marketing had this to say. "With the IdeaCentre D400 home server coinciding with the availability of Windows 7 on Lenovo laptops and netbooks, consumers will have affordable solution that enables them to unleash the power of their home network.”

With the Acer Aspire easystore and the lineup of HP MediaSmart Servers already on the market, the Lenovo IdeaCentre will provide even more choice for consumers. We are still waiting on confirmation of where the IdeaCentre D400 home server will be sold. Let’s hope pre-orders are offered soon!

More articles on the Lenovo announcement:

Lenovo unveils Windows Home Server, tiny home theater PCs
Seattle Times
The company also rolled out several new tiny PCs with home theater capabilities -- a sample of its Windows 7 wave lineup, out in time for back-to-school ...

Lenovo Q100/Q700 nettops, D400 home server debut
Electronista
Lenovo this afternoon put an end to speculation and launched its IdeaCentre Q series of mini desktops as well as its first Windows Home Server. ..

Lenovo to Introduce IdeaCentre D400 Windows Home Server
Notebooks.com
By Xavier | August 17, 2009 Lenovo's getting ready to announce the IdeaCentre D400 Windows Home Server. The company posted a teaser image in a twitter post ...

Lenovo Reveal Their First Home Server – The IdeaCenter D400
By Terry Walsh
Lenovo release a teaser shot of their debut Windows Home Server, but we've uncovered a whole host of pics courtesy of the Interwebs. Check 'em out!

- Steven

Windows Home Server Software Development Kit (SDK) adds Japanese Language Support

2009-08-22T02:02:50Z

The momentum behind Windows Home Server add-ins continues to grow! The Windows Home Server team is very pleased to announce the availability of the Japanese Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK provides developers with guidance, for example application programming interface (API) information, on how to create programs that integrate with the Windows Home Server Console.

Japanese developers now have access to the localized version of the SDK on the Windows Home Server section of the MSDN website.

Coinciding with the release of the Japanese SDK, the Windows Home Server Japanese Evaluation software is now available for download.

For users who have not stayed abreast of the Windows Home Server add-ins community, you may want to visit Terry Walsh’s site www.whsplus.com. You’ll find a pretty comprehensive list of Windows Home Server add-ins, reviews of the latest add-ins, as well as a list of user-ranked top add-ins.

- Steven

Windows Home Server - Can It Be a SOHO Solution?

2009-07-22T03:04:00Z

Although the name of Windows Home Server may make you inclined to believe that it is only for consumer households, it can also be very functional in a small office/home office setting.

One article that was recently brought to our attention came from SMB PC Magazine (See page 7). The article provides an overview of Windows Home Server and discusses how it could be beneficial to SOHO customers. Research conducted by the author, Aaron Booker, includes contacting companies offering 3^rd party solutions, and value-added providers that are installing home servers in businesses today. From the information gathered, he has validated that backup of up to 10 computers is the most common use of a home server because of its unparalleled speed and convenience. He then goes on to compliment Windows Home Server restore capabilities. Booker states that “The restore function is what is really impressive. If a user deletes a file or overwrites a file- the time needed to recover is literally seconds”. He also discusses topics such as using Windows Home Server to remotely connect and log onto PCs (Remote Desktop) along with add-ins, that enhance Windows Home Server functionality, as key features for this market.

Another article that featured Windows Home Server can be found in Inc Magazine which is targeted at entrepreneurs and small business owners. Under “The Goods” section, the magazine introduces and writes about various aspects of the HP Media Smart LX 195. Some key items were noted about the HP Media Smart in this piece includes its small size, low cost, and how it can be used in both the home and small businesses. Once you begin using a home server, the article relays that you have the ability to listen to your music while you are out of the office and also share your pictures and videos on all popular social networking sites.

With these articles as a backdrop, the Windows Home Server Team is pleased to announce a new web page which is focused on the SOHO customer. http://www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver/soho

The page opens with an overview of Windows Home Server’s features from a SOHO customer perspective. Five case studies were written which describe how an average SOHO has benefited from using Windows Home Server. Corresponding to the written case studies, there are video interviews where you have the opportunity to listen to business owners discussing their personal experiences when using their home servers. They talk about subjects including how Windows Home Server has helped advance their office by saving hundreds of hours, money, and data.

As always, there are links which allow you to view a demo of Windows Home Server and also download a FREE evaluation version.

- Steven

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 BETA – Includes enhancements for Windows 7-based computers

2009-07-17T11:00:08Z

We are pleased to announce the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta which improves the Windows Home Server experience with Windows 7 and Windows Media Center by providing the following new features: Backup and restore of computers running Windows 7, Windows 7 Libraries integration, enhancements for Windows Media Center, and better support for netbook computers.

If you are running Windows 7 on your home computer and are a current Windows Home Server user, we need your help!

Important: You will need to sign up as a beta participant of the Windows Home Server program on Microsoft Connect in order to download the Power Pack 3 Beta. https://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer

New in Power Pack 3 Beta

Windows 7 Backup & Recovery

Windows Home Server performs a full image-based backup of Windows 7-based computers, allowing for a complete computer recovery in the case of a hard drive failure, or restoration of a single file or folder in the event of accidental deletion or loss. After the Windows Home Server Connector software has been installed on a computer running Windows 7, Windows 7 Backup warnings will be suppressed and users will no longer receive a notification to back up their computer. Windows Home Server can back up Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows Vista and Windows 7-based computers.

Windows 7 – Backup
Windows Home Server completes an automatic image-based backup of Windows-based computers every day.

Windows 7 Libraries

Power Pack 3 Beta will add Music, Photos and Videos shared folders on the home server to Windows 7 Libraries making the content available for applications such as Windows Explorer, Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player and other applications that use Windows 7 Libraries. This allows users to quickly access all their content in one organized place that is always available, searchable and expandable. Users can also search a specific library without having to know where the files are stored.

Windows 7 – Libraries – Pictures
Windows Home Server content is automatically added to Windows 7 Libraries after installing the Windows Media Center Connector software.

Windows 7 – Windows Explorer Jump List – Music Library
Users access the libraries through Jump Lists by simply selecting Music, Videos or Photos. All content is accessible from one organized location.

Windows Search

Windows Search 4 has been included with Power Pack 3 Beta to improve query search times, indexing times and reliability. If users are searching across multiple computers, extended remote discovery increases the efficiency of searching across all document libraries. Files encrypted with Encrypting File System (EFS) are now supported with search.

The image below is an example of searching across a music library where files are located in multiple places: the home computer Music folder, the home computer Public Music folder, and the home server Music shared folder. Users can add other locations to Windows 7 Libraries.

Windows 7 – Libraries – Music – Searching for Aerosmith music content on the home server
Searching for content in the library folder will not only search the home computer but also search the home server.

Power Pack 3 Beta makes Windows Home Server compatible with netbook computers that have small screen sizes and low resolution. A home server makes a great storage and backup solution for ultra-portable computers.

Windows Media Center Enhancements

Last March, Power Pack 2 added functionality that allowed Windows Media Center and Media Center Extenders to easily access the content on a home server. Power Pack 3 Beta builds on this functionality. 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. Users will notice a new Home Server selection in Windows Media Center menu.

Windows Media Center view – Home Server

TV Archiving

The TV Archive tile in Windows Media Center will give users the option to move recorded TV content to the home server in a variety of resolutions. The recorded TV shows are archived in the correct resolution for the type of device that will be used for playback. TV Archive is optimized for Windows Media Center computers, Windows Mobile-based phones, and the Zune player, however, any device capable of playing WMV files can take advantage of this feature.

· TV – Original Resolution

· Windows Mobile – 320 x 240, 500 Kbps, .WMV

· Zune – 640 x 480, 1500 Kbps, .WMV

Users can select individual TV shows, a series of shows, or all TV recordings to automatically be moved to the home server. Because Windows Home Server storage space can be easily expanded, users can keep all the TV shows that they want in their collection.

Windows Media Center view – Home Server – TV Archive view

Console Quick View

Console Quick View allows users to see statistics about the home server through Windows Media Center and Windows Media Center Extenders. This is a convenient way to view many aspects of the home server without needing to access the Windows Home Server Console. This feature allows users to view and monitor a number of home server indicators:

· Storage – Pie chart listing the percentage allocation of the home server storage

· Drives – List, size and health of hard drives installed on the home server

· Backup – List of computers being backed up and their current backup status

· Shared Folders – List of Shared Folders by name with health status and duplication status

· Media Counters – Count of music, photos, videos and recorded TV files on the home server

· Health – Health of the entire home network

· Home Server – System information of the home server’s hardware and manufacturer info

Windows Media Center view – Home Server – Console View

Timing of the Power Pack 3 final release has not been determined. With your help to test the Beta, we hope to release the update prior to the Windows 7 General Availability date of October 22. Power Pack 3 will be a free update to existing Windows Home Server users via Windows Update. Thanks for your support!

- The Windows Home Server Team

Windows Home Server will be at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans

2009-07-08T23:38:00Z

It’s summer, so it’s time for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). During this annual event, Microsoft and the Windows Server Solutions Group share strategies and visions for addressing the challenging economy, saving customers money, and helping partners and customers compete confidently. Senior leader keynotes include Steve Ballmer (Chief Executive Officer) , Stephen Elop (President, Microsoft Business Division), Kevin Turner (Chief Operating Officer), Allison Watson (Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group), Bob Muglia (President, Server & Tools Division), Bob Kelly (Corporate Vice President, Server & Tools) and many other executives who will share their vision for the company and its partners.

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference held July 13–16 in New Orleans, is an annual gathering where Microsoft Corp.’s partner community will network and build connections, share best practices, and learn new skills and techniques.

If you are attending WPC, this is your chance to learn about all the Windows Server options for Small & Medium Businesses by attending our session CI003 Windows Server Portfolio for SMB: Which Server Is Best for Your Customer (and You!) on Monday afternoon at 3:30-4:30 in Room 255-257.

Also come by our Exposition Hall booth # 621 and you can enter to win one of 6 HP MediaSmart Server EX485 (ERP $599) Windows Home Servers and attend one of our two booth theater sessions. The Windows Server for SMB booth theater sessions are Windows Essential Business Server 2008 and the free IT Network Health Scanner for SMB on July 16th from 12:30 – 12:50PM and the Windows SBS and Windows Home Server Client Backup on July 16th from 2:30 to 2:50PM. Simply drop your business card into the fishbowl on your way in the door or at the booth and we will choose one winner per day at the booth and one winner at each session. Sorry this Sweepstakes is only for event attendees, you must be present to enter.

Hopefully we'll get to see many of you at WPC this year. The best part of this conference is the time we spend with our partners and we are looking forward to meeting with as many of you as we can. Please use the WPC Connect to create a meeting request to request a specific meeting or simply drop by the booth to meet the Windows Server for SMB team including: Dean Paron, Eric Watson, Eric Kidd, Russ Madlener, Nick King, Leslie McGuire, Katharine Pike, Becky Lymberis, Vikram Ghosh, Cecile Charlot, Jonas Svensson, Kannan Iyer, Murali Sangubhatia, Sean Daniel, Lingan Satkunanathan, Cassie Hicks, Eduardo Melo, Brijesh Ramachandran, David Fabritius, Moira Whidby and Brent Reeser.

For those of you who are unable to join us in New Orleans next week, we’ve created new social networking assets so feel free to follow WPC virtually on our team blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Secure online photo sharing with Windows Home Server and Community Add-Ins

2009-06-17T00:58:00Z

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

Windows Home Server - Report from Computex 2009

2009-06-08T21:34:59Z

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!

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.


Acer Aspire easyStore H340	Lenovo IdeaCentre Q500	VIA NSD 7800

-Steven

Update improves Windows Home Server Console display on some Netbooks

2009-05-27T23:25:00Z

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

Windows Home Server - Imaginations are unleashed with the Add-in Idea Challenge

2009-05-22T21:04:00Z

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

Windows Home Server - Acer Launches Aspire EasyStore Home Server in US

2009-05-22T07:33:00Z

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

Windows Home Server - Visit us at Microsoft Tech-Ed North America

2009-05-07T02:18:03Z

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.


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

Windows Home Server - Windows 7 Release Candidate testers asked to revert to Windows Vista prior to upgrade

2009-05-06T20:16:00Z

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

Running the Windows Home Server Console on a MAC

2009-04-30T03:30:27Z

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

Windows Home Server - Canadians Put More Importance on Photos Stored On Their PC Than Their Financial Information

2009-04-10T00:21:33Z

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

Windows Home Server MVPs - April 2009

2009-04-09T02:03:00Z

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:

Alexander Köplinger (Germany) - contributor on http://www.home-server-blog.de/ and author of OnTheFlyUnzipper Add-in
Jim Clark - frequent contributor on http://wegotserved.co.uk

I look forward to their continued contributions to the Windows Home Server Community.

-Jonas

HP MediaSmart Server 487 - An Engadget Winner!

2009-03-31T09:44:39Z

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

Power Pack Press Clippings

2009-03-28T00:03:51Z

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.

‘Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 Released’ – Tom’s Hardware
‘With Power Pack 2, Windows Home Server Finally Embraces Media Center’ – ZDNet (italics added ;-)
‘Microsoft Nudges Windows Home Server Into The Spotlight’ – ChannelWeb
‘Microsoft Announces Windows Home Server Updates’ – Paul Thorrott, Windows ITPro

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…]

Microsoft builds up Windows Home Server features, ecosystem – ComputerWorld
Windows Home Server Power Pack 2 Hits Tomorrow, Brings Improvements to Media Sharing, Remote Access – Gizmodo
Microsoft Announces Home Server Power Pack 2 – PC Magazine

Windows Home Server Website Updated

2009-03-25T09:01:00Z

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!

Windows Home Server - Now available on MSDN

2009-03-24T04:00:19Z

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 3^rd 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.