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HP Introduces Updated Cross-Platform MediaSmart Home Servers
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I have the EX845! I love the thing mine is packed with over 4TB of storage space. Yes I have about 65% of it filled up at this time.
One thing I see missed here, HP is offering support for Mac and for system users like myself I have both Mac and PC all playing in harmony.
Will Apple offer something better than tc maybe but by that time I would have to buy the 10TB version and my bet is Apple would not make it expandable.
One thing I see missed here, HP is offering support for Mac and for system users like myself I have both Mac and PC all playing in harmony.
Will Apple offer something better than tc maybe but by that time I would have to buy the 10TB version and my bet is Apple would not make it expandable.
It can do automatic video encoding. That would be the only reason, but a big reason I think. I need to start saving up for the 495
Actually, minus the 4 hotswappable internal SATA drive bays, you could do that with a Mini and Snow Leopard Server. It'd be much cheaper than
an Xserve.
In fact, I just might do that!
Hey everybody, some good discussion here. I wanted to clarify a couple points I saw mentioned. HP have committed to providing the 3.0 software for previous generations of the MediaSmart Server, so yes, present owners of the EX47x and EX48x should be able to get perform this update in the Fall. As for availability, they are available for pre-order now and I believe they will be available in October. Another bit of good news is that the servers will once again be available in Europe.
I've got all this info and a ton more in my review, if anyone is looking for more details. Thanks for the link in the blog post.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/09/14/review-hp-mediasmart-server-ex490-and-ex495/
I've got all this info and a ton more in my review, if anyone is looking for more details. Thanks for the link in the blog post.
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/09/14/review-hp-mediasmart-server-ex490-and-ex495/
LOL! I'm afraid not. I'm running the 2.5 update on my 470 and it is working fine. No problems here. I recently updated it to 2 GB RAM, and noticed it does go slightly faster when you are connected via Remote Desktop - however it previously managed to stream a movie to my MB, a song to my iPod Touch and carry out both Time Machine and Windows backups all at the same time with no issues. The only issue is that the drive lights don't light up any more, (driver issue), which I'm sure HP will fix when they bring out the official 2.5 for 47x release.
If you dig around on wegotserved.net, they have a guide showing how to install the 2.x updates on the 47x series
How well does the iTunes library sharing work with AppleTV
Hi
Does anyone have experience yet of how well this server works with AppleTV? Like many others I would like to export all my iLife media to this server and then consume it seemlessly from iTunes & iPhoto "client" on my main Mac, from an AppleTV box, from an Airport Express (for audio of course, using iTunes client on Mac or iPod Touch Remote control) etc.
Can anyone advise if this box is the magic bullet?
Also I would like to ensure that any iTunes Account purchases (my wife and I have our own iTunes Store accounts and seperate user accounts on the main Mac) are all sync/copied over to the server and freely accessable on my max. five Apple consuming devices.
Hope someone can clarify this! ;-)
Cheers
PS: Sorry - maybe about to answer my own question. A little more reading leads me to think no ;-(. The issue is that AppleTV and iPhone / iPodTouch register with an iTunes application (running on Mac or Win) and not with the embedded third party "iTunes Server". So unless / until HP can duplicate this functionality from iTunes application - or Apple beat HP at this game, its no HP MediaSmart for me ;-( And I have even warmed up by CreditCard!!
Hi
Does anyone have experience yet of how well this server works with AppleTV? Like many others I would like to export all my iLife media to this server and then consume it seemlessly from iTunes & iPhoto "client" on my main Mac, from an AppleTV box, from an Airport Express (for audio of course, using iTunes client on Mac or iPod Touch Remote control) etc.
Can anyone advise if this box is the magic bullet?
Also I would like to ensure that any iTunes Account purchases (my wife and I have our own iTunes Store accounts and seperate user accounts on the main Mac) are all sync/copied over to the server and freely accessable on my max. five Apple consuming devices.
Hope someone can clarify this! ;-)
Cheers
PS: Sorry - maybe about to answer my own question. A little more reading leads me to think no ;-(. The issue is that AppleTV and iPhone / iPodTouch register with an iTunes application (running on Mac or Win) and not with the embedded third party "iTunes Server". So unless / until HP can duplicate this functionality from iTunes application - or Apple beat HP at this game, its no HP MediaSmart for me ;-( And I have even warmed up by CreditCard!!
Home Server
This is where Apple should go.
For years people here have been asking for a mid tower system, TC is too small, do not have all the same services of the HP, OSX Server (unlimited license) is now only 499.
Making a system based on OSX Server with media streaming and everything else that comes with the OSX Server, would address the needs of small companies and also address the home market. It would also provide TM backup of downstream workstations and full user authorization to files and features. But one thing will be needed ...... The box would need to come with two gigabit ethernet ports so it can be used as a firewall.
I would pickup 2 of them, one for a Firewall and another for internal media server, file server and anything else. $800-900 pricepoint would do for me.
Will you listen Apple?
This is where Apple should go.
For years people here have been asking for a mid tower system, TC is too small, do not have all the same services of the HP, OSX Server (unlimited license) is now only 499.
Making a system based on OSX Server with media streaming and everything else that comes with the OSX Server, would address the needs of small companies and also address the home market. It would also provide TM backup of downstream workstations and full user authorization to files and features. But one thing will be needed ...... The box would need to come with two gigabit ethernet ports so it can be used as a firewall.
I would pickup 2 of them, one for a Firewall and another for internal media server, file server and anything else. $800-900 pricepoint would do for me.
Will you listen Apple?
You can actually run iTunes on the HP MediaSmart server, it's running a variant of Windows Server 2003. You need to install it via remote desktop and leave it running in the background, it supposedly works great with AppleTV.
This can all be done very easily with current hardware (or much older?...), it's just a software issue.
Looking at the features most people want, it seems that a simple itunes server option would cover a lot of it. I also think your price point is far too high considering what you're actually asking for, and I'm not a fan (at all...) of osx server.
I don't use itunes/time machine (but it's easy enough to get the library/image shared if that's all your after - if you can use google), and use freenas and monowall/pfsense on various boxes for a 'server' and firewalls - perhaps an option you could consider? Free and 'better', assuming you're top purchasing priorities aren't a shiny and branded aluminium box with a limited (but one-click) use
After an external hard drive failure, I got the following to backup all 4 bays of my Mac Pro. So far, so good, I can back up everything in all 4 bays with one click in Time Machine and it's expandable--right now, 4 1.5 TB SATA drives (good enough to back up 4 TB of total potential data) back up about 1.4 TB of actual data. Not bad.
What do people think of this?
www.drobo.com
What do people think of this?
www.drobo.com
It's rather pricey ($1499 for the 0 TB model) - but easy to use and expand. Good fit for non-technical people with fat bank balances.
Unfortunately, no eSATA ports - so I'll pass on the Drobo and use an eSATA RAID.
This can all be done very easily with current hardware (or much older?...), it's just a software issue.
Looking at the features most people want, it seems that a simple itunes server option would cover a lot of it. I also think your price point is far too high considering what you're actually asking for, and I'm not a fan (at all...) of osx server.
I don't use itunes/time machine (but it's easy enough to get the library/image shared if that's all your after - if you can use google), and use freenas and monowall/pfsense on various boxes for a 'server' and firewalls - perhaps an option you could consider? Free and 'better', assuming you're top purchasing priorities aren't a shiny and branded aluminium box with a limited (but one-click) use
I get your point, and I have Linux esperience, but .....
The idea is to produce a box that non-techies can use and that it just works. If you have to drop into console to do anything, then it is not the right solution for the masses. It has to be 100% servicesable via a GUI with little to no techno-babble.
The other thing I stated is that it can be used as a standard server for small businesses (10 or less people). It is not just about music and video sharing, it is also about doing backups, share files by individuals and groups, setting up a web server, set up an application server, riun a blog, run ichat server, etc. All without expending 3000 on a Mac Pro that most households and small businesses can not afford.
Yeah, of course you're right.
What I mean was that for all that was mentioned, any current/old mac should be fine for the job. It just seems to me that osx/server/and its apps are limited, and it's worrying to me that people want yet another piece of apple branded hardware to fill the gap, when pretty much all that's needed is a few extra checkboxes in the itunes/tm/tc/etc preferences.
Media sharing/streaming, backups, webservers, blogs, application servers (hmmm) is all feasible with minimal hardware reqs, there's no real reason you can't have all these features on a TC/apple TV/etc box.
ps. freenas/monowall/pfsense are config'd through a web based gui for 99% of users and uses (and not linux based hehe) - but I understand that running apps like these aren't what 99% of 'average' users are going to do or consider (not that web/application servers are what most people want either...) - we are on a tech forum though I'd like to think that people here are after the best solutions, not just (artificially limited and expensive?) apple ones.
What I mean was that for all that was mentioned, any current/old mac should be fine for the job. It just seems to me that osx/server/and its apps are limited, and it's worrying to me that people want yet another piece of apple branded hardware to fill the gap, when pretty much all that's needed is a few extra checkboxes in the itunes/tm/tc/etc preferences.
Media sharing/streaming, backups, webservers, blogs, application servers (hmmm) is all feasible with minimal hardware reqs, there's no real reason you can't have all these features on a TC/apple TV/etc box.
ps. freenas/monowall/pfsense are config'd through a web based gui for 99% of users and uses (and not linux based hehe) - but I understand that running apps like these aren't what 99% of 'average' users are going to do or consider (not that web/application servers are what most people want either...) - we are on a tech forum though
I'd like to think that people here are after the best solutions, not just (artificially limited and expensive?) apple ones.i think for music and video the answer is in fact yes, however not sure about applications, but for media, your connecting to the media store that contains all music.
quote of what i thought was a pretty good review above.
Great to hear you got the 2.5 update working well, the tutorial and Add-In that Nigel Wilks and myself wrote is available here.
RudolfOSX said:
We've got an excellent Wiki article on getting the Apple TV working with your Windows Home Server, I'd suggest checking into this before you make your final decision. We've also got discussion in the forums about installing iTunes 9 on the Server and the users experiences after doing so.
Great link, though you might want to verify that Firefly can actually stream iTunes protected content. Your Wiki article says it can't. I have a homebuilt Ubuntu Linux NAS running Firefly and when I tried to stream a protected song to my MacBook Pro, I was presented with a dialog asking for the iTunes account info. After doing so I was able to stream the protected song. Also now that many songs are iTunes Plus it's really an irrelevant issue.
All a drobo is a storage device. You cannot run any programs off of it. It doesn't have an OS associated to it.
If all you are looking for is just storage then yes a drobo would work for you. But if you want another computer that you can run programs on and have the ability to have a good amount of storage this might be something you might want to look into.
In fact, I used your tutorial via that site, so all credit should go to you guys
. When do you think you'll be able to do 3.0 for the EX475?