HP has just sent me a statement that they wanted to share with the MediaSmart community about software updates and European availability of the MediaSmart Servers.
We have two updates to share with our MediaSmart Server communities.
We have listened to the customer feedback on wegotserved.co.uk, mediasmartserver.net, mediasmarthome.com and other popular Windows Home Server blogs related to our recent software update availability. Based on this feedback, we are working to provide a supported path to allow customers to update all generations of their EX Series and LX Series MediaSmart Server products to the current software version.
Due to the generational differences of our platform architectures, we will not be providing the updated software as traditional downloads. Instead, we will provide complete server image DVD’s through HP support in the same manner as replacement DVD’s are provided today. We expect that there will be certain hardware limitations and/or trade-offs for the various platforms that will be detailed once the new server DVD’s are available.
Timing is tentatively scheduled in Fall 2009. We understand customers would like these updates sooner, but this timing is necessary to adequately develop and test these new software images. As we get further along in our development, we will provide an updated timetable.
We have also read the inquiries regarding European availability of the MediaSmart Server products. We are pleased to announce that our European customers can expect to see our LX and EX series products for sale in Europe. Targeted availability is Fall 2009.
We thank everyone for their continued support of the MediaSmart Server products and appreciate the continued feedback.
I have to say I’m pleased with HP for responding to the community and coming up with what I believe is a solution that should work well for both HP and MediaSmart Server owners. The Server Image DVD path provides a way for HP to significantly simplify the upgrade process, making the update less expensive for them and less error prone for users. By providing the update to users who “opt-in” to get the new features, HP avoids delivering an automatic update that could potentially cause problems for users with stock EX470/EX475 servers. While we’ve shown that the 2.5 Software Update can work with the stock 512mb of RAM, I believe it’s not the best experience and the server really needs more memory to most effectively utilize the new features.
I’m also very happy to hear about the EX and LX servers becoming available to our friends in Europe as I know we’ve had many inquiries about this topic.
I know there will be some questions as several of the points in the statement are a bit vague. I’m interested to hear exactly what version is the “current software version”, as well as more details around the “certain hardware limitations and/or trade-offs” and how that will end up impacting what final features and upgrade processes we see. Finally, I expect that some of you will be unhappy with the timeframe HP has given. Being in Software Development and testing, I urge you to first think about the commitment in R&D investment that HP is making to deliver this update and to have some patience.
What do you think, is HP doing the right thing for MediaSmart Server customers? Share your thoughts here in the comments or here in the forums.
Article by Alex Kuretz
I'm Alex Kuretz, and I'm the founder of MediaSmartServer.net. I was the Lead Test and Integration Engineer at HP for the MediaSmart Server until April 2008 when I moved on to other opportunities outside HP. I've kept active in the Windows Home Server community, creating several add-ins and helping users make the most of their Home Servers.
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Thanks Alex for the update. I have just come in on this conversation and wait, so I was not aware it was delayed. Lets hope we see it soon and it is not delayed further.
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