May 2010

One of the very first things we noticed about the EX490, EX495, and Data Vault X510 was how quiet they are, in large part thanks to the new power supply in these newer models. I determined the manufacturer and model number of the new power supply in my in-depth hardware guide for the new servers, […]

Late last night the next version of Media Browser (codename Cronos) was just released. I should get it loaded on my HTPCs and test out this weekend. I am hoping this release will fix some issues I have been experiencing of late with sluggish speed and issues with cache.Be on the lookout for my writeup […]

Back in March I wrote about AdminiMe 2010 written by Windows Home Server MVP Nick Asseloos of Asoft.  Nick has been hard at work on improvements to AdminiMe and fixes of issues reported by users. The new updated software has the same look and feel so if you’re already familiar with AdminiMe then you will feel […]

Long time forum member Charles aka “cakalapati” and his company VOV Technology have recently announced the availability of the 3rd generation of the HP MediaSmart Server VGA/PS2/Serial Debug Board. The board connects to the debug port on the motherboard of the HP MediaSmart Server and provides video, serial, and PS2 keyboard/mouse connectivity. This can be […]

Last week Google announced the availability of a Preview of Google Storage for Developers. This is a cloud service similar to the Amazon S3 service, and allows fast, reliable access to your data stored across multiple data centers. There have been several Windows Home Server Add-Ins built around the Amazon S3 service, such as Cloudberry […]

One of the biggest criticisms of the Popcorn Hour A-200(see my full review here) revolved around the design. The Popcorn Hour A-100, A-110, and C-200 (see my full review here) had all used an aluminum case and were fanless. This helped ensure that the devices ran quiet and cool, two very important things for any […]

Another interesting application I came across is a handy little tool called HdBrStreamExtractor. It is a simple GUI that was designed to utilize EAC3To to extract audio/video/subtitle streams from Blu Rays and HD DVDs.  If you read my post on using Clown_BD + MKVMerge to create an mkv the process is nearly identical, except HdBr […]

At the beginning of the year I had posted about an exciting new project that was coming to SageTV. Developer PluckyHD was working on porting over MyMovies to SageTV. Well, over on the SageTV forums it looks like PluckyHD is getting very close to releasing his MyMovies plugin (my guess it will make the rounds […]

Anyone who follows my writings either on the blog here or on various forums that I participate in knows that I am not a big Apple Fan, I never quite drank from the Apple “Kool Aid”. However, I do acknowledge how Apple has shaped media consumption (or as others have referred to, revolutionized). I own […]

There is an ongoing debate within the Windows Home Server Community regarding Do It Yourself Build vs purchasing a ready to run Windows Home Server.  It is an interesting debate that I am sure at one time or another many of you have participated in.  Rather than discuss my personal thoughts and experiences I think […]