Monitor your Shared Folders with Feedsource for Windows Home Server

by Alex Kuretz on December 14, 2010

in News

Sam Wood of Tentacle Software has announced a new Add-In called Feedsource for Windows Home Server that allows you to monitor your Shared Folders via RSS feeds. Here are the features of the new Add-In as described in the Tentacle Software announcement:

  • Authenticated RSS feeds for Shared Folders that show create, delete, rename, and change events for files and directories
  • Automatic integration with the Remote Access web site to view feeds from outside your network with no extra port-forwarding or configuration
  • Simple setup through the Windows Home Server Console
  • Secure authentication and authorization using SSL and existing Windows Home Server access controls

Feedsource is easy to configure, simply select the share you would like to monitor and click a couple of checkboxes to choose which events you are interested in seeing.

Next, configure your favorite RSS reader to consume the feed from your home server, in this case I’m simply using Internet Explorer to view the feed.

I’m not a huge consumer of RSS feeds, but I’ve been fortunate to have been given the opportunity to evaluate Feedsource for a while now, and have found some situations that make this Add-In useful on my Home Server. First, as my kids get older and start using the computers, I can see wanting to monitor what files they are adding to the server, and Feedsource makes this very easy. Additionally, my wife and I have a shared folder where we store important shared documents and Feedsource allows us both to see when the other has updated one of these documents on the server so we can go see what is new.

Some additional usage scenarios suggested by the Tentacle Software team include:

  • Automatically notify your whole family when a new movie is ripped to the server, instead of tracking them all down one by one and telling them
  • Use the feed for the “Videos” share as a “still to watch” list
  • Know when your kids save their homework to the server for you to review when you’re away on business
  • Let everyone know when you add another set of pictures to your baby album

Tentacle Software is currently seeking testers for a Closed Beta test opportunity, so be sure to contact them if you are interested in participating, and post in the comments if you think of other scenarios that you would find this Add-In useful.


Article by

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.


Comments are closed, visit the forums to continue the discussion.

Previous post:

Next post: