It’s nearing midnight here in freezing cold (currently 7 degrees F) and snowy Colorado, and I wanted to take a few moments to wish all the readers and community members here at MediaSmartServer.net a happy holidays from myself, Nigel, and Damian.
In the past I’ve written a summary post of the highlights from the past year, but to me this year is a bit different. The new year coming up is about change. We are losing a critical component (Drive Extender) of Windows Home Server in the upcoming Vail product, HP has withdrawn from the Home Server scene, and I think it is safe to say that there are likely more surprises and changes on the way.
In spite of the recent traumatic announcements in 2010, as we enter 2011 our needs and desires remain the same. We still need to store and protect our large quantities of digital media. We still want to back up our PCs and Macs so that we can restore them quickly and easily in the event of a hardware failure. We still want to stream our media throughout our homes and access our media from outside the home. And because we’ve become spoiled by Windows Home Server, we want all of this to be easy to do, even for those of us that aren’t huge tech enthusiasts.
Instead of a summary of the past years events, I’ve been thinking about what is to come in 2011. Microsoft unfortunately remains woefully silent about the future of Windows Home Server Vail, but we are all anxious to see what they deliver in the next beta release as a replacement for Drive Extender. HP is no longer the top OEM of Windows Home Servers, so who will take their place in the market? What other competing technologies are becoming more attractive and viable now that Windows Home Server is no longer easily expandable for the less experienced user? Will there be a wholesale migration to Vail or will Windows Home Server v1 remain as the preferred product for enthusiasts?
In all honesty I’m not sure where 2011 will take us, but I believe it is safe to say I speak for Nigel and Damian when I say that we are excited to have you all along with us for the ride as a new year begins.
We hope you all have a safe, happy, and prosperous New Year, and thank you for making MediaSmartServer.net an awesome community.
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.