We included these fun little customer stories in our press release from CES, but I wanted to get them up on the blog, too. Tell us your Home Server stories!
Brian Driscall used Home Server to quickly restore all of his 9-year-old son’s progress on the “LEGO Star Wars” video game, after his 4-year-old son had deleted the information. “I saved the day for my son,” Driscall said. “I love being able to stream music, videos and pictures from my home server, too. We had some friends over recently, and we were able to show them pictures from our Thanksgiving vacation on our TV.”
Brian Irvin is a technical sergeant in the New York Air National Guard, stationed in Antarctica. He posts videos of himself to the server back home, so he can stay connected with his wife and children. “The kids really love it. My 5-year-old daughter even talks to the computer while the videos are playing,” Irvin said. “I’m able to read my kids a bedtime story, even though I’m on the other side of the planet.”
Also, check out Todd on "the Beeb" from CES. (Click "Watch Now" and fast forward to about the 2 minute mark.)
Good weekend,
J
I found this picture on my desk today. Someone dropped it by; I assume it was Mark Steele.
It is not every day that a celebrity gives you a compliment. It is even rarer for a fake celebrity to do so. And even rarer for it to be so back-handed. But in any case I appreciate the sentiment and consider him my hero...for now anyway.
-cek
Do you want to remotely stream your music and videos stored on your home server? I have been hanging out in Las Vegas this week, and my music has been with me all week. I have the latest version of WebGuide (v 4.110) loaded on my home server and I can easily access my music when I am not at home.
For more information, please visit: http://www.asciiexpress.com/webguide/homeserver.aspx
t.
I just saw this funny video here by the Windows Server crew. All but one server running Microsoft.com is now on Windows Server 2008.
J
Once again this year Home Server is a hit at CES. The booths have been packed with attendees and there have been lots of good comments (and laughs) about the Stay at Home Server posters, show guide inserts and the "Mommy, Why is there a Server in the House?" books we're giving away.
We're demonstrating Power Pack 1 on the show floor and in the press tent, and feedback on the upcoming features has been great. In the press room we're also showcasing hardware products from HP, Medion, Tranquil and Norco, as well as Add-Ins from companies such as Embedded Automation, Diskeeper and KeepVault, and devices connected to Home Server, such as Sonos and Ceiva digital picture frames.
A true highlight for the team was seeing Home Server MVPs Terry Walsh (of We Got Served fame) and Andrew Edney (of Windows Home Server User's Guide fame) here at the show.
Wish you were here!
J
The first minor release of Windows Home Server was announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Power Pack 1, formerly code named "UR1", will ship in the first half of 2008 and be made available to existing customers of Windows Home Server via Windows Update.
Power Pack 1 has some great new functionality. A high level overview is included below and we will share additional details in more blog posts throughout the week.
Windows Home Server Connector Software
When Power Pack 1 ships, the Windows Home Server Connector will be able to be installed on home computers running Windows Vista x64 editions.
Functionality is added to detect that the version of the Windows Home Server Connector software is aligned with the version of Windows Home Server software. Users will be prompted to update either the home computers or their home server software under certain circumstances.
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You can also install the latest version of the Connector software over your home network from the Software shared folder on your home server via a handy web interface.
Windows Home Server Data Backup
While adding a hard drive to Windows Home Server, a user is now presented with an option to use the hard drive for backing up the home server.
Once this option is selected, the home server will appear in the Computers & Backup tab - where a user can decide what information they want to store on this hard drive.
Just like with your home computers, you can view the backups stored on these hard drives and choose to restore the files, photos, etc. back to your home server.
You can also backup and restore and the entire home computer backup database.
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Remote Access
When adding/editing a user in the Home Server Console, in addition to enabling remote access for that user, there is now a drop down list box that allows you to specify whether the user will have access to the computers tab, the shared folders tab, or both tabs when logged in with Windows Home Server Remote Access.
A new ‘Views’ drop-down list is added for the Shared Folders tab in remote access which allows the files in a shared folder to be displayed either as a list of files (‘Details’ view) or as thumbnails (‘Icons’ view). In ‘Icons’ view, the majority of the picture files will be represented as a thumbnails, and the rest of the non-picture files and folders will be displayed as large icons.
File upload functionality has been improved for users of Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Users can drag and drop multiple files directly into an upload area or select multiple files in the open file dialog for upload. Upload progress reporting has been improved, with the addition of a progress bar and individual file upload status. Ability to cancel the multiple upload has been added as well.
When you download multiple files, you are now given the option to package the files in a self extracting executable (.exe) file in addition to being able to store them in a ZIP file.
Home Computer Backups
If the backup database on the home server has a consistency error, you can now use the backup database repair wizard to attempt to correct this error. The repair wizard can be launched through the Backup Settings page in the Windows Home Server Console.
Also, a new option has been added to the Windows Home Server Connector tray icon that allows the user to enable or disable the home computer from waking up for backup if it is in sleep or hibernation mode.
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And More ...
There are some more great things to shared about Power Pack 1 that we will cover in more blog posts throughout the week. As always, if you have questions about Power Pack 1, please ask them in the Windows Home Server Community Forums, as we have lifted the embargo from our beta testers, so they can now answer questions, blog about it and help everybody learn what is coming ...
Fujitsu-Siemens recently posted a cool, animated overview of its SCALEO Home Server product for the European market. Take a look!
J
With Windows Home Server we have seen some people talk about (and do) some pretty crazy things. Since the software is available through the OEM and System Builder channels – people can build their own home servers. Some people just load it up and use it as intentioned. Other people try to tear it apart and figure out how it all works…
I remember taking apart the family blender as a kid to see how it worked. I learned that although there were 8 settings from “stir” to “liquefy” – the motor only had 3 speeds. The other settings were merely a sound baffle that made the motor make slightly different sounds to make people think it was doing more “liquification”. The worst part about the whole blender incident is having it disassembled on the kitchen counter when my dad came home from work.
Dad – “Did the blender stop working?”
Todd – “Nope, I just wanted to see how it worked!”
Dad – (censored)
Sometimes when I read the Community Forums, I am both amazed and aghast at what people expect the Windows Home Server software to be capable of doing. Some people try to make it do un-natural acts and in the process they ‘hork’ their home servers only to be told that they probably need to do a ‘server reinstallation’. Tinkerers are wonderful people – we watch them and learn from them. Sometimes we learn to not make the same mistakes and sometimes we learn some great little secrets.
I will have to save the story of where I cut the power cord of the radio with a pair of metal scissors - because I didn’t like the song that was playing - for another time. Tinker-On, but remember to abide by the Windows Home Server License Terms.
t.
We just published a Knowledge Base (KB) article on Microsoft Help and Support: “Editing files using certain applications may cause file corruption on a system running Windows Home Server (946676)”. A few people in the Community Forums have reported data corruption when saving files from applications including Windows Vista Photo Gallery, Windows Live Photo Gallery, Microsoft Office OneNote 2007, Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 and SyncToy 2.0 Beta. Additionally some applications, like Microsoft Money and Microsoft Outlook, do not support storing files on shared folders. As always, we’re using this blog to openly communicate important issues that may have an impact on the home server community.
The Windows Home Server team closely follows the threads on the Community Forums to get real-time feedback. Data integrity is of the utmost importance; the Windows Home Server team tackles issues around file or data corruption with extreme seriousness and urgency. When we see issues that we cannot reproduce (“repro”), we contact specific forum participants and initiate an e-mail conversation to understand the issues, environment and exact steps a user is taking. We are releasing this KB because we have been able to successfully “repro” this issue. For more information about our product support process, please see this post.
So, what’s next?
First, please read the Knowledge Base article #946676, and follow the recommendations.
Second, our development team is working full time through the holidays to diagnose and address this issue. We will keep you posted on our progress on this issue as soon as we have more to share.
Thanks again for all of your support,
The Windows Home Server Team
Since Windows Home Server was released as a product through the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer or “hardware manufacturer”) and System Builder channels the primary support responsibilities fall on the OEMs and System Builders. Our OEMs work closely with Microsoft through their Technical Account Managers (TAMs) and the Microsoft Support team to escalate issues, provide "repro” (reproduction) steps, collect logs and other information.
A good place to get started and learn about all of the resources available to you is through the Support for Windows Home Server page available from the Microsoft web site. It has links to the Getting Started Guide, Reviewer’s Guide, Release Documentation, Technical Briefs, Knowledge Base articles and lots more.
System Builders often leverage online resources to learn and figure things out. The Windows Home Server Community Forums are testament to the learning process, as some people have a hard time learning what hardware they should use, and others are trying to learn the ins and outs of the Windows Home Server software. And others are learning how to extend the functionality of their home server offerings through the Developers forum that discusses tips for building Add-Ins.
The Windows Home Server team works closely with the Microsoft Support team to understand the issues and escalate when necessary. The key thing for the development team is to be able to know how to “repro” an issue – which often includes a lot of details, about the home computer, home network, home server hardware, relevant logs and the exacts steps that a user is taking and the exact text of all error messages. The Windows Home Server Toolkit was released to help the OEM and Microsoft Support teams to be able to collect logs and other information from a user’s home computers and home servers. You can download the toolkit to your home computer from the Microsoft Download Center.
Without a “repro” it is really hard to start working on a fix, as you need to have isolated an issue so that when you have a fix, then you can use the “repro” environment and exact steps to test the new software to see if it addresses the issue.
The Windows Home Server team keeps an eye on the community forums and tries to understand specific issues in greater detail. Sometimes people are willing to work with the team to isolate the issue, and other times they simply disappear before the team can get enough data and details to learn about the persons’ unique environment and exact “repro” steps.
The Windows Home Server Support team manages a Solution Center for the product that provides links to the Knowledge Base articles and also the provides the ability to download the Windows Home Server monthly updates that are delivered as part of the Windows Update process. Knowledge Base articles are used to share tips with Windows Home Server users and to describe issues with the product. You can sign up for an RSS feed so that you get notified anytime a new Knowledge Base article for Windows Home Server is published.
Consumers who purchase their home server solution through an OEM or System Builder should contact the hardware manufacturer (OEM) or system builder for support. System builders and consumers can call Microsoft Support at (800) 936-5700 to get support directly from Microsoft. The cost for these calls is $79 US per support request during normal business hours. The current model for these support calls is to “Charge on Close”, which means that the customer will be charged at the end of the call. There are a few types of calls that end up being in the “Do not apply charge” arena, these are:
· Issue Not Resolved: The customer states that the issue for which they paid for a resolution is still occurring and cannot be resolved.
· Product Failure: You are able to confirm that the customer’s issue is a known/reported “Bug”.
Hopefully, that helps you understand the product support resources at your disposal and the process of how things work behind the scenes.
t.
The New York Times wrote a great story on the "Stay at Home Server" campaign, including video, pictures and quotes from Steve VanRoekel. Take a look.
J
The fun part of building a new product and creating a new category is that cool people start using your product and start sharing all of the cool things they are doing with it. Brendan Grant is putting together some new Windows Home Server Add-Ins and sharing some great development tips. You can check out his sites at: http://www.brendangrant.com and http://ihatelinux.blogspot.com
Honourable mention goes to Donavon West and http://www.homeserverhacks.com
t.
Check out the On10 video about Omwave's cool Add-in to create mood lighting in the home. Omwave is based in France and has a Home Server product call the OM Server - WGS provides a good overview.
J
I have attended many different events this year and talked to lots of people about Windows Home Server. It has been both exciting and rewarding as I get to share my knowledge and hear other people’s stories about their use of Windows Home Server.
Windows Home Server fills a gap that has been missing in my home and it’s something I love. I often joke that I don’t really know whether I am playing or working … How many people get to travel the world talking about something they love and use? It’s like show and tell, oh and I get paid to do it. As Windows Home Server is becoming a part of homes around the world, we hear stories about how Windows Home Server has become a virtual hero for the household. Or more importantly, made the person that installed Windows Home Server a hero in their home.
I really love hearing these stories, so I created a thread in the Community Forums so I can get paid to read all of your great stories. If you are like me and interested in reading some of these stories - check it out ...
JB (aka Joel Burt)
Someone forwarded this photo of a puppy peeing on a laptop to us. Please compare this photo to the following page from the hit Children's book Mommy, Why is there a Server in the House?
I sure hope whoever's laptop that was had a Windows Home Server.
By the way, we've posted another video ("Dueling Experts") to www.stayathomeserver.com. He, he.
-cek
