HP Launches Mac-compatible MediaSmart ex485 / ex487 home servers

[Marlon]

HP today launched a home server designed for use with both Windows and Mac computers.

Based on the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform, the HP MediaSmart Server ex485/ex487 is a central repository for automatically backing up and accessing digital music, videos, photos and documents from multiple computers on a home network.(1)

The MediaSmart Server automatically organizes files across all PCs, streams media across a home network and the Internet,(2) and publishes photos to popular social networking and photo sharing sites.

“A growing number of digital-savvy households have both Windows and Mac computers, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of media files and documents scattered across these devices,” said Jason Zajac, vice president of strategy, Worldwide Attach Group, HP. “The HP MediaSmart Server protects, stores and organizes this content from anywhere on a network so consumers can access and share it any place they are connected.”

“HP continues to innovate on the Windows Home Server platform giving consumers even more options to enjoy and protect their precious memories and valuable data,” said Charlie Kindel, general manager, Windows Server Solutions, Microsoft. “We believe consumers will embrace the new MediaSmart Server as one of the most exciting computing products for the home.”

[Marlon]

HP MediaSmart Server ex485/ex487 features include:

1. HP Media Collector: conveniently schedules the MediaSmart Server to copy and centralize digital files and libraries from networked PCs
2. Media Streaming: remotely streams photos and music to any Internet-connected PC or Mac
3. Server for iTunes: centralizes iTunes music libraries on the server for playback to any networked Mac or PC running iTunes
4. HP Photo Publisher: easily upload photos to Facebook®, Picasa™ Web Albums and Snapfish(3)
5. HP Photo Viewer: allows easy sharing of photos with friends and family
6. PC Hard Drive Backup: backs up networked PCs via the Windows Home Server backup feature
7. Mac Hard Drive Backup: backs up Macs running Leopard using Apple Time Machine software
8. Server Backup: duplicates designated shared folders to a separate hard disk drive
9. Online Backup: duplicates designated folders to Amazon’s S3 online backup service for an additional layer of protection
10. Smart Power Management: can schedule times for server to go to “sleep” and “wake up,” saving on energy costs
11. Processor: Intel® Celeron®, 2.0 GHz 64-bit. Two gigabytes (GB) of 800-MHz DDR2 DRAM now standard on MediaSmart Server
12. Expandability: additional drives can be added for up to 9 terabytes (TB)

[Marlon]

“Customers are always looking for the right mix of features and ease-of-use when choosing digital home products,” said Danielle Levitas, group vice president, Consumer, Broadband and Digital Marketplace, IDC. “HP’s focus and investment in software allows it to deliver a home server with compelling features for Mac and PC users while offering a great customer experience that helps simplify the complexity of the connected home. This unique offering will help expand the home server market.”

Pricing and availability
Manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the HP MediaSmart Server ex485 with 750 GB of hard disk storage is $599 while the HP MediaSmart Server ex487 with 1.5 TB is $749.(4)

The HP MediaSmart Server can be pre-ordered beginning Jan. 5, 2009, from Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Buy.com, Frys.com and NewEgg.com; it is expected to ship in February.

The first 200 consumers who visit HP Home & Home Office or call +1 888 271 2982 between Jan. 5 - 11, 2009, to reserve a MediaSmart Server and use coupon code “AC5674” will receive a $50 savings off their purchase.(5)

[Andrew]

As an individual or small business, should opt for a NAS storage device with network functionality dissemination and sharing, or choose a machine complete with a real operating system server? As more and more manufacturers start to explore the trail of NAS, HP chose to continue on from the home server with the launch this week of a new machine using the Windows Home Server of Microsoft.

The HP MediaSmart Server ex485 (or ex487 depending on equipment) is a small PC, and would ensure automatic backup computers on your network, whether PC or Mac. The ensemble is led by a Celeron running at 2 GHz, supported by 2 GB of DDR2 memory.

In addition to the automatic backup, which this time are therefore compatible with Time Machine, the HP MediaSmart Server provides the ability to share content it hosts on the local network, via the main protocols. It makes it possible to automatically synchronize some safeguards with the Amazon S3 service.

Count 599 dollars for the ex485 version, which comes with a hard disk of 750 GB The MediaSmart Server ex487 offer for its 1.5 TB of storage, expandable to 9 TB HP indicates that the pre be possible from early January, for deliveries to start in February.