Response: Diskeeper 2008 Add-In

I received a comment on my post about Diskeeper 2008 from Diskeeper Corp VP of public affairs,  and I am flattered he reads my stuff.  So I am going to repost it,  and I am also going to download and give the Diskeeper WHS add-in a real try.  Thanks Derek.

. This is Derek with Diskeeper Corporation. Allow me to shed some light on this:
Actually, server systems rather see more benefit from defragmenting than say workstations, as they receive such heavy usage—thereby causing the performance to degrade more rapidly.
We have a huge following in the SBS space. And even in the enterprise space, 749 of the Fortune 1000 list are our customers (the backbone of these sales being server systems). They tend to see more server capacity and uptime, less crashes, less Help Desk calls and faster access or back up times. Also, their anti-virus scans are typically cut in half due to such heavy former levels of fragmentation which had to be scanned.
On the Home Server platform—we have families with multiple PCs linked to a server who are constantly saving and deleting their favorite music, photos, movies, video and Office files. This causes increasing levels of fragmentation across the drive, easily in the thousands. And the more fragmented those files are in, the longer it takes to read them. It also results in painfully long anti-virus scans. So WHS users need to get rid of fragmentation to get the most performance and reliability out of their machines.
I understand your concern for strain on the hard drives. But if we look a little deeper, we see that it is actually file fragmentation itself that causes undue strain on hard drives—since the machine is then forced to work overtime to access the thousands of files scattered all across the disk.
Whereas, if we defragment a drive and thereby place a large file into one location, the drive has but one I/O cycle to perform. This takes the strain on the hard drive down to near zero. In other words, the benefit of defragmenting the hard drive far outweighs the performance impact of ignoring the problem altogether.
But don’t just take my word on it. Have you played with Diskeeper 2008 Home Server edition yet? I recommend downloading a tiral ware copy at
www.diskeeper.com.
It’s a gorgeous utility which snaps right into the WHS console. Microsoft is using it. Give it a spin and let me know your thoughts.

Best,
Derek De Vette
VP Public Affairs
Diskeeper Corporation
Tel: 818 771 1600 ext. 1717

Add-In: Webguide for Windows Home Server

   

Official Description from ASCIIExpress:

      

WebGuide for Windows Home Server enables you to remotely access, listen, watch and stream your music, photos and videos stored on your home server while away from home.

Integrates with Windows Home Server remote website via homepage link and single-signon.

Access your photos with thumbnails, "zoom" and exif-data.

Browse your music library and listen to it via the web.

Stream your videos/movies at multiple resolutions and bitrates.

Mobile access to your music and videos from Windows Mobile devices.

Description from ME:

I think this is one of the best add-ins for Windows Home Server.  The fact that they made it free is even sweeter.  I would have gladly paid for it.  As I have paid for the Media Center version in the past. 

- The prism feature works great to link my Vista Media Center PC to my Windows Home Server to be able to access media there.  Also to schedule recordings over the web = awesome.

- Even though my upstream bandwidth does not support most of the streaming features, only at very low bitrates.  DSL in Rochester NY is some of the fastest, but the up/down ratio for home use blows.

I think this is an add in worth mentioning and I hope all you people like it too.  Here are some screenshots.

Support and Download

Add-In: WHS Disk Management

If your home server has any number of hard disks in it greater than 1, this Disk Management Add-In will come in very handy. It allows you to see not only what disk you are looking at, but how full that disk is, and where it is on the IDE or SCSI or USB bus in the computer.

It also will highlight the disk when selected and show you the location in the server, along with space used and status.

There is also a new feature that allows you to customize the server wireframe on the right hand side. As you can see I tried to make mine look like my server. My server is a re-engineered Snap Server that is a 1U rack mount with 4 hard drives. It works quite well for my Windows Home Server.

Keep in mind that this Add-In is still under developement and may contain bugs or unforseen weirdness.  Use the support link for questions and help.

Support | Download(direct link)

For those of you actually reading this.....

I hope there are people reading this.   It has come to my attention, that I am merely reposting what other Windows Home Server blogs are posting.  You are correct.  I am not a Microsoft Employee, or an Microsoft MVP.  But I am championing the use of Windows Home Server for the everyday person,  And I hoped for putting all the useful information about Windows Home Server together in one place, I could offer something useful up to readers.

Thanks for reading.  /rant off

Diskeeper 2008 for Home Server Install Instructions Improved Edition

The folks over at Diskeeper have posted new updated instructions for installing Diskeeper 2008 for WHS.  Their Diskeeper Blog has the latest instructions.  

Side Note:   I am still unsure of the virtues of needing a disk defragment utility on a server operating system.   I've never needed one before.  Since WHS is based on Windows Server 2003 Small Business edition,  I don't feel it is completely necessary.   I personally believe that is will just put unneeded strain on your hard drives, drives that already see the strain of Storage Balancing that seems to never end.

We Got Served WHS Forums UP!

Looks like the fine folks over at We Got Served have announced their own Windows Home Server forums for all of us users can chat it up and possibly get some troubleshooting help with quirky problems. Here is the link.

WebGuide for Windows Home Server

After Microsoft aquired WebGuide last year, it's nice to see they followed through and offered up for FREE this great add-on for Windows Home Server.  It's still a great add on for Media Center PC's also. :)

WebGuide for Windows Home Server enables you to remotely access, listen, watch and stream your music, photos and videos stored on your home server while away from home.

Integrates with Windows Home Server remote website via homepage link and single-signon.

Access your photos with thumbnails, "zoom" and exif-data.

Browse your music library and listen to it via the web.

Stream your videos/movies at multiple resolutions and bitrates.

Mobile access to your music and videos from Windows Mobile devices.

Download here!

Opinion: Best Features of PP1!

I think the best features in the upcoming Power Pack 1 release of Windows Home Server are as follows: Ranked in order of importance.

1.) x64 Connector With Backup ability....

2.) Being able to backup the Home Server to an external drive. (where is the tape drive support?)

3.) Thumbnails for photos.

4.) 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. (I've had problems with this since beta.)

5.) Being able to "wake up" a computer to run the backup if it is in sleep or hibernation mode.

Adding WSUS3 to Windows Home Server

Windows Small Business Server MVP, Kevin Royalty has written a detailed walkthrough for integrating Windows Update Services v3 (WSUS) into Windows Home Server. WSUS  is a local copy of Windows Update/Microsoft Update that you control what gets “approved” for installation on the PCs that report to it.  Why would you want to do this at home you may ask?  Well, if you want to know that your PCs are being kept up to date on all Microsoft patches, or even block certain patches until you want them (IE7 for example), ten this can all be achieved with WSUS.

Note: This is an advanced walkthrough, and should only be attempted by the brave, knowledgeable, or those happy with the risk of nixing and having to re-build their home server should things go awry. You have been warned!

I personally have not attempted this yet,  I will soon and let you all know how it works out.

Word Document [Download]

Further In-Depth: with Power Pack 1

Instead of reposting verbatim,  I will just post links over to We Got Served for you to enjoy the new features of Power Pack 1.  It will ship in the first half of 2008 and be made available to existing customers of Windows Home Server via Windows Update.

Windows Home Server PP1 In Depth: Remote Access

Windows Home Server PP1 In Depth: External Backup

Windows Home Server PP1 In Depth: WHS Connector Installation Walkthrough

Windows Home Server - Power Pack 1 - Coming Soon!

Straight from the announcement at CES in Las Vegas, new and exciting features coming for the first *ahem*  Service Pack for Windows Home Server.  They aren't calling it a Service Pack,  Power Pack works for me.

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.

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.

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.

Xbox 360 and WHS

I use my Xbox 360 and my home server quite a bit. Especially since MS added the DivX and Xvid support to the 360 for Video playback. I tend watch a lot of Xvid movies and tv shows that I have encoded or recorded. I also connect my Xbox 360 to my main PC which has Vista Home Premium to use the Media Center capabilities.

My Xbox is my only portal to HD Television since my PC has a Over the Air ATSC tuner so I can grab all my local stations in HD over the air. I currently have to access that thru my Xbox 360, since my PC is in my office.

I like how the media sharing and media connect work with the Xbox 360 as it catalogs my music collection as well as my photos and videos for viewing on my 360. I also seem to be playing a lot of Halo 3, The Orange Box and COD4.

My Favorite Home Server Add-Ins

I installed the Windows Home Server 120-Day Evaluation last night.  I actually had to do a complete reinstall and erase all the drives.  It would not complete the "Server Reinstallation" task with my expired Beta RC installed. 

Upon finishing this install on my reconfigured SnapServer, I decided I would have to go download the Add-Ins I wanted and get them installed as soon as my computers were all added, and user accounts created for myself and my wife.

AutoExit 2008 for Windows Home Server

It can be used to shut down, reboot machines in your home network from within the console.  Wake On LAN is also supported, this enables you to easily boot up machines remotely.  You can execute these actions per machine or for all machines.

Whiist - Website Management Add-In for Windows Home Server

- Quickly create new websites on your home server.

- Create new photo albums to share with family and friends in a few simple steps.

- Create public content, or restrict access to users of your Windows Home Server.

- Easily customize your public and private Windows Home Server Homepage links.

- Fully integrates with the Windows Home Server management console.

- Customize your Windows Home Server homepage

Community Feeds for Windows Home Server

Community Feeds for WHS allows you to view RSS and other XML based content feeds on the Internet from your Xbox 360 console (will also work with ANY Windows Media Connect compatible device). The software supports viewing text with images, listening to audio and viewing videos downloaded from the Internet to your home console. Reads news, weather, sports information, gaming sites and listen to blogcasts and podcasts with Community Feeds.

Remote Notification

Remote Notification is an Add-In for the Microsoft Windows Home Server operating system. It is designed to forward the System Health Notifications from the Home Server to an email address of your choosing.

Photosync For Home Server

Automatically syncs the contents of your Photos folder on WHS to Flickr.

Lastly, some nice Utility Add-Ins.

TabReorderer

Tab Reorderer allows you to change the order of tabs in your Windows Home Server console.

Tab Scroller

Tab Scroller allows you to scroll through your WHS Console Tab List with your mouse wheel.

News and Notes for WHS

HP is adding Vista x64 support and Anti Virus to the MediaSmart Server in February at no cost to owners of the server. [LINK]

Update on the Data Corruption bug.  Microsoft Knowledgebase article KB946676 has been updated. The issue only seems to be affecting users who have multiple hard disk drives in their Windows Home Servers.   I am thinking this is quite a large number of people, as the base models of the OEM do not come with a lot of space on a single drive model.

Ed Bott has a nice write up on the Data Corruption issue also, it offers a large amount of information. [LINK]

Fujitsu Siemens has an online flash demo up of their new Scaleo Home Server. [LINK]

My WHS Setup!

I beta tested Microsoft's Windows Home Server. My release candidate copy from the beta ran out December 15th, and I am just now getting ready to install the 120 Day evaluation. I would buy the final product, but I thought I would give the eval a shot and make sure the final product lives up to what I expect from it.

My Setup:

Intel P4 2.4Ghz Processor

2.5GB RAM

4 x 250GB Western Digital Hard Drive

This was a Quantum/Adaptec SnapServer.  I disabled the hardware watchdog monitor*.  I booted from a USB DVD drive to install Windows Home Server.

* For those who do not know, a hardware watchdog is a circuit on the motherboard that waits for a driver to be load and respond every few seconds to say the server is working properly.  If the driver does not load it will auto-reboot.  Under normal operations on this SnapServer the Linux-based OS would load that driver, normally it is in case the server HANGS and does not respond, it will reboot itself.   Easily disabled in the BIOS.  And the snap server is 1U rack mountable for neat basement setup.

Windows Home Server and You!

Why am I here? 

I want to put more of a techie on a budget twist on the Windows Home Server fun ride.

What another Windows Home Server weblog?

Hopefully,  I can keep this a bit different from the others and put a different feel on it and make people a bit more comfortable with a server in their home.

What do you have to offer to the WHS community?

I think I have a unique approach to hardware and software.  I have a lot of experience with Windows Servers and Server hardware from my job and past.

What do you think is lacking from WHS's out of box experience?

I was hoping for more control over the client PC's.  I wanted a way to control Windows Firewall Settings and Parental Controls from the Home Server Console.  It is also an idea I am working on for an Add-on for the console,  but it has gotten well beyond my programming experience  level.