First off, this looks like a great add-in if you’re looking for a threat protection on your WHS box. It will obviously scan for viruses, spyware and other threats. One of the nice features is the full integration with the WHS console. According to McAfee:

Total Protection Service is a comprehensive security management solution that:

• Checks for viruses, spyware, unwanted programs, and other potential threats. Every time a file is accessed on your server, Total Protection Service scans the file to make sure it is free of viruses and spyware.
• Sends security status information for your server to an administrative website that is unique to your account, known as the McAfee SecurityCenter. You can visit the SecurityCenter to check detection reports or set up security rules.
• Updates itself automatically at regular intervals with the latest versions of components and detection definition (DAT) files. This ensures that Total Protection Service is always able to protect you against the latest threats.

As for the scanning abilities, the add-in will feature both manual and scheduled scans which will automatically be interrupted if there’s some amount of activity on the WHS (i.e. during a backup.) I’m a little concerned over the impact this add-in will have one the general performance of your WHS because of this paragraph:

“Checks for viruses, spyware, unwanted programs, and other potential threats. Every time a file is accessed on your server, Total Protection Service scans the file to make sure it is free of viruses and spyware.”

…but if it does indeed suspend scanning during media streaming and other functions which require full performance from your home server, that will be a great feature.

The software only protects your home server - it does not install any protection on any home computers you run on your network (unlike Avast AntiVirus for WHS which includes this option) Personally, I think the lack of “client” support is a serious flaw for a true ‘home server’. Remote installations/updates of small virus-/spyware scanners these are the things I like to see in a WHS product.

Imagine, you purchase an antivirus program for your WHS box with 10 client licenses (the maximum number of PC’s WHS supports) and each time a new computer is added to the WHS your server installs a small scanner on the client pc. All scans can then be controlled from the WHS console. These are the things that would make a good add-in a great one.

McAfee Total Protection Service is free to HP MediaSmart Server owners for the first six months of use, after which a subscription fee for updates will apply.

We’re still waiting to hear about release dates for the the HP Update - I’ll be very interested to test out the software if it is released for self-built home servers, but look out for a full review of the HP update at WGS soon.

Source: McAfee

• F-Secure Home Server Security Beta Released
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Microsoft has added a lot more safety checking and verification to the disk removal process, as well as the new Server Backup Disk type, and WHS Disk Management has had to evolve as well to accomodate these changes. A full list of changes in the PP1 version is available.

This release has had a lot of testing by members of the closed beta group, but because of all the changes the author recommends that you install this on your test WHS system before putting it on your production server.

The beta is available for download from Tentacle Software and you can discuss your experiences and post any bugs on the WGS forums

Remember to uninstall any previous version before installing this version; your current settings will be preserved. Copy the new MSI to \\server\Software\Add-Ins, then install the new version of the Add-In from the WHS Console.

Note: PP1 RC4 is required to be installed on the server. If you do not have PP1 installed, you should use the latest 1.0.8.x release (v1.0.8.6).

• Add-in: Windows Home Server Disk Management v1.0.8.6 Released
• Add-In Update: WHS Disk Management 1.0.4
• A Guide to Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 Beta - Part 2
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• Add-In: TV Manager (Beta) Released

According to Ian:

• You need Real Player installed
• You need version 3.5 of the .NET framework installed.  It is available here if you don’t have it (or if you are not sure).

The downside it that:

• It will not work with Extenders, since the BBC streams using Real Audio.

Being from the U.S., I don’t know a lot about BBC radio.  This will give me chance to find out, tho.  I might even learn a thing or 2 about the other side of the ocean.

• WMC Plugin: MediaControl 5.3
• Hello from the UK!
• Smarter Connections for Your Digital Home
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• Hello from Across The Pond

Lights Out is not for the feint hearted… You have to disable a service before it will work (otherwise the server will wake up every 30mins) so head over to the forums and have a read through before deciding on whether to install it…

So what can be done about the electricity the server is using during the day? My MediaSmart server has a 90w power supply and with 2 drives will on average use around 60-70w. This works out to roughly £50 per year if the server was on 24/7. I decided the easiest way to offset the power now used by the server was to change all my light bulbs for energy savings ones. My house has quite a few lights and came to an average of around 1,200w! By changing to energy efficient bulbs this is now down to about 250w, so quite a substantial saving. These new bulbs only cost me a little under £60 so they should pay for themselves by the end of the year.

If you want to work out how much electricity your server/lights are using, try this website:

http://www.ukpower.co.uk/running-costs-elec.asp

Here’s how I worked out my usage:

1,200w worth of light bulbs on for an average of 3 hours a day:

1.2Kw x 60 hours = 72 KwHours
72 KwHours x 9p (My electricity company’s price per KwHour) = 648p
Divide by 100 for price in £ = £6.48 per month
£6.48 x 12 months = £78 per year

Running server 24/7 = £50

Total: £127

Change to 250w Energy Saving bulbs saves £62
Install Lights Out and have server powered down for 6 hours per night saves £38

Total Saving = £100

So just doing a few small things to your home can save you a bit of money (enough to take the wife out for dinner at least…)

• Under the Hood: Windows Home Server Backup
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• A Guide to Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 Beta - Part 2
• WGS Most Wanted…

Version 2.4 brings the following fixes and features:

• Changes in the GUI
• New Function: FTP Download
• Statistic Display: Download Volume in the last Hours/Days
• Various bug fixes

Download: Download Manager 2.4 | Support and Discussion

• Add-in Update: WHS Disk Management 1.0.6.0
• Add-In Update: WHS Disk Management v1.0.5.0
• Add-In: TV Manager Beta 3
• Add-in: Download Manager v2.3
• Add-In Update: Advanced Admin Console 0.4.0 Beta

And even though this is a great solution to solve the limited codec problem there’s still the matter of subtitles, other audio tracks, chapter skipping, etc… For example: you could be playing an HDTV mkv file with embedded subtitles or you want to skip a few chapters (just like a DVD), well that won’t be possible without this plug-in.

Media Control works as a plug-in for WMC and allows you to control ffdshow from inside the Media Center. This way you can control your post-processing, enhance your video, display subtitles and make use of all the extras in Media Center. AND it’s available for both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows Media Center. You can even use it in combination with your MCE remote.

The author’s (Damien Bain-Thouverez) website offers some great instructions to set everything up. I’ve been testing this plug-in myself and I’ve come to enjoy it. Beware though, you’ll need some pretty good WMC skills to set this up. It’s mostly about making sure the right software is installed on your (HT)PC.

Stay tuned for another recommended plug-in, tuned being the operative word here. I’m currently looking into Online Radio Streaming in Windows Media Center and possibly integration with WHC so be sure to check back soon.

Link: Media Control Plug-in

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If you have seen any of my posts on We Got Served, you may have noticed my signature, part of which states:

“Custom Built WHS
Originally began life as a Crystalfontz/CrystalControl test system:
Windows 2000/Windows XP/Windows XP-64/Vista 32/Vista 64”

I have done a small amount of work for this company over the years. In order to test some of Crystalfontz’s software properly thru several generations of Windows, they made a generous contribution to help me build this computer as a Crystalfontz test machine. Their one condition: run BOINC on it. When WHS came out, I was itching to try out this software, as I had always wanted such a system in my home. I got permission to do and here I am now, a WHS enthusiast.

I still had this condition to contend with, though, namely BOINC. I got in contact with the BOINC tech support and their response was:

“Not that I know of, but it would probably work.
Please try and let me know.”

I like being a software Guinea Pig, so off I went and installed the software. It installed like a champ and I had it up and running in no time.

So what does all that have to do with CPU cycles? Well, that is exactly what BOINC was designed to do. It runs in the background and makes use of those otherwise wasted CPU cycles. And for a good cause. For those who may not be aware of BOINC, here are a few links explaining it better than I could:

BOINC Website

Wikipedia

There is one caveat to contend with, however. I rarely open the console directly. I usually RDP or, if you prefer, RDC to my WHS from my main computer. This allows me run BOINC as an executable. I have never done it this way, but I see no reason why it could not be run as a service using Marcel Nouwens’s Any Service Installer. Try it out and let us know how it works!

And do it now.  Stop wasting those CPU cycles and do something good for mankind!

• Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 In Depth: WHS Connector Installation Walkthrough
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The new version has a suite of new features including:

1) Improved graphic display (now using real-time graphing) using Infragistics Graphing component.

2) Ability to monitor other devices on the WHS network

3) Performance graphing of the following WMI performance namespaces:

a) Processor
b) Memory
c) System
d) Logical Disks
e) Physical Disks
f) TCP IP
g) Processes (ability to monitor an individual process)
h) More to follow - can be added easily.

Each of the above is broken down into a number of sub-selectable monitors, which in some cases is dependent on the number of devices you have in the machine being monitored.

4) Ability to output graph to JPEG file.

5) View the real-time raw data gathered as the system monitors (can then be exported to excel).

6) English Descriptions of both the monitor and the individual components.

7) Interactive configurations, including the ability to direct messages and warnings to the WHS notifications queue.

The add-in requires installation of the Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 - full details are available over at James’ site.

Download: Logpoint Performance Monitor 3.0 Beta | Discussion and Support

• Add-in: LogPoint Performance Monitor
• Add-In Update: WHS Disk Management 1.0.7.2
• Add-In Update: WHS Disk Management 1.0.4
• Add-in: Windows Home Server Disk Management v1.0.8.6 Released
• PerfectDisk 8 for Windows Home Server Released Later Today

Beta 3 brings the following changes;

Bugs Smashed:

• Added support for French installations of Windows Home Server. (Used to be a problem with the spelling of Videos)
• Fixed the Media Center Scheduler service going bonkers. (Modified how the service is changed to run under the current user instead of LocalSystem)
• Fixed the Problem downloading Guide data bug. (Was a result of changing the account the scheduler service ran under. Fixed by changed the permissions on first run of the client)

Features Scratched off the List:

• Added logging to the TV Manager client. (You’ll get a dialog box telling you to check the event log with the TV Manager category)
• Automatically loads and refreshes the data for the TV Manager Console Tab.
• Exit context menu shows up when right clicking the client icon in the system tray.

Download: TV Manager Beta 3 | Discussion and Support

• Add-In: TV Manager (Beta) Released
• Add-In: Recorded TV Manager
• Add-in: Recorded TV Manager for Windows Home Server (Beta)
• Add-in Update: Recorded TV Manager 3.4.5 & MCE Collections Beta
• SageTV for Windows Home Server v6.4.2 Beta Released

Ian Dixon has helped Martin Thornalley announce his new Windows Media Center application, Photato, which provides a 10 foot interface to Facebook.  Ian is hosting a link to Martin’s forthcoming website and Martin has provided an e-mail address for WMC users interested in helping to beta test Photato.

An application like this is long overdue and will hopefully signal a series of new social network centric WMC apps.

• Add-In: Recorded TV Manager
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• Add-in Update: Recorded TV Manager 3.4.5 & MCE Collections Beta
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