remote desktop software Follow

The nicely compact HP MediaSmart home server. The new Mac interface. As mentioned in last week's roundup of Apple news, HP just released updated versions of its MediaSmart home server line--the EX490 with a 1 TB hard disk drive and the EX495 with a 1.5 TB drive. If you're not familiar with the concept, a home server provides much of the same functionality as an external hard drive connected to one of your home computers--you can store media files for accessing by the connected PC as well as other computers on the network and back up your PC's hard drive. Where the home server differs is how it's connected. Instead of being attached to a single PC via USB, the home server connects to your home network's router using Ethernet. This in turn provides you more flexibility for accessing content and backing up files from all of your home computers as well as providing a gateway to accessing files remotely while outside your home. As noted, both models come with a goodly amount of storage to start you off (either 1 TB or 1.5 TB). But with the growing amount of digital storage home users require for storing digital media files--especially as we move into a brave new world of TV and movies downloaded from the Internet--both MediaSmart servers provide three additional bays for plugging in optional extra hard drives for up to 7 more terabytes of storage. But wait, there's more... Using the four USB ports and one eSATA port, you can connect additional external hard drives for a grand total of 17 TB of internal and external storage. Back in early 2008, I got to play around with HP's Media Vault mv2120--a smaller version of the MediaSmart server line that offered just one additional hard drive bay. The installation and swapping of hard drives from that open drive bay was easy peasy, and I enjoyed using it for the most part. At the time, our household was a mixed PC/Mac environment, and my wife got the most use out of it as she was the Windows user of the family and the mv2120 only did automated backups from Windows machines. I could manually back up files from my Mac--including an iTunes library that could be shared--but that was it. We also had to use the Windows PC to perform most of the management and maintenance as the web control interface was limited. HP made great strides at improving functionality for Mac users with its previous MediaSmart release at Macworld earlier this year (the EX485), with compatibility for Time Machine backups--but, it was subsequently discovered that while you could recover individual files, you couldn't do a full system restore. However, the new EX490/EX495 models now offer full recovery from Time Machine as well as some additional functionality that Mac users have been yearning for from HP's MediaSmarts. TUAW has the overview: HP obviously listened to the concerns of Mac users while designing the new servers, since a Windows PC is no longer required in order for administration. Instead, Mac owners can use Microsoft's new Remote Desktop Connection for Mac 2.0 to log in and make changes. The servers are also Time Machine friendly, and include a new HP utility that allows bare metal recovery of machines backed up onto the server. Also new to the servers is the HP Media Collector, which automatically collects and organizes media files from Macs or PCs on a network, and then makes the data available for streaming over the Internet. Additionally, the MediaSmart now includes a video converter software that, according to the press release, "automatically converts videos, including unprotected DVDs, into a format that can be played at the home or remotely. Users are able to control how their videos are converted by selecting the device the video will be played on or choosing specific video settings using the advanced controls features." And, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch, HP provides a free app (downloadable from the iTunes Store) that enables you to stream your photo, music and video libraries wherever you have an Internet connection. Other improvements to the new lineup include more powerful processors (2.2 GHz Celeron for the EX490 and a 2.5 GHz dual-core Pentium for the EX495) and improved web-based administration interface. I've been dabbling with some research into Mac-friendly home servers recently--now that my wife has inherited my old MacBook Pro--that could handle effortless Time Machine backups as well as provide better media serving to all of our Mac-based machines (including an Apple TV). I'd been focusing on the good potential offered by Iomega's new NAS solution, the StorCenter ix4-200d, but I think I'll be investing in one of the new MediaSmarts this fall. For more on the new crop, check out this hands-on review as well as a review of the Mac-friendly features over at MediaSmarthome. Both the EX490 and EX495 are shipping now. --Agen G.N. Schmitz