HP EX490 1TB Mediasmart Home Server (Black)

by HP

• 1.0 TB SATA 7200 RPM hard drive; No tools required to add 3 additional hard drives with the 3 open expansion bays
• Intel Celeron Processor 2.2 GHZ 64-bit; 2GB of DDR2 DRAM
• Connects easily to the home network through a built-in Ethernet port. 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) RJ45 Ethernet
• Powered by Microsoft Windows Home Server software
• 4 USB 2.0 ports (1 front, 3 back); 1 eSATA port (back)
• Supports both wired and wireless PCs via a wireless router

Product Description

Model: FL704AA#ABA

From the Manufacturer

IDEAL FOR

Backup Keep your files safe. Back up PCs and Macs in your home automatically. Storage Free up space on your computer hard drives and TiVo® box, and centralize your digital life. Save up to 260,000 photos; 227,000 songs; or 600 hours of video with the included 1TB hard drive1. Boost storage capacity as needed with room for three more internal hard drives and up to five external ones. Music Change the music. Stream playlists to any PC & Mac connected to the Internet2, whether you’re at home or away. Photos Share photos easily. Access your photos from computers on your home network and upload them directly from your server to Snapfish.com, Flikr®, Picasa™ Web Albums and Facebook®3. Videos Watch videos on the go. Convert home video files to play on your iPod®, iPhone®, PSP®, Zune and other mobile devices4.

Small, sleek design intended for cool and quiet operation Enlarge

SPECIFICATIONS

Processor 2.20GHz Intel® Celeron® Processor Operating System Powered by Genuine Windows® Home Server software Hard Drive 1TB (7200RPM) SATA, expandable to 17TB5 Memory (RAM) 2GB DDR2 Interfaces 4 USB 2.0 Ports and 1 eSATA Port Network Support Up to Gigabit Ethernet; wired and wireless PCs (via a wireless router)

Simply plug the server into your router and install the software on your computers Enlarge

FEATURES

HP Photo Publisher and Viewer File and Drive Backup for PCs and Macs In-home and Remote Media Streaming Server for iTunes® HP Media Collector for PC and Mac Expandable Drive Bays (up to 17TB total5) HP Video Converter Power-saving Sleep Mode Up to 10 User Accounts Plus Guest Account Additional Software Add-ins (including HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo®) INCLUDED

Manage your files and server settings easily using the intuitive menu Enlarge

COUNT ON AUTOMATIC BACKUP

Your server automatically runs daily backup to keep new files safe Add a second hard drive (sold separately) for file redundancy with Select Folder Duplication managed by Windows® Home Server Recover from a computer hard drive failure using PC or Mac Restoration features Back up shared folders on your server to an external hard drive (sold separately) and store it off-site for an added level of protection

Learn more about sharing, organizing and protecting your files in the product tour Enlarge

ENJOY ENTERTAINMENT FOR EVERYONE

New HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo: Free up space on your TiVo box, plus watch recorded content on any computer in your home by storing shows on your HP MediaSmart Server6 The HP Video Converter automatically formats your videos for Xbox 360, PS3, PlayStation Portable, iPod, iPhone, Zune and more4 Stream music, photos and videos, so friends and family can listen to your favorite song, see your vacation photos and watch your home videos from their own computers—anywhere in the world The HP MediaSmart Server iPhone app also lets you stream files to your iPod touch or iPhone2 Access music playlists from multiple PCs in your home

HP MediaSmart Server makes it easy to back up your Mac and share your iTunes and other media to your iPhone and iPod Touch Enlarge

KEEP EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE

The HP Media Collector automatically collects and organizes media files, including iPhoto®, iTunes® and iMovie® libraries The HP Photo Viewer helps you create photo albums to share with friends and family The HP MediaSmart Server is ready to grow with your needs: Expand your server’s storage capacity by adding optional hard drives (sold separately) in the three empty drive bays or with the external ports

Boost storage capacity to 17TB total using optional hard drives Enlarge

MORE INFORMATION

Datasheet (PDF)

---

(1) Storage specifications are based on available capacity following installation. Photo capacity based on average compressed .jpg size of 3.5MB/image. Music capacity based on 4 minutes per song and 128Kbps AAC encoding. Video capacity based on each hour of video recording at 1.42GB for Standard NTSC format in "fair" mode and at 3.60GB for Standard NTSC format in "best" mode.
(2) Requires wired connection to a router; remote features require a broadband Internet connection.
(3) Services are subject to change without notice and some services may not be available at time of product purchase. The available service providers may vary in your country/region.
(4) Copy-protected files may not stream properly. Streaming to a TV requires a digital media receiver (UPnP) or a gaming console like the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.
(5) Maximum storage capacity—Only limited by the number of internal hard drive bays (4), USB ports (4) and eSATA port (1).
(6) The free HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo is a free add-in application and requires TiVo Series2^™, Series3^™, TiVo Premiere or TiVo Premiere XL products. To share TiVo shows on other devices across your home network, free TiVo desktop software available for download on TiVo.com is also required. TiVo, the TiVo logo, Series2 and Series3 are trademarks or registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. or its subsidiaries worldwide.

---

Product Description

The HP EX490 Media Smart Server is the all-in-one solution to manage your media: a home server that can automatically backup and protect your digital memories, centralize your media and content for sharing with family and friends, and enable you to enjoy your digital media while at home or away. Network-based backup of PCs using Windows Home Server as well as Macs using Apple’s Time Machine. Media streaming of photos, music and videos to PCs, the entertainment center and remote devices including the iPhone. What's in the box: HP EX490 (1TB plus 3 unused expansion bays) MediaSmart Server, Power cord, Ethernet cable, Software installation disc , PC restore disc, Server recovery disc and Setup Poster and HP support guides. One year limited warranty and our dedicated software technical support available from date of purchase both online and by phone.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

104 of 110 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful and solid quality - for the committed user but not for picky people ~ Rev. July 2010 November 23, 2009

By Stanltaaf

Model:EX495

I'm technically inclined, but not an engineer. I have some experience with this topic... I first built my own server with spare parts and run it at my home. I am reviewing this because I bought it for my parents and installed it.

Preface - as of 2010, I've seen a lot of heartache about Mac Compatibility. Please, do some research before purchasing this product for a Mac to see if this will fit your needs. There is a TON of outside forum support about this. Otherwise my original review still stands:

Part 1: The software, and what HP brings to the party:

Windows Home Server is actually a program (based on Windows Server 2003 with enhancements, optimized and pre-configured), and is easy to use in a home. And it is good, all by itself. HP's contributions by adding on its own 'add-ins' make the software better.

As a sample of what this means for you, an example: If you are recording tv shows on in Windows 7 media center you can offload your shows here, and still stream them giving you instant access anytime over your home network from a windows 7 PC. The new update to the software also makes it so you can set windows 7 up to offload your recordings from your Windows 7 pc to the server automatically so you don't tie up your computer's storage space. If you want to take a look at what that kind of pc setup might look like, just search listmania for "Win 7 HTPC build"; I'm the first search hit.

So what does HP bring to this?... If you have media files that you want to convert for viewing on a mobile device, HP bundled an add-in transcoding software on this so you can offload that work to server's CPU and not tie up your computer while you'd rather be surfing or playing games or whatever else you do to make things better (Note: HP's transcoding will NOT remove DRM). There are a lot more add-ins they bundle with this, but it's exhaustive and there isn't the space.

Bottom line, there are plenty of 'WHS' solutions. But my take is that HP has put a lot behind making this a great software bundle, and I have to say I'm impressed with the bonus they bring. Emphasis on the word Bonus, because they are 'nice to have-s' not designed for the people who consider them 'must-have-s'. The core functionality of streaming video, storing shares and back-up is what this is designed for.

Part deux: What's so great about the hardware.

The pictures make it look big. But it is small - about the size of a small bread box turned on end. I was surprised when I unboxed it. It's also easy to add hard drives. It comes with one, but you'll get hooked and want to add one. Just take out a tray, pop in a recent generation "SATA II" drive and replace the tray in the server and it self configures. I recommend buying one straight away anyway because then you can turn on 'file duplication'. That means the server at your specific direction will keep duplicate copies of folders you select on two separate hard drives in the server as insurance against mechanical failure.

You can also back up the system drive, which I'm learning how to do, and you need an external USB drive to do that.

Energy-wise It pulls about 4 to 6 watts under normal operation. Yet another reason to buy this if you are power conscious. Don't let that figure fool you. There's plenty of hardware oomph for most people's needs.

Part Three - Documentation.

There is a lot of documentation! Just not in the box that comes with the server. WHS started out of a user community/company initiative that blossomed into a server software product that now you are seeing hardware being made for. So, if you aren't sure if this is for you - please take a look online about what other uses this is for and what alternatives are out there.

Summary:

Good build, solid software, continuous integration to Windows backed by a very committed enthusiast community that makes it so you don't have to think 'what if my hard drive crashes/computer shorts out/child vandalizes my computer?

It's automated and low/no maintenance. For a commited user: a 'no-brainer'. For someone who needs to purchase tech support from a computer vendor, I suggest that a home server is not likely a good fit for you. You are probably better off with an online backup service for your needs.

I like this one because it has extra drive bays. There are configurations that just use one hard drive, but I would pass on that.

If you are buying an add on drive, a Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 32 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD1001FALS should work just fine.

Update - 7/9/10 WHS (the program, not the HP MediaSmart server) does random things when stuff starts failing, meaning if you ever get random restarts, can't find drives or things like that, it's not the software it's just not that robust to tell you when something is broken. On my HOMEMADE server, I had a stick of ram go bad and it gave me random errors until I figured it out. (But that's no different than any standard computer, just thought it was good to update about how its going)

Also, MSFT is working on a new version of WHS software called "Vail" that is in beta right now. It should handle errors like dying hard drives a bit more cleanly than what some folks are experiencing now...

For those of you who are adventurous, I've put a listmania list together for you on how to build your own. http://www.amazon.com/lm/R1NJKRJG6H78L6/ref=cm_lm_pthnk_view?ie=UTF8&lm_bb= Read more ›

103 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not easily impressed... but I am now October 5, 2009

By Whaledad

Model:EX495

Working in the computer industry for over 25 years, I'm not easily impressed. Two quad-core processor, 8 GB of RAM and 2.5 TB of storage in a home pc... nice, but just "more of the same".
Most of the computer innovation of the last couple of years has been "more, faster and bigger", but nothing revolutionary.
However, the new MediaSmart EX495 is truly amazing: the speed, the capacity, but more importantly: the ease-of-install, and ease-of-use that DON'T "handycap" the "power user", are fabulous.
I had the server up and running in a few minutes. It's now supporting 6 users, 1 MediaSmart Connect x280n (why did they stop making that!?), and 1 Roku M500. I added a second 1.5-TB hard drive and have already filled almost half of the total capacity (25,000 songs, 28,000 pictures, 600 videos, and loads of other stuff). This includes doubling almost every directory (I like this feature over Raid 1 as it provides much more flexibility), and backups of all PCs. The most impressive was how it enables external (secure) access by directly interacting with the router to open/forward the right ports. And it was immediately successful.
Still to do: connect a USB cable to my UPS and try to set up graceful shut down.

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Idiot proof...even for an idiot like me October 3, 2009

By CaliDuckPhan

Model:EX495|Amazon Verified Purchase

This little guy got delivered by Amazon a few days before it's original release. I am not much of a directions guy, but was extremely pleased with how easy this was to set up and how intuitive it was when it came to setting it up. I've got 1 workstation, 2 netbooks, and 2 laptops that backup wirelessly to this guy. If they are already on the same wireless network, it's simply a matter of clicking the 'add computer' button. There's no need to fuss with any of the backup settings unless you are particular, as it will do the work automatically for you. You can then either access your files via the console or remotely at your convenience.

I can't stress enough how nice and convenient it is to be able to centrally access all my files without having to shuffle files back and forth between the local hard drives and having piece of mind knowing it's being backed up automatically. I previously did this with Time Capsule which while it worked at times, was tempermental and slow. I'm not sure how well this will work on Mac, but I am running various flavors of XP and Vista in 32bit and 64bit configs.

I even decided to add another storage drive (Seagate Barracude 1.5tb 7200rpm)for redundancy. Adding storage was a simple as pulling out an open drive bay, popping in the new drive, then going into the management console to click through the add storage wizard which took less than a minute. Now I've got 2.6tb's of storage, more than I'll probably ever need and 2 open bays to expand down the road.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for the Home February 26, 2010

By Pyanfar Chanur TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Model:EX495

IMPORTANT UPDATE: As of November 24th, Microsoft announced that the next version of the Windows Home Server OS will NOT support "Drive Extender", a very important feature of the MediaSmart Ex495 and one of the key reasons people purchase it. HP has also announced that this product will be sold through the end of the year and then discontinued. HP has no plans (at this time) to continue offering home servers. This means that an Ex495 purchased now may be a technological dead-end, as it will not be upgradeable when the next version of Windows Home Server comes out. I will update when I have more information, so in the meantime be advised as to what is happening and realize that buying this server may be a fixed proposition.

I've had my MediaSmart Home Server for three months now, and it's been a bumpy road. However, the issues I ran into (which I will describe for you here) have been resolved and the end result is a very useful one-piece solution for my home server needs.

I work in IT and have a high level of knowledge across a lot of areas. I manage several servers as part of my job. Much as I love building machines, what I wanted was a simple "set it and forget it" machine that didn't need me to babysit it--I do enough of that at work. I'm pleased with how well the Ex495 has accommodated my needs in this regard. The hardware is more than up to the job. The software, while very weird to someone from a server-admin background, is nonetheless exactly as rich as it needs to be. And features such as storage balancing, automatic updating and backups really do cause the unit to perform well and to take good care of itself.

When I first got the HP MediaSmart Ex495, it was just prior to the release of Windows Home Server Power Pack 3.... I think that was really at the heart of the problems I had, but there has also been a month of steady fixes released in the wake of the Power Pack that have resolved issues that arose from its release. This is why I can only now say that this is an excellent machine. It also means I very STRONGLY recommend that when you purchase this unit, the first thing you should do when you stand up the server is give the MediaSmart a chance to a)update the HP software on the machine, and b)pull down Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 and its subsequent updates. Only then should you start to load content on the server or perform backups: the changes in the recent spate of updates are substantial, and issues (particularly with TwonkyMedia) were show-stoppers. Add to this the fact that once these updates are complete, any machines on your network would have to have all the software uninstalled and re-installed anyway, and you've got more than enough reasons to set things up before you start really using the MediaSmart to its fullest potiential.

Configuring the MediaSmart server has a simple series of steps: you connect the server directly to a computer, run the included software CD on that computer, and then attach the server to the network to finish the job. Due to the aforementioned updates, you have to let the server update itself (I suggest you then instruct it to reboot), then uninstall the software you put on your computer and reinstall it directly off the server. This is one of many nice features about the MediaSmart Home Server: it keeps track of which updates it needs from Microsoft and which don't apply, it makes installing software (called "Add-ins") very easy to do, and then makes sure its own software installers for your computers are kept up to date. You have to accept that all of your tasks need to be accomplished through the Windows Home Server Console (and the HP-specific elements that are integrated into the interface), but once you accept this and follow the manual, you'll find the MediaSmart needs very little babysitting. Do NOT, under any circumstances, try to Remote Desktop into the box: Microsoft has good reasons why they tell you they won't support you for doing this. Once the MediaSmart is up and running, every machine in your home will easily be able to browse to the server, copy files to/from its folders, view it as a device on the network, or tap it for applications like Windows Media Center. The included software even has the ability to wake your computer in the middle of the night, make backups, and shut it down again. Backups can be automatic or manual, they are complete at the start and then updated regularly, and any machine needing recovery can be handled by putting the included Restoration CD in the drive and following the instructions.

There's more to the package: I really like the design of the case. It's compact, it's rather quiet, and it doesn't even get very warm. Disk drives are hidden behind a simple mesh door. Adding and removing volumes was extremely simple (I have 3 Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB drives) and the server manages the load on all volumes. When you load files onto the MediaSmart, you can specify which files you care about enough to have multiple copies of (so if one hard drive fails you don't lose anything) and which don't need to be duplicated. If a drive were to fail, you will be notified, and can easily hot-swap the broken volume for another, which the MediaSmart will immediately add to the group. The EX495 offers streaming of music, photos, and videos that is visible from a computer or a game console such as the XBox 360 or the Sony Playstation 3. The server can also provide Windows Media serving, integrating with Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center. I've found both to be very easy to configure. Last, there is a video conversion utility that will let you convert videos (including DVDs) to files that can be streamed off the server. You can even set this to your specs and the interface offers suggestions on what degree of bandwidth you would need for each type. It will even make two versions: one for mobile devices such as a PSP and another larger file for watching on a TV or computer. There is an interface for integrating with your iTunes account, but I have not used this, nor have I yet tried my hand at pushing pictures directly to Photobucket or Flickr. There is also a powerful web-based remote management system that lets you create user profiles with varying degrees of access to the server from the Internet, from streaming to copying files on/off the server, to using the MediaSmart to remotely connect to PCs in your home.

I had to work closely with HP tech support in order to figure out the initial issues that plagued me in December and January, and I am pleased to say that the MediaSmart technical support team are excellent. They are friendly, professional, and they work very hard at what they do. It took us some time to resolve the biggest issue I was experiencing, but during that period I not only spent very little time on hold, I had techs calling me back and working around my schedule. The one day I spent time waiting on them I received an apology from my contact, with the excuse that the whole team were in the testing lab working on a duplicate of my server because they'd managed to replicate my issue. Working directly with the software team for TwonkyMedia, they even provided me an advance version of the fix and stayed with me to make sure it worked. I've had some bad problems with other HP products recently and this very much improved my opinion of HP as a company.

If you want a hassle-free home server that's out-of-the-box simple, the HP MediaSmart EX495 is an excellent choice. It's got good hardware, good scalability (storage-wise), and is in a well-built box. Now that Microsoft and Twonky have got the major software issues out of the way, this product is more than ready for bringing the power of a home server into your home. Read more ›