WindowsHomeServer2011
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Windows Phone 7 Connector now puts your Home Server in your hand
Ok, Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector doesn't exactly sound exciting but, if you're one of the few people out there rocking a Windows Home Server 2011 machine and a WP7 handset, you're probably gonna want to get this set up ASAP. The combination of server-side plug-in and phone app lets you remotely control your server -- triggering backups, managing users, and viewing alerts. It also lets you pull up media files stored on your server, though you can't copy them locally for your later viewing or listening pleasure. It's not just for home users either. The plug-in works with Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, for smaller companies that rely on Microsoft-powered mobiles. You can download the server add-on at the more coverage link, and the smartphone app from the Zune Marketplace.
Vail is now Windows Home Server 2011, Drive Extender's officially dead
Microsoft announced months ago that the artist formerly known as Vail -- now officially known as Windows Home Server 2011 -- was dropping Drive Extender functionality. Though we were given hope that the feature might be reinstated, the release candidate of WHS2011 went out to testers today... sans Drive Extender's 'drive pooling for dummies' capability. In its place, Microsoft has included a Move Folder Wizard that alerts you when a new hard drive has been added (for those who were visited by the HDD fairy without their knowledge, no doubt) and walks you through formatting and partitioning your new drive. However, partition size is limited to 2TB for it to work with the server backup feature, so your massive collection of ripped Blu-rays will require a veritable alphabet of drive letters. Not all the news is bad though, as the dev team has enabled Shadow Copy in the OS to allow data time traveling in case you accidentally delete something. If that sounds good to you, hit the source link below and get your download on.
Windows Home Server 'Vail' drops drive extender support, MS suggests you buy bigger HDDs
If you're a current Windows Home Server user there's a very good chance you've taken advantage of the drive pooling features of the OS. Need more storage? Pop in a new HDD, watch some lights blink for a bit, and then you're ready to get back to downloading... whatever it is you're downloading. Granted things didn't always work perfectly, but this tech, formally called Drive Extender, makes adding storage easy, makes it possible to replicate only the data that needs it, and is completely hardware independent. And now it's going away. Microsoft has confirmed that the next release of Windows Home Server, Vail (due in the first half of 2011), will not feature Drive Extender, indicating you'll need to simply buy bigger drives and manually handle data replication or rely on RAID to make this happen, solutions that are decidedly less intuitive for non-techie users. The reaction among WHS fans has been overwhelmingly negative, with 148 comments (and counting) on the announcement post, most telling MS where it can shove its RAID controller. Feel free to keep on venting here if you like. Update: Malcom dropped this link into comments, where Windows guru Paul Thurrott indicates the issue is related to MS trying to position this to the small business sector -- that Drive Extender can't keep up with more professional loads.
