HP Mediasmart Server – Your Questions Answered

By on November 9, 2007 in Hardware, Windows Home Server

There were a few questions which WGS users posed following the launch of the HP Mediasmart Server this week. I got hold of HP, who did their best to answer them:

1. Storage Limitation
Is there a limitation on the total amount of storage available from the Mediasmart Server.?
Theoretically there is no limitation to the amount of storage the MediaSmart Server can hold.  Maximum capacity is only limited by hard disk drive capacities and number of bays (4), USB ports (4) and eSATA ports (1) on the HP MediaSmart Server.  Since 1 TB drives are currently available, the user could conceivably have 9 TB of capacity in the HP MediaSmart Server.

2. Non WHS Territories
At this point, can you clarify whether plans exist to ship in other territories, e.g. Japan, Australia, New Zealand?
HP will continue to evaluate our options but we cannot comment on future plans

3. Memory Upgrades
Can the user upgrade the system’s RAM at any point? Are any DIMM slots free for future upgrades? What memory type does the system use?
We do not support upgrading the systems’ RAM and there are no DIMM slots free for future upgrades.  The MediaSmart Servers uses 512Mb of DDR2 DRAM

4. VGA Motherboard Headers
Whilst the system is headless (i.e. no monitor sockets), does the motherboard have VGA headers, or is this a bespoke motherboard?
No, and we have no plans to support this.

5. Server Recovery
Could you please confirm the Server Recovery procedure?
The HP MediaSmart Server ships with a Server Recovery Disk.  If the Server fails, the user will need to load the Recovery Disk into a client PC and that PC will be the mechanism to recover the Server.


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About Terry Walsh

Terry Walsh is the founding editor and owner of We Got Served. Since February 2007, the site has provided detailed coverage and analysis of the emerging home server category, and has subsequently grown into a trusted outlet for digital home news and reviews.
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  • Ian

    Does the eSata port(s) not support port multipliers?

    e.g. http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=15709

  • Terry Walsh

    Certainly the advice for USB hubs is to avoid loading multiple drives on to one controller, as it will kill access speeds. My hunch is the advice would be similar for port multipliers.

  • bill sanderson

    HP answered the question about eSata ports in the chat I was in–let me see if I can find it:

    Question: Does the eSATA port support port multipliers?
    Answer: Yes it does, the server is fully port Multiplier aware.

    I don’t know enough about eSata to understand this question and answer, but I would hope that such a mechanism would be a lot smarter than usb hubs.

  • Terry Walsh

    Thanks for clarifying Bill!

  • Malcolm Hegarty

    I’ve got a home network which can have up to 4 computers connected at any one time and some of these are reasonably specified machines e.g. Intel Core Duo E6600/2GB RAM.

    I was thinking of getting one of the MediaSmart servers but was undecided because of the processor speed and amount of RAM – I thought with this spec the MediaSmart might struggle imaging them overnight initially and streaming to them and backing them from thereon.

    Now I know that you can’t upgrade the memory in the MediaSmart I’m even more doubtful.

  • http://www.mediasmartserver.net Alex

    Just because HP won’t support you if you upgrade the memory, doesn’t mean you can’t add more memory on your own! :)

    My read on the Port Multiplier statement for eSATA would mean that you can add one of those multi-drive eSATA enclosure boxes for tons more storage.

  • Scott Brown

    Hi guys,

    I am based in Australia and looking forward for the HP Media Smart Server to be released over here. Is there any reason why HP are holding of releasing in Australia? Or is it possible some how to purchase and send over to me here in Aus now?

    Regards

    Scott

  • Michael Pittard

    As far as RAM is concerned, there is one slot on the motherboard for a SIM. I just upgraded mine tonight from the 512MB default to 1 gig and it’s up and running with no issues (Replace with a Kingston 1GB DDR2 PC2 5300 CL5 240 PIN DIMM – # KVR667D2N5/1G).

    So you CAN actually upgrade the memory, however it’s not that easy to do… You have to disassemble the unit by removing the front door (One silver screw on the lower left side). Then remove the lower grill by removing two very small back screws on the right side. The grill then slides out to the right and then you have to unplug a cable going to the front USB port. Next remove the top cover of the case (There is a small plastic release on the inside top of the unit accessed by removing the top drive bay. You press the plastic release up, and then slide the top panel forward.) Once you remove the top, you will need to remove the backplane board by removing one screw from each of the two plastic hold downs. Then remove three cables going to the board assembly (Two go to the fans and I don’t recall where the third one went…). With the cables removed, the backplane board unplugs by sliding straight up and out of the case. Next go back to the front of the unit and remove two silver screws that hold the motherboard/power supply in the case ( One is on the left side and one is on the right; the right side is recessed an inch or so back behind the cables). The assembly will then slide straight out the front of the case and you will have access to the memory SIM…

    Hope this helps,

    Michael

  • Lee Hart

    In reference to Michael Pittard’s excellent RAM upgrade instructions.

    The front door does not need to be removed (and if it is removed, the lower grill needs to be removed first to expose the silver screw. The screws that hold the plastic retainers that secure the backplane board do not need to be removed – the plastic retainers will rotate out of the way. All hard drives need to be removed, not just the top one.

    Thank you very much for the clear directions. It took me only a few minutes to upgrade my RAM, and it’s definitely running more smoothly now (the console logs in much faster).

  • http://www.MyHomeServer.com MyHomeServer

    We posted a tutorial on upgrading your MediaSmart RAM to 2GB. You can get step by step instructions with photos to help. For the tutorial go here to –> http://www.MyHomeServer.com

  • Jon Andrews

    Anyone know if 1GB DDR2 800MHz will work fine in the WHS

  • Nathan

    hi ….
    sorry i do not know your name

    i want to no is the hp media smart server any good. Is it good with out the screen. How long does it take to boot up

    thanks nathan

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