Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 In Depth: Remote Access

It’s not just the WHS Console that’s had some improvements in Power Pack 1 – there’s a few new goodies to make your remote access experience easier and more enjoyable too.

• New thumbnail view for your files to make identification faster and simpler.
• Drag and drop interface (in IE6 and IE7) to allow you to select and upload multiple files to your home server quickly and easily.
• Progress bar to allow you to track progress of your uploads.
• Option for downloading multiple files packaged in a self-executing or standard zip file.
• Ability to cancel multiple uploads whilst they’re in progress.
• Large files will now complete before the remote session times out (at last!)

Here’s how it looks…

Remote Access Thumbnail View

The Remote Access Thumbnail View is accessed through a dropdown in the remote access toolbar which allows you to switch views between a Detail view and Icons. The “icons” view will predominately show thumbnails of your images, or a file icon for other formats.

Remote Upload Drag and Drop Interface

The new drag and drop interface for Remote Access requires the installation of a small add-on for Internet Explorer (which happens automatically, with one of those yellow messages in the IE Information bar). Once it appears, you simply click” Browse to select files” which opens up an Explorer dialog from which you can drag and drop the files you wish to upload.

Multiple File Zip Downloads

Zipping up multiple files for downloading is really easy – just check the files you wish to download, and then click the Down arrow – a dialog appears asking how you wish to download the files. You can select a self-executable zip file (.exe) or a standard .zip file.

Much needed usability improvements in Remote Access – coming your way later in the year.

Find out more about Power Pack 1:

Power Pack 1: Coming Your Way

Power Pack 1 In Depth – Remote Access

Power Pack 1 In Depth – External Backup

Power Pack 1 In Depth – WHS Connector Walkthrough