HP “Investigating Options” For Official MediaSmart Server Memory Upgrades

By on August 14, 2008 in Hardware, Windows Home Server

Following my post yesterday regarding the inability to upgrade the HP MediaSmart Server’s memory without invalidating your warranty, HP got in touch today to let us know they are currently “investigating options” to provide an approved upgrade path for all MediaSmart Server owners.

Carlos Montalvo, HP’s Vice President of Marketing, Managed Home told me, “As we continue to extend the features of the MediaSmart Server and plan the next release of the hardware it’s important for us to allow owners of the current version of the product to continue to benefit also – we’re actively investigating supported options for users to upgrade their MediaSmart Server’s memory”.

At this point, there’s no news on how HP will facilitate memory upgrades – performing the upgrade isn’t a trivial process for novices, but if you’re used to opening up and upgrading PCs, it’s certainly achievable with the clear instructions. It may be that HP offer an upgrade service via authorised dealers, but all options are open at the moment.

In terms of timings, “We need to work out what support users will need when they upgrade, but you can expect to see a solution from us in the next 6 months, or sooner.”

This is great news for MediaSmart Server owners – firstly, it signals a big commitment by HP to early-adopters of the hardware to extend it’s usable life through both software (as we’ve seen with the recent add-in release) and now supported hardware upgrades and secondly, it’s great to see big business listening to the customers they serve, and responding in the right way. We’ll keep you posted as more details on the upgrade path become available.

So, if you’ve been hesitating on upgrading your MediaSmart Server’s memory, how would you like HP to support you upgrading? Would you like a kit you can use to upgrade it yourself? Would you prefer to take it in to your local Best Buy/PC World? Let us know.


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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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  • Joakim

    This is good news. I’d like to upgrade the memory in my EX470 but I’m not willing to void my warranty.

    I’d prefer a ‘do it yourself upgrade kit’ since I think it would be too expensive to let a service shop do the job for you.

    That’s my five cents.

    Regards from Sweden,
    Joakim

  • Stenton23

    This *is* good news. I would rather have a kit; it would be too inconvenient to have the server down so that I can take it to an authorized reseller.

  • Served

    I’m halfway through my warranty period – 6 months. Figured I’d wait another 6, then upgrade. Certainly be nice to do it sooner than later.

  • mjablko

    Since the HP box was not available in Germany, where I currently live, and it was insanely expensive in UK, I brought mine from US this spring. I am not sure whether I have any warranty on it this way but for me a kit would be the best option.
    I also think that most of the owners are at least “advanced users” if not experts and installing an HP provided kit should not be a challenge for this community. I hope that HP will take that into account.

  • Tom

    Now if only they will start providing BIOS updates so that the processors can be easily upgraded as well…

    As for the memory upgrade, I would prefer a do-it-yourself solution as I am sure that firedog/geek squad/etc would want an arm and a leg to do the 10 minutes worth of work required, though the ‘official’ HP memory kit will probably not be as cheap as buying a 2GB chip yourself…

  • David Dalva II

    I have done both the memory and the CPU upgrade and found both easy to do if you followed the instruction that were published on the web. but it would be nice to have a kit from HP along with authorized parts to upgrade the server along with detailed instructions and illustrations.
    I have talked to HP and suggested that the Media Smart server would be ideal for small business with less that 10 computers because of the simplicity of operation and the backup capability. We have been using a Home server Setup in our office for the last fiver or six months and found it perfect for our leave of necessity. we started out with Small Business Server and found it very difficulty to implement and over kill in use and we did not need most of its power. As Home server is the same engine with some of the auxiliary programs remove it has the muscle to do the job.

  • George

    I agree with the posters prior to me that an upgrade kit is the way to go. I got my MSS at Circuit City, but I bet the FireDog service would be too expensive and would take too long to accomplisht the upgrade. If HP wants to supplement this cost (I told HP from the beginning that 512K would not be enough) then that would be a welcome alterntive.

  • endeavour_uk

    I want to echo Terry’s sentiments about HP. It is refreshing to see a major manufacturer responding to customer concerns so promptly.

    I personally would probably pay a premium to keep at the appliance level as long as it isn’t stupidly expensive. If HP can’t find a suitable provider or pricing model then a kit with approved memory would still be worthy of a small premium. The easiest way though would probably to provide a downloadable installation manual and an approved list of warranty compatible memory chips from vendors like Crucial, Corsair etc.

    I think HP will have to design in more upgradability for items other than disk storage in future models.

  • JohnCz

    It obvious that the next MSS revision should get laptop style access compartment under the MSS chassis. I would suggest that MSS (with all its add-ons) should not ship with less than 1GB. That should take care of your use it as it shipped crowd and also support the power user types like those here.

    For current MSS/WHS customers..I think HP has no choice but to use their authorized HP Service Center partner network to provide upgrade under warranty. I know people here won’t like to hear me say that but those here probably already upgraded on their own and don’t give warranties much weight. The kits HP provides to their service centers need to include a proper screw driver and spare screws.

  • Pete Iber

    Excellent news, I would like very much to upgrade my memory and like Joachim I am not willing to void the warranty. I would be willing to buy a kit and do it myself if that was within the parameters of the warranty. Looking forward to further response from HP.

  • Revengineer

    I’ll take the kit. No way I let someone like Best Buy touch my server. Really all I need is HP consent for me to open the server without losing warranty. I can buy my own RAM. I hope the HP solution won’t be overpriced.

  • roddy

    No kit is needed; what is needed is a clear manual downloadable from HP with clear photos; and a list of parts needed (ie which model of DRAM or which processor for a processor upgrade).

    Really gets me that it may take HP upto 6 months to do this – can I have my money back for those 6 months?

  • soaklord

    Hmm… I’d love for them to consider sorting out their support for the server. I spent over two hours on the phone with HP today and the closest I got to a native English speaker who could help was on my last transfer… Unfortunately, while he spoke English, he wasn’t part of the MS Server tech support, he was in Enterprise Server Solution Sales… 6 calls, 8 transfers to get to that point… I have been thrilled to death with WHS possibilities and the size of the mediasmart, but I am not having fun with intermittent shut downs.

  • Dave

    For me a kit is not necessary as i’ve been at this sort of thing for years. I intend to get around to it soon. Adding a bit of ram probably isn’t a problem for most WHS owners either, but for some people the warranty is very important. So a kit that has well laid out instructions with photos and maybe the right tools (i.e. screwdriver heads) might be a good idea.

  • http://www.wegotserved.co.uk Terry Walsh

    So for those of you who would prefer kits, are you happy paying a premium to cover potential warranty costs if you mess it up? I have to say I have no idea what’s being planned, but if it was my business, I’d be thinking I need to cover those potential repair costs for the x% of people who will brick their machines…..?

  • soaklord

    A premium? Yes, I would be happy to pay say… a 10% premium to cover warranty costs for brickage. At 10% on 40USD for memory, I’d be paying $4 more for the memory. That’s not even enough of a difference to worry about. If the failure rate of memory upgrades (keeping in mind clear instructions, and the cost of shipping two of the easy-strip screws with the memory) is one in one thousand… that’s $4000 gained to $500ish lost just due to the premium. At a failure rate of 5/1000 they are still looking at $2000 for a $500 replacement product. If we consider that HP will be selling memory for retail prices plus premium and paying CONSIDERABLY less than retail prices, and that their cost to replace is nowhere near the $500 price tag, they can make a tidy profit and I can keep some peace of mind. Everyone wins. At a 100% premium, I see it as a money grab and considering my experience with their support team of late… I do not consider that value for money.

    And the memory needs to be 2GB (or more) of high quality memory. Paying 2GB prices for a 1GB stick would just piss me off, knowing that I wasn’t maxing capacity and I was paying a premium to do it. And staging the memory to 1GB for a premium then a couple of months later trying to rook me for another upgrade will only degrade my experience with the manufacturer.

  • Stenton23

    I guess the answer to paying a premium would depend on the percentage. My view is that the comparatively skimpy RAM is an engineering issue that should have been addressed, to begin with. (Other than that, though, I love the server.) But if the premium is reasonable, I might be willing to accept it.

  • Mach1

    Good to see HP’s thinking about it. 512MB is not enough! I added 2GB to my server, and it was easy and well worth it!

  • Red

    I’d love a kit, as long as the premium wasn’t on the ridiculous side. I love my MSS but I hate the time it takes to get stuff done with such low RAM.

  • http://blog.szuta.com Boggy

    They are STILL thinking? Obviously, their marketing folk didn’t learn anything at school on damage control. Maybe they should go back in history and take an example from Saturn (GM), which had to recall few thousands of newly released product. GM turned an evident problem and potential nightmare into a great success. Saturn proved that they WILL do WHATEVER it takes to make their customers happy. Years later, people still talk about how Saturn is a great company.
    HP folks better learn this lesson quick, and turn lemon to a lemonade (get it?).

    I already upgraded my EX475 with 2 GB and will settle for rebate coupon against next HP product i.e. addition disk to my WHS (provided, HP is not going to get silly with the invalid warranty thing …).

  • Urmaster

    I added 2GB this week myself took about 15 mins. I would have gone for my favourite OCZ but their heat spreaders are too large so I settled for my second; Crucial. Yes i have to agree a kit possibly in 1 or 2GB flavours would be nice for the enthusiast (which is most of us who have adopted this early anyway). Remembering HP and MS target audience is slightly green in this area an authorised dealer could also be the way to go. In all I think both options should run alongside each other. And last thoughts; 512MB was far from enough, 768 (Achievable with 2 DIMMS MBs) or 1GB should be a minimum. After installing bit torrent, f-secure and perfect disk my usage was at 610MB already and those are almost all essential apps.

  • CBick

    Of course it would not be an issue if HP would just let you config it with however much mem you were willing to pay for at purchase.

    How many people wouldn’t be willing to pay an extra $10 to $20 for 2GB during purchase?

    In the mean time, Give me a kit!

  • https://technocore.homeserver.com/ Drashna

    I doubt it would be even $20, we would be looking at closer to $50 for 2GB. But IMAO, $50 is absolutely worth not voiding your warranty!

  • Tom Miller

    A do-it-yourself kit would be great.

  • Orcinus

    While I have the knowledge and experience of doing this upgrade, as well as the CPU upgrade, but I’d rather follow a path that doesn’t invalidate my warranty.

    Perhaps HP could offer both the Memory and CPU upgrades. Either as DYI kits or being serviced though an authorized service center.

  • http://blog.szuta.com Boggy

    Two things:

    1. HP messed up their product design and sold a server that does NOT perform as promised when all functionality of the product is being implemented. HP (if it really cares for their customers) should remedy this situation. It is not an issue of $50 dollars (I already spend it, by getting buying my own 2GM module at egghead.com), it is a matter of principle. I don’t consider CPU in EX47x servers to be an issue at all, although it would have been nice to have a low power, dual core version indeed.

    2. Voiding warranty just for replacing a memory modules – phleeze. Bring it on, people! I have one 3 words for that – “small claim court”. I’ve been working most of my adult life with computers, and paying some serious income tax doing it, so telling me that I COULD mess up a piece of not-so complicated hardware is just a … joke.

    Again, both issues should be addressed by HP in a way that customers are going to be happy. It is an opportunity for HP to gain, and not lose customers. Let’s watch if wisdom is going to prevail.

    BTW, love my Ex475.

  • HeavyShift

    I agree with others who have weighed in on HP’s lack of foresight in the area of RAM upgrades. Clearly that is a mistake that should’ve been caught way before the release of the hardware by HP.

    As a professional IT System Admin, I would prefer to upgrade my WHS myself without fear of voiding the warranty. I was a bit put off when I brought home the server and found that if I popped open the box to up the RAM I would void the warranty. If HP provides an upgrade path that keeps the warranty intact, I’ll be upgrading pronto.

  • http://www.cj-home.net James

    Would definitely go for an approved HP pack with clear instructions. If purchased via HP and manual upgrade, warranty could be maintained.

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  • burkhome

    I think HP should provide 3 options for upgrades:
    1)During initial ordering, you could get the stnd 512k or the upgrade 2M
    2)DIY Upgrade kit that contains: RAM, screw-driver, replacement screws, and intsructions
    3)Service Center Upgrade from some certified center (maybe the provide an extended 6 month warranty as part of this offering for added-value).

    Lastly, they should provide an amnesty to all of us who already upgraded ours – whereby we could at least get 2 OEM screws and it would help them recognize just how many people upgraded.

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