Hands-On: HP MediaSmart Server EX487 (Part 3)

This is Part 3 of our 5 part review of the HP MediaSmart Server EX487. Parts 1, 2, 3  4 & 5 are also available.

Installing the HP MediaSmart Server

Installation of the EX487 is pretty straightforward – just plug in the home server and connect it to your router using the supplied Ethernet cable. Then install the Connector software on each of your home computers. Here’s a picture walkthrough of the installation procedure:

HP Getting MediaSmarter

Clearly, a key part of HP’s home server strategy is to extend and differentiate the MediaSmart Server line with a range of proprietary software which adds value to the user’s experience. The debut MediaSmart Server models came bundled with a simple photo sharing application (allowing the user to publish photo albums on the home server), and an iTunes Server which was followed up by an anti-virus package from McAfee and DLNA-complant media server from TwonkyMedia.

With the new MediaSmart Server, HP have taken media sharing, management and storage to the next level. Let’s take a look at what they’re serving up.

Control Center

When you install the HP MediaSmart Software on your PC, you’ll have an icon for a redesigned Control Center, which provides easy access to your home server’s shared folders, as well as a number of tools and support options to help you use Windows Home Server.  New features here include access to the HP Photo Publisher and the ability to wake the home server, both of which we’ll cover in detail later.

HP MediaSmart Server Summary

The new HP MediaSmart Server Summary provides a one page dashboard overview of  your home server’s status. It covers any notifications that need to be acknowledged or actioned, the status of the hardware itself, the version of HP’s MediaSmart software on board, plus any updates available, key facts and figures on your storage, add-ins installed and available and your power management settings.

Over to the left hand side, a series of tabs allow easy access to various settings and dialogs from across the home server – where relevant, warnings and problems are highlighted by a change to each tab’s icon, and best of all, tabs can be rearranged to ensure that the tabs you use the most are positioned at the top of the list.

Some may say that the Server Summary duplicates settings already included in the base software, but certainly I’ve found it to be useful when using the Windows Home Server Console.

HP Photo Publisher

Back in June, I caught up with HP at a launch event in Germany and it was clear that improved media sharing was on the agenda for the next version of the HP MediaSmart Server. Carlos Montvalo, VP Marketing & Services: “The real excitement around Server is sharing – to share your content in various communities, in a way that’s relevant to that community. The way content is shared in Facebook is different to the way it’s shared in Flickr. Both of those are very media rich communities, and I think having a very personal and easy way to publish and share media in those various communities is a scenario that lends itself to the MediaSmart Server. So you’ll see us get into lots of granularity, getting content outside your home, whether it’s in the cloud with virtual or physical communities – that’s key to not only growing the category, but furthermore extending the delivery of our promise of Connected Entertainment. Making it multi-device, multi-community, yet centrally managed so you’re always in control.”

That’s precisely what’s been delivered in HP’s new Photo Publisher application, which allows you to upload and share photos stored on your server very easily with a wide range of online photo services, including Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, and HP’s own Snapfish service. If you wish to publish web albums for viewing remotely on the home server itself, HP Photo Viewer is included (which works in a similar way to the HP Photo Web Share application on the existing model).

We’ll be covering this application in depth in a separate post, but as a brief overview, sharing photos is made very easy on the new HP MediaSmart Server. Simply log in (or set up an account) with your favourite online photo site (in my case, it’s Flickr). depending on the service, a new browser window may open up to log-in directly to that service.

Simply choose where you wish to place the photos (you can create a new photo alum, or upload to an existing album hosted online).

Then find the files you wish to upload, and send them up to the online service.

HP Photo Publisher is a great new feature from HP, and those of you with huge photo collections who are looking for an easy way to upload, share and indeed protect those images on an online photo service will love it – and if you’re a casual snapper, you’ll dig how easy it is to share your photos with friends and family. Even whilst you’re on holiday, you can access your home server remotely,copy your holiday snaps to your home server so they’re nice and safe and quickly share them with the world.

Check out the rest of the goodies included in Part 4 of our review.

Part 4: The Software (Cont…) >>

Read the rest of our review:

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Hardware
Part 3: Software 
Part 4: Software cont.
Part 5: Verdict