HP to Release v2.5 to All EX47x Owners, Bring MediaSmart Server Back to Europe

By on May 5, 2009 in Hardware

Two mammoth pieces of news today released in a statement from HP’s home server team. Firstly, that the company have reversed the decision to preclude EX47x users from the recent v2.5 software update by releasing a new DVD image for all existing owners of those models. Secondly, an announcement that European users have been waiting for for a long time. The HP MediaSmart Server is coming back to Europe!

Certainly on the latter point, I’ve discussed the European point with HP continuously for the last few months and I know they have been working very hard behind the scenes to make this happen, so this is fantastic news. On the decision to provide the v2.5 update to all, it sounds like all of the feedback you guys supplied (check it out here), along with the readers over at mediasmartserver.net made the difference. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the debate. I’m guessing that reversing the original decision was not a small step to take, but it’s good to see a big company like HP listen to its customers and respond in the right way.

Here’s their statement in full – give us your thoughts on both announcements:

HP Announces Software Upgrades and European Availability for MediaSmart Servers


We have two updates to share with our MediaSmart Server communities.

We have listened to the customer feedback on wegotserved.co.uk, mediasmartserver.net, mediasmarthome.com and other popular Windows Home Server blogs related to our recent software update availability.  Based on this feedback, we are working to provide a supported path to allow customers to update all generations of their EX Series and LX Series MediaSmart Server products to the current software version.

Due to the generational differences of our platform architectures, we will not be providing the updated software as traditional downloads.  Instead, we will provide complete server image DVD’s through HP support in the same manner as replacement DVD’s are provided today.  We expect that there will be certain hardware limitations and/or trade-offs for the various platforms that will be detailed once the new server DVD’s are available.

Timing is tentatively scheduled in Fall 2009.  We understand customers would like these updates sooner, but this timing is necessary to adequately develop and test these new software images.  As we get further along in our development, we will provide an updated timetable.

We have also read the inquiries regarding European availability of the MediaSmart Server products.  We are pleased to announce that our European customers can expect to see our LX and EX series products for sale in Europe.  Targeted availability is Fall 2009.

We thank everyone for their continued support of the MediaSmart Server products and appreciate the continued feedback.


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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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  • Philip

    Any more news as to when the update will be released?

  • Rich

    Just spoke with HP support and was told the update to v3.0 will be available on the HP website the end of Oct. or early Nov. They decided to go with v3.0 rather than 2.5. There will be a media charge for the disk and shipping but the softwear is free. This is a complete install and will reformat the drives so a backup of shared drives will be necessary first.

    He said to keep watch on WGS as HP will notify them when it's released.

    • Terry Walsh

      Nice of HP Support to promote WGS! :-)

  • Guest

    Hmm RIch, if you are right and they are waiting for 3.0, it is not going to be up in October, since MSFT has pushed PowerPack 3(if that is what HP is talking about) out to early 2010…by the time HP tests their stuff on top of it…

    • http://daveramsey.com Scott

      I think what you're thinking about is MSFT pushing back PP3 for WHS. I may be mistaken but I don't think that will affect the release date of HP's v3.0.

      I certainly hope not anyway.

      • http://intensedebate.com/people/tezzer Terry Walsh

        I believe HP are working to their own timelines for the update – the PP3 release does not impact the HP Update

  • davidob

    For the 47x crowd that used WebShare and switched to PhotoPublisher, what has been your experience? Do you have to recreate existing albums or do they migrate, can you limit access to albums per user, etc?

  • erin

    I've never used any of HP servers, but I have used more then a few times hp support on http://www.fixya.com/support/hp, so I'm guessing you could find some support & ideas over there.

    What are the uses of home server? Can I connect my LCD to it?
    Thank you for tolerating my ignorance.
    Erin.

  • http://HP.com Steve

    The guy I talked to yesterday seemed pretty clueless. He just said "we're uhm…not sure what the release date on that will be". Maybe they're not aware of how many people are anxious for this software, perhaps we should all call inquiring about it. Maybe if everyone and their brother working at HP is telling their boss that they've answered 300 phone calls concerning the update, then maybe we can get at least a status update.

    1-800-HP-INVENT then just a couple of automated steps and when you're asked what product you're calling about say "mediasmart server"

  • http://xkcd.com Fred

    check the main page! 3.0 is coming out this week!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/tezzer Terry Walsh

    As I mentioned in the comments of one of the previous HP 2.5 posts, your collective voices are a huge amount more powerful than my own. It's fortunate, however, that the people over at HP check out WGS and Alex's community too and have taken action to resolve everyone's concerns.With regard to the site being mentioned in the release? Check out Thurrott's site – he got a slightly different statement. Feet firmly on the ground here ;-) CheersTerrySent using BlackBerry® from Orange
    From: IntenseDebate Notifications

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/tezzer Terry Walsh

    @Julien – Read more closely and you'll see that the two statements you have quoted are, in fact, from different authors.Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
    From: IntenseDebate Notifications

  • Julien

    In that case you need to set up a firm editorial line ;) Good luck ! :)

  • E. Jensen

    Wow, great news finally HP!
    I will again recommend your products :-)
    But anyway, this update should be awailable for the EX47x owners from the start.

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