Hands On: HP EX495 MediaSmart Server

Apple Mac Support

The biggest improvement to the EX495 is definitely its enhanced support for Apple Mac. HP started the journey to support the Mac with the EX48x, which allowed Time Machine backups of files and folders to the MediaSmart Server – a trick which was cool enough to win HP a Best of Show award at this year’s Macworld. Well, wait until they get a load of the new guy!

New to this year’s MediaSmart Server is full bare metal restore of Apple OS, as well as access to the Windows Home Server Console, cleverly enabled courtesy of Microsoft’s Remote Desktop for Mac.

Unfortunately (for Mac exclusive households) you still need a PC for the initial install and configuration of Windows Home Server – but once the home server is set-up, you can go ahead and install the connector software on your Mac (running OSX 10.5 or later).

Once installed, you’ll notice a small MediaSmart Server shaped icon at the top of the screen. Clicking it exposes a variety of options, but before you can access them, you’ll need to configure your backup preferences.

Mac OS Recovery

Bare metal recovery of Mac OS is a feature that the Mac community have been crying out for from HP, ever since they started supporting the OS. To complete a Mac OS restore (compatible with OSX 10.5 and better), you simply have to prepare a USB key which should be plugged into your Mac before running your System Installation disk.

Windows Home Server Console On the Mac

HP have delivered full access to the Windows Home Server Console, courtesy of Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection for Mac, allowing full monitoring and control of the home server from your Mac for the first time. This is a very cool new feature that Microsoft should have enabled from the outset.

The Mac can also access the HP MediaSmart Server’s remote access features, allowing playback of the music, videos and photos stored on the home server.

If you’re Mac user who has previously taken an interest in Windows Home Server, but have yet to go for one, now’s the time to make your move – the previous generation of MediaSmart Server was good, but the experience for Mac users is almost complete with the EX495. Once PC-less installation is available, then I’d say you have a complete solution for Mac owners – but this is very close indeed.

Downloadable Add-ins

Completing the Dashboard is a link to an add-ins page at hp.com which isn’t quite an app store for the MediaSmart Server (check out our own Home Server Plus if you’re looking for a full list of WHS add-ins) but offers discounted links to (currently) Diskeeper and PerfectDisk, both disk defragmentation applications, as well as the promise of the Amazon S3 Server Online Backup add-in which has been removed in the new 3.0 MediaSmart Server software.