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Hands On: HP EX495 MediaSmart Server

By on October 6, 2009 in Reviews, Windows Home Server Reviews

The Verdict

The HP MediaSmart Server remains Windows Home Server’s premier hardware platform and the EX495 extends this position further with improved performance and full back-up and restore support for Apple Mac. HP should be commended for driving real innovation in the home server platform this year, whilst Microsoft struggle to release a service pack on time.

Updates to the processor and the return of full eSATA support are welcome additions to the EX495, alongside the improvements to the Video Converter and Media Collector. Whilst the UI brings a fresh, new look to the WHS Console, you’d have to question how much further HP can take the MediaSmart Server on the current Windows Home Server platform. Clearly, Microsoft are beavering away on the next version of the operating system, so HP’s case for developing new features is diminishing. Whilst Mac support is a big step forward for the Apple community, I was disappointed to see a lack of new add-ins on the new model – music management in particular is a time-consuming issue for me (finding album art, mp3 tagging etc) and I would have loved to have seen HP extend the MediaSmart Server’s support for media organisation into this area.

This time next year, I’d like to think we’d be talking about a new chassis from HP and a 64-bit Windows Home Server OS on board courtesy of Vail (actually, I think we’d all like to be talking about that), but in the meantime there are still great reasons to pick up the EX495 (which, of course, will be compatible with a 64-bit OS). If you’re a first-gen MediaSmart Server owner, the faster hardware and latest version of the MediaSmart software will transform your WHS experience, without a doubt – the EX495 feels noticeably faster than the EX487 too, thanks to the dual-core Pentium on board. If you’re a Mac guy, or have a mixed PC/Mac household, again, the MediaSmart Server is your only real choice for convenient back-up and restore for all of your computers.

In spite of an increasing number of manufacturers entering the home server market, the new HP EX495 MediaSmart Server is simply the most fully-featured Windows Home Server available, offering improved performance, fantastic media features and unique support for Mac – sure, you’ll pay more for it than competing systems, but if you consider what that premium gets you, it delivers considerable value.

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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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  • Martin

    Brill thanks for that!

  • Alex

    any news on the European Market ( United Kingdom area)

    I've been looking at upgrading from a ex475, as far as I can tell not available yet

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

      Amazon.co.uk have the EX490 listed for pre-order – no news on the 495 as yet….

  • http://www.mediasmartserver.net Alex Kuretz

    Nice review Terry! I suspect the issues you saw with MKV's was due to multi-channel audio. In the previous version of the Video Converter I experienced the same issue with multi-channel audio tracks in mkv files, but found that 2-channel stereo tracks converted with the audio intact.
    http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/04/23/forum-…

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

      Great wiki, Alex – did you ping HP re: the multi-channel issue? Would be good to see if they can fix!

      • http://www.mediasmartserver.net Alex Kuretz

        I did not, that's a good idea. I'm not familiar with the Arcsoft software they use for the Converter so don't know if/how it handles downmixing multi-channel audio to stereo, but it can't hurt to ask!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/urmaster urmaster

    Full client backups of the mac dont count for the 10 computer limit? hmmm.
    Anyhow nice review Terry.

  • James Cocker

    Liking the improved Mac features. However anyone know what the disadvantages of having to use SMB as opposed to AFP on a Mac are?

  • Lee Ladisky

    Anyone know of an easy way to migrate from a 475 to the 495? Can I just put the System drive of the 475 into the 495 (along with all the other drives used) and do a Server Recovery to avoid the slow copy process????? Anyone with thoughts on this? There are a few comments between 475 and 485, but nothing that goes cross processor/platform… concern obviously being about drivers, etc…. thoughts?

    Lee

    • http://www.mediasmartserver.net Alex Kuretz

      The EX48x and EX49x are very similar, the problem will be in the licensing, I don't believe WHS will auto-activate. I instead recommend the Server Recovery route as I described in this blog post.
      http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/08/28/using-…

  • Alex

    I wouldn't think that would work from an amd system to an intel system ( definitely get a blue screen if you had a monitor hooked up )

  • Tom

    Any word on HP releasing an update for the EX48x. I really want the updated Mac experience!

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

      I think there should be an update coming from HP soon on this….

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  • 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?

  • http://bluppen.com deriksen

    @davidob. Was wondering the same thing. Without any Macs in the household I'm a bit hesitant to push for the 3.0 upgrade. I'm quite a heavy Photo Webshare user. Any insight from other readers would be very welcome.

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