We’ve had a number of readers email us this week concerned that hp.com had delisted their range of MediaSmart Servers from their website. The worry was that HP were no longer selling home servers – surely not?
To clarify the situation, we got in touch with our contacts at HP, who told us:
HP Home and Home Office is temporarily out of stock of the HP MediaSmart Servers EX490 and EX495 following a Spring sale. You can purchase both from a variety of HP retail partners including Amazon.com, Costco.com, NewEgg.com, Fry’s.com, Best Buy, Office Depot, Beach Camera and Buy.com.
Please visit: http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mediasmart-server/index.html?jumpid=ex_r602_go/mediasmartserver#/BuyNow/ for direct links to these shopping sites.
HP expects HP Home and Home Office to have MediaSmart Servers back in stock soon.
All, well and good, but there was no mention of the LX195 – the single drive, Intel Atom-powered home server HP released around this time last year. We pressed the question and alas, it appears that the home server formerly known as “Boxster” is no more:
The LX195 is no longer in production but is still available for sale and support from a variety of HP’s partners – Amazon, Fry’s (online and in-store), Beach Camera and J&R.
HP Home and Home Office sold out of this product recently and will no longer carry it. Best Buy, NewEgg and Office Depot have sold out of the units as well.
As stock dwindles down, and with seemingly no replacement on the way, it looks like we can close the door on HP’s foray into the budget end of the home server market. Designed with a low-spec to appeal to the cost-conscious consumer, the LX195 was a good looking product that did a decent job as an entry level home server. Microsoft created a brand new SKU of the Windows Home Server OS, “Windows Home Server Single Disk” to reduce the cost price of these single drive systems, to support competition with other Network Attached Storage devices.
However, the Achilles heel of the LX195 (as well as similar systems such as Tranquil PC’s T7-HSA) was that external USB drives would need to be added straight away to benefit from Windows Home Server’s folder duplication feature. Perhaps this was a key consideration for consumers, although more fundamentally, the question should be asked whether Windows Home Server sales have been limited due to price point, or a lack of understanding about the product outside of the hardcore early adopter market? My hunch is that it is the latter – an issue that both Microsoft and OEMs still face three years after the launch of the product. With the prospect of Windows Home Server v2 on the way, that’s one major challenge that the marketers still have to tackle, which is why we’re seeing Microsoft take the product to market in new ways such as its positioning on home improvement shows such as Designing Spaces in the USA.
Still, the LX195 was a brave attempt to bring the HP MediaSmart Server to a new audience, but unfortunately, it just didn’t have the power to benefit from HP’s latest generation of software features, meaning it would remain compromised as a low-cost, capable but ultimately basic device. Personally, I thought the product would be ideal for those with small amounts of data – a perfect device to install into your parent’s place, for example, to look after their data and provide remote access for family IT support. However, that single drive sub-category didn’t explode in the way that HP and Microsoft wanted to, with competitors bringing out four drive systems to compete with HP’s EX series instead.
With margin to be made at the top end of the market, perhaps looking for low cost volume this early in the life of Windows Home Server, without the support of mainstream awareness of its features and benefits, was simply too early a move.
Do you think there’s a role for a single drive home server? A sensible entry point at a reduced cost, or is the concept of such a limited device a crazy idea?
