Introduction

My favorite device that is hooked up to our main television is my HTPC.  If I were a console gamer, that choice might be an Xbox, Wii, or PS3.  But I use the HTPC to watch movies stored on my home server, browse the Internet when my wife and are searching for Vegas hotels, and peruse our digital photo album, also on my home server.

Being able to communicate with that PC from a distance of ten to fifteen feet can be somewhat cumbersome with a typical combination keyboard/trackball that have been available.  They are simply too big for use as a glorified remote.  For an HTPC, point, click, and go is far more important than sustained data entry.

Every time I have been sent a new HTPC keyboard for a review, they seem to be half the size of the last one I reviewed.  The emphasis is on the point, click, and go *plus* the ability to thumb-text on it like a cell phone.  The thumb challenged generation, like myself, have the younger generation to thank for that!

Enter the AZiO KB178RT “Mini” thumb keyboard.  This keyboard can simply be defined by the comments in the last paragraph.  Small; point, click, and go; thumb-texting.

Over the past few years, we’ve reviewed many small business servers, home servers and network attached storage devices and in that time we’ve learned that you can always expect features and performance to improve whilst prices come down. Manufacturers are understandably very keen to persuade mainstream consumers to eschew their USB storage drives in favour of better featured (read: pricier) network attached equivalents – the lower the price of the NAS, the easier it is to turn heads.

With Synology’s DiskStation DS-111, the company’s entry level consumer NAS server, we’re now at the (roughly) £150/$200 mark for a diskless device – still more expensive than direct attached storage (especially with current hard disk prices), but packing a swathe of value added features that you’d previously expect to find only in higher end devices. Whilst the hardcore enthusiast may well prefer a 4-bay powerhouse, could the single bay DS-111 be the right NAS for the masses? Let’s find out.

Features and Specifications

Let’s get one thing straight. Single drive devices can offer a lot of storage nowadays – sure, you miss out on local mirroring and RAID backup for protection, but the DS-111 supports up to 3TB of storage on a 3.5″ drive. 2.5″ drives are also supported, if you have a spare knocking around. Certainly for the average family, 3TB is a veritable server farm of content. If you do wish to expand, you can utilise the 3 on board USB 2.0 ports or the accompanying eSATA port for faster access.

The DS-111 isn’t built around the latest, most powerful kit, but you’ll find a 1.6GHz processor combined with 256MB RAM and Gigabit LAN for networking. Nope it’s not going to do a great job with Call of Duty MW3, but it will be able to push files around the network without too much of problem. The upside? Low power consumption – the DS-111 burns around 19W during disk access and just 8W when the disk spins down.

In terms of operating system, Synology don’t scrimp on software, bundling the DS-111 with their excellent DiskStation Manager OS. Indeed, the entry level device is also supported on the latest DSM 4.0 beta release which has just shipped – that means you get many of the same software features that can be found on much more expensive devices in the Synology range, including the company’s new CloudStation file synchronisation app, media browsing and streaming, file downloading, PC and Mac backup and remote access via your smartphone. Again, let’s remember the price – even with the cost of a hard drive bundled in, it’s an incredible array of features. Synology.com has a full list of features, which you should check out.

What’s in the Box?

Befitting its price, the DiskStation DS-111 ships in a brown cardboard box, which manages to balance humility and aesthetics. It’s not a flashy package, but still looks good. Synology haven’t gone to town inside the box, but you’ll find everything needed to get going, including:

• DiskStation DS-111
• Installation CD/DVD
• Welcome Note
• Assembling Kit
• AC Power Adapter
• AC Power Cord
• 2M RJ-45 LAN Cable

From a design standpoint, Synology are slowly evolving their design away from the industrial aesthetics of previous models to a more consumer friendly look – the DS-111 is no work of art, but you won’t need to but a bag over it when your friends come around either. The front panel is awash with LEDs (Status, LAN, Disk & eSATA at top, power and copy button illumination lower down) and you’ll also find a front facing USB 2.0 port and eSATA for convenient expansion access. The aforementioned copy button pulls content from connected USB devices (cameras, flash drives) directly to the DiskStation’s hard drive when pressed.

The rear of the unit is dominated by a large fan at the top, with a further two USB 2.0 ports, LAN socket and a Kensington desk lock loop accompanying the power socket.

Installing and Using the DiskStation DS-111

If you’ve purchased the DS-111 diskless, you’ll need to install a hard drive before you do anything else! Installing the drive is helped by the ability to simply slide the chassis cover off the main frame of the unit – no screws required at this point. Slide the disk on to the SATA connector, secure with the screws provided and slide the cover back. Two additional screws are provided to secure the chassis. Even if you’re a duffer with a screwdriver, you should be done in five minutes max. From there, connect the LAN and power cables and hit the power button.

Cloudberry Backup allows you to back-up the data on your home or small business server to the cloud. Powered by a variety of online storage providers, the add-in integrates neatly with the Dashboard to allow backup scheduling, data encryption and many more features to protect your data.

• Easy installation and configuration
• Seemlesly integrates with the Dashboard
• Default backup plan is designed to quickly start data backup
• Scheduling capabilities
• Data encryption
• Data retention schedule
• Secure online storage
• Data versioning
• Differential backup
• The ability to restore to a particular date
• Backup verification
• Backup Window

The add-in, available for Windows Home Server v1, Windows Home Server 2011 and Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, has just received an update. v2.6.2 has the following improvements:

1. Force schedule full backup.

A refresh of Lights-Out Service Pack 2 Beta was released this week for Windows Home Server v1 and WHS 2011. The power management add-in allows you to place your server in sleep or hibernation mode at scheduled times.

New in this release:

New option for client action after backup
Service Pack 2 Beta refresh introduces a new client option called “Force end action”. This option is enabled by default to ensure the previous behavior. If you disable this option, the action after backup is only executed if a start-up or wake-up for a scheduled backup has been detected AND if there has been no user activity in the last 10 minutes or during backup.

This new features prevents a standby or shutdown (after backup) if a user is already working on the machine. It also prevents a standby or shutdown (after backup) if the machine is already running before the backup has been started.

Other changes:

• Fixed end of DST problem with WHS v1 connector
• Fixed wrong date formatting in calendar for some regions like Japanese
• Fixed wrong backup date when client backup is disabled
• Fixed problem with deleted tasklist (delete was not handled, tasks were not removed)
• Fixed bug in edit properties dialog
• Changed action after backup: runs only if started for backup with no user activity

Download: Lights-Out (WHS 2011) | (WHS v1)

So far, remote access to our Lion Server has been restricted to viewing the server webpage and checking out our Calendar remotely. That’s providing a little bit of value, but we need more! The good news is that we can remotely log in to the server from a remote location, and use it just as if we were sitting in front of it at home, using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection. I won’t bore you too much with the technology, but I should cover a couple of things before we get started.

Think of a VPN connection as a private, secure “tunnel” that you set up between your remote computer (PC, Mac, Linux all supported) and the server, through which data passes back and forth. It allows you to access files, folders, printers and other network resources directly, so is very handy for mobile working. Media streaming? No, it’s not really set up for that – you’re better off using alternative cloud services that provide a faster, more seamless connection.

There are two types of VPN connection, both of which are supported on OS X Lion Server, but one that Apple promotes heavily (as it’s more secure). That protocol is called L2TP (Layer Two Tunneling Protocol). The second protocol, PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol), is an older technology and considered to be less secure – a modern VPN client should work with either protocol, but Apple only allow you to activate PPTP on Lion Server via the command line. They really don’t want you to use it. So, all you need to remember is that your Lion Server VPN connection uses L2TP, if you’re asked. As we’ll see, connecting a Mac client to the Server via a VPN connection is reasonably automated, so if you forget, there won’t be a crisis.

Enabling VPN On OS X Lion Server

On your server, open up the Server app and select VPN in the left hand menu. There are not too many controls available in the VPN configuration panel, but there are a few points we need to cover in advance of switching on our VPN service.

In the panel, you’ll notice something called a Shared Secret. A Shared Secret is a string of characters (a little like a password) that exists on both the server and client. Unlike a password, you don’t need to type it in each time you wish to make a VPN connection – it sits in a file on both computers. That means you can make it completely random and reasonably long (at least 8 characters). When you try to connect to the server over VPN, the server will check with your client computer whether it has the shared secret. If so, the connection continues. If not, it won’t. So an important part of enabling a VPN connection to the server is creating that shared key and downloading it to your clients.

The next thing to mention is IP Address Range. You thought we were through all of that IP address wrangling, didn’t you? Well, we have a little more to do on our IP address configuration here, but don’t worry – it’s straightforward stuff. When you set up a VPN connection, your client computer receives an additional, second IP address that is used exclusively for that VPN connection. The first, regular, IP address is used for the network connection (whether it’s a wireless connection or wired) and the second is for your VPN traffic. It’s very important that these two IP addresses are different, so we tell the server only to offer IP addresses in a specific range that we know isn’t used for those regular network connections. For example, if the router (or server, depending on your configuration) grants network addresses in the 192.168.1.2 – 192.168.1.100 range, we should configure the VPN address range to be something like 192.168.1.150 – 192.168.1.199.

Thirdly, Port Forwarding. I covered port forwarding in Chapter 5, so refer back if you need to. Before configuring VPN on the server, ensure your router is forwarding the following ports to your server’s IP address:

• TCP 1723
• UDP 500
• UDP 1701
• UDP 4500

This ensures that when VPN requests and other traffic is received by your router from the outside world, it will send it to your server (rather than your Xbox 360 by mistake).

To read the rest of this chapter, including VPN Server anc clint configuration on OSX, Windows and iOS check out the Using OS X Server at Home eBook.

AWIECO WakeOnLAN is an add-in which enables the Home Server to start up every computer attached to your network.

The add-in shows a list of all available and connected computers within your network and allows you to start them up from any location on network or over the internet.

Version 1.2 has just been released by the developer. The new release brings support for Windows Phone 7 via a Windows Marketplace app which allows you to monitor and manage power status of your computers via your handset.

Download: AWIECO Wake on LAN

Andreas M today announced the availability of the full production release of his popular Advanced Admin Console add-in for Window Home Server 2011.  This add-in is also applicable to Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials.

For those who may not know what Advanced Admin Console 2011 can do, this add-in allows you to extend access to various parts of your server’s administration controls from within the Dashboard, including:

• Computers
• Search,
• Recycle Bin
• Server Manager
• Administrative Tools
• Services
• Control Panel
• Performance monitoring resources.
• Command Prompt,
• Windows PowerShell
• Task Manager Registry Editor

This is another add-in that has transitioned from a free WHS v1 add-in to a commercial licensed version.  Once past the 30-day trial period, you will still be able to use the add-in with some reduced functionality.  The add-in will cost $19.95.

Following the launch of the company’s 5big Backup and Storage Servers in 2010, LaCie today announced a refresh of the series in the form of the 5big Office and 5big Office+ small business servers. Powered by a choice of Windows Home Server 2011 or Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials (Microsoft’s “Breckenridge” server operating system – a close cousin of Windows SBS Essentials 2011 and Windows Home Server 2011) the products provide centralised file sharing, remote access and client backup for up to 25 users.

On the 5big Office, Lacie have teamed their now familiar, if still striking 5big hardware chassis with Microsoft’s Windows Home Server 2011 and a 1.6 GHz, dual-core Intel Atom processor, supported by 2GB RAM. A single drive storage option is available, with an additional four drive bays available for total storage up to 10TB.

A premium option, the 5big Office+ adds additional features for small business, including DFS-R/N, for integration with offsite servers, Active Directory support, a faster dual-core processor and dual Ethernet for enhanced reliability.The product is designed to integrate tightly into an existing small business network infrastructure. Unlike Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials cannot be utilised as a domain root, but can join an existing domain to provide dedicated file sharing, backup and collaboration services for the organisation.

RAID 1 and 5 data protection is available, and additional data protection is available online through integration with LaCie’s Wuala Cloud Backup service.

The LaCie 5big Office is available in single-disk 2TB capacity and the 5big Office+ is available in single-disk 2TB or five-disk 10TB capacities starting at $749.

More: LaCie

Experience Level: Standard

iHomeServer is an add-in for Windows Home Server v1 and Windows Home Server 2011 which allows you to manage Apple’s iTunes media player directly from the WHS Console/Dashboard.  iHomeServer starts iTunes automatically when the computer starts, keeps it running and allows you to manage iTunes without having to physically access the computer. It also makes it easy to add new media to your iTunes Media Server.

Features:

Automatically start iTunes on boot-up

iHomeServer runs an instance of iTunes within its own Windows Service that automatically starts when your computer/server does. Therefore iTunes is always available, even when nobody has logged into the computer.

Runs iTunes on systems with no sound cards

iTunes is meant to be run on a normal desktop. However, today’s microservers are ideal to run as a headless iTunes media server, but most do not come with sound cards. This would normally prevent you from automatically starting iTunes when the computer boots, because iTunes will present a message indicating there is a problem with your audio/video configuration. iHomeServer actively watches the iTunes process for these messages and dismisses them transparently in the background to ensure iTunes starts successfully. You can view any messages that iTunes has presented using the iHomeServer ‘Messages’ window

Manage iTunes from the Windows Home Server Console

iHomeServer supports starting and stopping iTunes from the WHS Dashboard / Console. You can also view and manage all your iTunes media libraries and playlists, directly from the WHS Dashboard – creating and managing iTunes playlists, adding, removing and playing tracks – most of your day to day tasks can be performed remotely from your laptop, but controlling your WHS server’s instance of iTunes.

Create multiple “Watch Folders” to synchronise your iTunes library with your existing media folder structure

One of the issues people face when running iTunes on servers is how to add new media to the server. The last thing you want to do is have to open iTunes manually on the server whenever you need to add a new CD or track downloaded from Amazon.

iHomeServer makes this easy. Create ‘Watch Folders’ that watch areas of your file system (such as the WHS Music and Video shares). Any content already in these folders will automatically be added to your iTunes library. iHomeServer actively monitors these folders so if new media is added, or existing media is modified (eg due to a modification of metadata), iHomeServer will update the track in iTunes transparently. You can even watch network locations or remote storage if your keep your media on another server or NAS.

Edit your iTunes server’s metadata and Cover Art remotely

iHomeServer allows you to view and edit the metadata of tracks stored within the iTunes library running on your server. This can also be done remotely via the Windows Home Server console.

You can even set track Cover Data within your Server iTunes library by copying and pasting from your local PC.

Perform batch metadata and cover art updates

Not only can you update the metadata of individual tracks, you can also use an existing track’s metadata as a template to set a collection of related tracks, just like the iTunes ‘Get Info’ interface, but via the WHS Console.

Automatically delete orphaned tracks

If you delete files directly on your file system, iTunes will keep the track in its library, but when you attempt to play the file, you will get an error indicating that the file no longer exists. iHomeServer can automatically remove deleted tracks from Watch Folder locations so that you have confidence that all your tracks in iTunes exist. You can also ask iHomeServer to perform a complete sweep of an iTunes library to look for orphaned tracks and automatically delete them. These functions are ideal if you reorganise your media folders in order to avoid duplicate files appearing.

iTunes Process Monitoring

In addition to handling iTunes for any pop up dialog boxes that might disrupt your iTunes streaming or prevent iTunes starting up successfully, iHomeServer also monitors the iTunes process and restarts iTunes automatically if it crashes.

Supports all iTunes native functionality – AirPlay, Remote, Wifi Sync, iCloud and Home Sharing

Take advantage of all the major functions within iTunes but benefit from them being ‘always there’ and not having to turn your desktop on first. Wifi Sync, AirPlay, iCloud sync and Home Sharing all work with iHomeServer.

Use the Apple Remote app (for iOS) to remote control your iHomeServer’s iTunes instance and AirPlay your media library to all your favourite devices!

The Apple Remote app for iOS devices is a fantastic partner with an iHomeServer/iTunes microstation allowing you to remote control your server’s iTunes instance and direct media streams to other devices such as Airport Expresses, Apple TV (1 and 2), iPhones, iPads and other AirPlay compatible hardware devices.

Developer: Ed Steward

Download: iHomeServer (WHS v1) | (WHS 2011)

Release History

v2.0.28 (28th January 2012)

• First release for Windows Home Server