Whilst we love Fractal Design’s Mini ITX Array NAS Chassis for its compact size and great looks, sometimes you need a case that’s a little larger – but that doesn’t mean you have to compromise on design. The company have just announced details of their new Define R3 chassis, a large (207.4 (w) x 440 (h) x 521.2 mm (d)) case for desktop and server usage which fits up to eight hard drives. As you can imagine, that kind of setup is going to need some cooling, and the Define R3 has seven fan slots available, alongside the company’s own ModuVent design allowing the user to either have optimal silence or optimal airflow by opening the top and side panels. Additional dense noise absorbing material is fitted on the side panels to further reduce vibration and noise output.

Four colours are available – Pearl Black, Titanium Grey, Silver Arrow and Arctic White with suggested retail prices starting from $99/£79.

Key features

• Stunning front panel design
• Patent pending ModuVent™ design, allowing the user to either have optimal silence or optimal airflow
• Pre-fitted with dense, noise absorbing material
• 8 white painted HDD-trays, with silicone mounting
• A total of 7 fan slots (2x120mm in front, 2x 120/140mm in top, 1x120mm in back, 1x 120/140mm in side panel, 1x 120/140mm in bottom)
• 2x 120mm Fractal Design 120mm fans included
• Fan controller for 3 fans included
• Easily removable front fan filters with clip-on holders for 120mm fans
• Supports graphic card lengths up to circa 290mm and CPU coolers with height of maximum circa 165mm
• Supports PSU’s with a depth of maximum circa 170mm, when using bottom 120/140mm fan location.
• When not using the bottom 120/140mm fan location, the case supports also longer PSU’s, typically 200-220mm.

Specifications

• 8x 3,5 inch HDD trays, compatible with SSD!
• 2x 5,25 inch bays, with 1x 5,25>3,5 inch converter included
• On top of front panel: 2x USB 2.0, 1x eSATA and Audio I/O
• No PSU included (removable filter below PSU)
• M/B compatibility: Mini ITX, Micro ATX and ATX
• 7x expansion slots with sleek white painted brackets
• Supports graphic card lengths up to circa 290mm and CPU coolers with height of maximum circa 165mm
• Supports PSU’s with a depth of maximum circa 170mm, when using bottom 120/140mm fan location.
• When not using the bottom 120/140mm fan location, the case supports also longer PSU’s, typically 200-220mm.
• Case size (WxHxD): 207.40x440x521.2mm
• Net weight: 12.50kg

More: Fractal Design

The last two years has seen Tranquil PC diversify from their core consumer business, silent Media Center PCs, into the development of a wide range of low-power home server models, from the single drive T7 series to the five bay SQA-5H. With the recently released iXL Power PC (and its big brother, the iXVL) the company are getting back to their roots with an all-new, passively cooled media center chassis, powered by Intel’s Core i3 processor. Our review model landed last week, so let’s take a look at Tranquil PC’s latest generation of media centers.

Specifications

The iXL is available in a comprehensive array of configurations, from a stripped back barebones edition (£289 + VAT) where you supply the processor, RAM, Storage, OS and optical drive through to fully built models (From £389 + VAT) which are assembled for you by the company (and personalised with laser etching if you’re so inclined). A Core i5 variant of the PC is also available for those seeking additional performance, although we found the Core i3 processor perfectly adequate for Media Center usage.

Base specifications are as follows:

Tranquil also provide options for an integrated TV tuner, with support for an internal low-profile dual tuner DVB-T (Freeview) or dual DVB-T + DVB-S/S2 for satellite owners, although this option was not supplied with our review model. A choice of standard DVD or Blu-ray drives are also available. It’s a strong specification for a modern Media Center PC. Whilst their are lower power options available in the market (notably a range of nettops offering an Intel Atom + NVIDIA ION combination) which perform well, you’ll be reassured that the Intel Core i3 will handle whatever media task you throw at it without grumbling.

There is a little overkill when it comes to storage expansion – Intel’s DH57JG motherboard, which powers the iXL, already is generously specified with an eSATA port as well as six USB 2.0 ports (one of the reasons we selected the board for our test Vail Home Server) to which Tranquil have added two extra, front-mounted USB ports plus a further two eSATA ports on the rear. Whilst I can see the logic and convenience of the front facing USB ports, three eSATA ports seems excessive for a HTPC.

Networking is handled by the motherboard’s integrated Gigabit Ethernet socket, which does a fine job of handling high definition video. An integrated 802.11n wireless option is not available, which is potentially a missing for those who do not have their living room networked.

What’s in the Box?

Unusually, open up the iXL and you’ll find your new PC is packed for protection in a Tranquil PC branded rucksack – that’s certainly a first for us.

In box you’ll find:

• Tranquil PC iXL Power PC
• External Power Supply Unit
• Power cable
• Intel DH57JG Driver CD
• Spare SATA Cable

Manuals are located on the PC itself in HTML format. Both offline and online versions are included, so you can be sure that you have the latest version of the manual when you need it.

First Looks

Tranquil PC have created a compelling design for the iXL – clad in black satin aluminium, the iXL is one of the best looking PCs we’ve seen from the company, with rounded corners which call to mind the retro radios of the 1950s.

But that’s where the retro analogies end, as the iXL packs in a whole lot of cutting edge hardware. Many companies out there can ship a bunch of off the shelf components in a reasonable looking box, but it’s clear that Tranquil PC have taken a lot of care in engineering a great looking, but highly functional design that utilises a series of fins on the right hand side for passive cooling. The chassis itself is robust, well constructed and compared to some of the hardware we’ve reviewed from the company, has been assembled extremely well, with no rough edges. It’s the best we’ve seen from Tranquil PC.

Hitachi today announced the launch of its LifeStudio range of portable and desktop storage, which not only stores your data but helps you acquire and organise your music, videos, photos and documents on PCs, connected USB devices and social networks.

The LifeStudio drives are bundled with CoolIris’ “3D Wall” browser, displaying photos, images and videos stored on the device in an animated, scrollable window allowing you to view large thumbnails of all of the content stored. Images can be searched and posted to Facebook, Flickr and Picasa all from within the 3D browser.

Cloud backup is included with all models in the range, courtesy of the Hitachi Backup application, which offers 3GB of storage for free plus the option of a 250GB annual subscription at $49, which includes support for multiple computers.

Hitachi’s LifeStudio Plus drives also offer a dockable 4GB USB key that syncs with the drive – a unique feature that allows the user to grab and go with the files they need for the day, before returning home and syncing any updates back to the drive. All drives are USB 2.0 compatible.

LifeStudio Mobile

Hitachi’s entry-level 2.5” mobile drive includes a pre-loaded copy of Hitachi’s Backup and LifeStudio apps, and is available in 250GB ($79.99), 320GB ($99.99) and 500GB ($119.99) capacities.

LifeStudio Mobile Plus

Available in 320GB ($119.99) and 500GB ($139.99) capacities, the LifeStudio Mobile Plus includes a 4GB MicroSD storage key which syncs with the main drive. Hitachi’s Backup and LifeStudio software are also included.

LifeStudio Desk

The entry-level desk drive has the same software complement as its mobile cousins and comes in 500GB ($99.99), 1TB ($129.99) and 2TB ($199.99) flavours.

LifeStudio Desk Plus

Finally, the Desk Plus is only available in 1TB ($149.99) and 2TB ($249.99) capacities, but you do get that 4GB USB Key (at a $50 premium, that’s a pretty expensive USB Key)

The drives look pretty good, and the dockable USB key is fun, if a little gimmicky but it’s surprising to see there’s no USB 3.0 support available on a supposedly ”cutting edge” drive. We’ve seen the CoolIris software pop up on a number of NAS devices recently, and it’s certainly diverting for a while, but I’m not sure if it’ll transform your media consumption in the long term.

For more, head over to Hitachi’s dedicated site.

More: LifeStudio

Press Release:

Hitachi GST Redefines External Storage with the LifeStudio(TM) Drive Family

Meet the Hard Drive Evolved: Going Beyond Simple Design Changes, Storage and Backup, Hitachi LifeStudio Drives are the First and Only All-in-One External Drives that Make it Easier to Organize, Protect and Relive Life’s Greatest Moments

–Automatic Organization and Easy Sharing: First drive in the industry that automatically pulls together and organizes your photos, videos, music and documents from your computer, any connected USB device or your social media outlets; making them easier to access, view and share. Easily upload, view and interact with photos on Facebook(TM), Flickr(TM) and Picasa Web Albums(TM) without leaving the app.

–Stunning 3D Navigation: The only external drive that effortlessly displays all your favorite memories on a 3D wall so you no longer need to dig through folders and files to find them.

–Backup Redefined: Hitachi LifeStudio drives take data protection to the next level, offering both local and online cloud backup in one integrated solution, within one interface — no more downloading and installing two separate programs. All online content is stored in its natural format, so files are available from any Internet browser anywhere in the world, and even from an iPhone(R) and iPad(R).

–Access to Favorite Premium Content: For the first time within an external drive, users can search, filter, watch or subscribe to millions of titles from online content providers. Catch the latest news, TV shows and music videos, or even play online games all from within the LifeStudio app.

–Grab n’ Go Flexibility: Pushing design boundaries beyond a hard drive in a box, LifeStudio Plus external drives are the first in the industry that feature an integrated USB key for ultimate flexibility. The USB key easily syncs content for grab n’ go convenience.

Meet the hard drive evolved: the Hitachi LifeStudio external hard drive family. During the last decade, external hard drives have offered little beyond design changes and simple storage and backup. With the new LifeStudio family, launched today by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST), the company is breaking through the long-established confines of the category and delivering an external drive that combines highly reliable storage and new levels of data protection with content organization, management, socialization and navigation for both local and online content.

The LifeStudio family, offered in both portable and desktop models, creates an unprecedented solution that seamlessly pulls in, organizes and protects consumers’ priceless stored digital content — photos, videos, music and documents — and unifies them with online digital content from social networks such as Facebook and photo sites such as Flickr and Picasa Web Albums. These important digital memories are laid out on a stunning 3D visual wall, instead of in random and hard-to-find files and folders, creating a comprehensive and organized catalog of the user’s digital life. Redefining backup, consumers receive the benefits of both local and cloud backup within one single application, making it easy to view, download, and share protected cloud content from any web browser, anywhere.

“Our LifeStudio drive starts where others stop,” said Mike Williams, vice president and general manager, Branded Business for Hitachi GST. “These drives aren’t just about interfaces and capacity, or backup. While these elements are important in an external storage solution, the value comes in creating lifestyle solutions that become part of the way we organize and relive digital memories. Our LifeStudio solution connects consumers to their online and local content in a more intimate way than ever before. For the first time, consumers truly have an integrated experience — one solution to find, view, protect and relive their digital memories. This is a huge milestone for our category.”

“Personal storage solutions have become an integral part of a consumer’s digital life in terms of providing simple storage and backup,” says Liz Conner, senior research analyst at IDC. “Pushing these boundaries, Hitachi’s new LifeStudio drive brings an innovative approach to the market, addressing how consumers organize, navigate and relive digital memories, seamlessly across multiple digital devices and online sites. Coupled with Hitachi’s local and cloud backup strategy, end users truly have an all-in-one solution to help manage their digital life.”

Automatic Organization and Easy Sharing on a Stunning 3D Wall

Today it’s not just early adopters using external drives to store and protect their digital lives — it’s a huge segment of the population that are deeply connected to the content they create, collect and share. Hitachi research has shown that organization is one of the most frustrating components of a consumer’s digital life. Often hectic lifestyles lead to a lack of time spent organizing the growing amount of digital content received daily. What’s left is a random storage process, which multiplies a user’s frustration when trying to backup, share, find and relieve memories. Additionally, much of what consumers’ value from a content perspective is online and socialized on dozens or hundreds of sites. Hitachi is cleaning up the “digital mess” with the LifeStudio family of drives because, in the end, it’s about content — protecting it, reliving it and sharing it.

After a quick install of the software, the drive’s innovative technology instantly kicks in. Your content — photos, videos, music and documents stored on your computer, any connected USB storage device or online sites such as Facebook, Flickr and Picasa Web Albums — automatically begins to appear in chronological order on your stunning 3D wall. Music is organized by artist or album. Now all of your most precious digital content is easily available at your finger tips. No more searching through files and folders.

Breakthrough Backup

Revolutionizing the way consumers protect their content, the Hitachi LifeStudio drive is the first to provide local and online cloud backup integrated into one single solution, within one install process. The LifeStudio application gives users multiple ways to easily protect their digital content on site or in the cloud. Every customer receives 3GB of online storage for free and for more storage there is an option to upgrade to a quarter of a terabyte (250GB) for only $49 per year, which includes multiple computer protection.

Hitachi Backup(TM) is simple and easy-to-use with default options that cover virtually every Mac(TM) or PC(TM) users’ backup needs. When using Hitachi’s cloud service, all content is stored in its natural format (no proprietary formatting), so files are protected and easy to view, download and share from any web browser, anywhere, even from an iPhone(R) and iPad(R). Backup runs every 30 minutes or can be scheduled at one’s convenience.

LifeStudio Plus Drives with Integrated USB Keys

Hitachi understands the need to fit into consumers’ fast-paced, increasingly digital lifestyles. The LifeStudio products move beyond a hard drive in a box, into a category all their own. The patent-pending design of the LifeStudio Plus family provides the ultimate in flexibility with an integrated 4GB USB key, which provides a quick way to sync important files and folders for grab n’ go ease.

With the LifeStudio Plus family, the drive’s content management software conveniently allows you to select specific files or folders to sync to the USB key. As a result, users can simply remove the key and take what they need, while leaving the rest of their content safely stored at home. On return, the key docks on the drive to automatically sync everything back together.

Pricing and Availability

Designed for both Mac and PC users, the LifeStudio USB 2.0 external drive family comes in both mobile and desktop solutions. Each comes preloaded with the Hitachi LifeStudio content management app and Hitachi Backup software. Hitachi LifeStudio external drives will be available at retail and online stores in mid-July.

Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing for the LifeStudio drive
family includes:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LifeStudio Mobile         $79.99      250GB     Platinum and graphite color options
                          $99.99      320GB
                          $119.99     500GB
----------------------    -------     -----     -----------------------------------
LifeStudio Mobile Plus    $119.99     320GB     Platinum and graphite color options
                          $139.99     500GB
----------------------    -------     -----     -----------------------------------
LifeStudio Desk           $99.99      500GB     Black
                          $129.99     1TB
                          $199.99     2TB
----------------------    -------     -----     -----------------------------------
LifeStudio Desk Plus      $149.99     1TB       Black
                          $219.99     2TB
----------------------    -------     -----     -----------------------------------

For more information please visit www.LifeStudio.com or check out the LifeStudio social media profiles:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LifeStudioStorage

Twitter: www.twitter.com/_LifeStudio_

YouTube: www.youtube.com/LifeStudioStorage

Vying for your attention in the Mini-HTPC category is Shuttle’s X350, a fan-less, 1.5” thin PC powered by our favourite CPU/GPU combo, the Intel Atom D510 processor and NVIDIA ION2. With HDMI out and 1080P video support, the X350 looks like it’ll do a great job for high definition media in the living room.

The base spec starts at a very reasonable $399, which gives you:

OPERATING SYSTEM
Microsoft Windows® 7

PROCESSOR
Intel® Atom™ D510 Dual Core 1.66GHz

MEMORY
1GB DDR2 (Up to 2GB)

CHIPSET
Intel NM10 Express Chipset

STORAGE
160GB SATA 2.5″ HDD (Up to 500GB)

CARD READER
Integrated 4-IN-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/XD)

GRAPHIC CARD
Integrated Intel GMA 3150 (With VGA Output) / Nvidia ION2 w/ X350 Ion Model

Optical Drive
DVD Super-Multi writer drive SATA 12.7 height

NETWORK
802.11b/g/n (Built-In Wireless)
10MB/s,100MB/s,1GB/s

POWER
External 40W fanless power supply

Front Panel
Power-on Button
4 in 1 Card Reader
1 x USB port

BACK PANEL

1 x D-sub Port
1 x HDMI (ION 2 Model)
4 x USB Port
Microphone input
Head Phone Output (Line-out)
LAN
WLAN 802.11 b/g/n
VGA
HDMI (Optional ION 2 Model)
Kensington lock
DC-input for Power Supply

DIMENSION
(W) 1.5 x (H) 6.4 x (D) 9.9 Inches
Optional: VESA 75/100 mounting kit

The NVIDIA ION2 GPU is an upgrade option, which we’d encourage you to go for, to take advantage of the extra horsepower.

More: Shuttle

HP today announced a new range of “smart” external USB hard drives which are designed to make desktop and notebook computer backups a cinch.

The HP SmartSave drive is available in Portable (2.5”) and Desktop (2.5”) sizes from 320Gb to 2Tb, and comes with pre-installed backup software on board which performs the initial backup of the PC, but then is smart enough to track and only backup subsequent file changes whenever the PC is idle.

A single drive can be used to back up multiple PCs in the home, with backups clearly identified by name. Hardware fans will be glad to know that both sizes of drives are powered by the computer’s USB socket, and no external power supply is required.

Features:

• Generous storage space:  The ultra portable 2.5-inch SimpleSave portable is available in 320GB and 500GB. The 3.5-inch SimpleSave Desktop ships with 1TB or 2TB of storage.
• Hundreds of file formats supported:  Supports the most common file types for photo, music and documents including, jpg, mpeg, bmp, gif, tif, mp3, aac, xls, ppt, doc, pdf, tax, qdf and many more.
• Frequent backup update: Backs up new and changed files every time the PC is idle for five minutes.
• Plug-and-play storage: Connect it to a USB port and it’s ready to use.
• Support for large files: NTFS file system offers improved support for metadata and use of advanced data structures, improving performance, reliability and disk space.
• Two-year warranty

Expect to find the range in stores in August (USA), suggested pricing as follows:

SimpleSave Portable:  320GB, $119.99; 2.5-inch hard drive, 500GB, $149.

SimpleSave Desktop:  1TB hard drive , $149.99; 2TB hard drive, $329.99

Western Digital have just launched a new 2TB drive – the maximum capacity of your home server just got a little larger.

Check it out:

As hard drive capacities increase, the power required to run those drives increases as well. WD Caviar Green drives make it possible for energy-conscious customers to build systems with higher capacities and the right balance of system performance, ensured reliability, and energy conservation.

Reduced power consumption – WD has reduced power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to standard desktop drives with the combination of WD’s IntelliSeek™, NoTouch™, and IntelliPower™ technologies.

Helps enable eco-friendly PCs – WD Caviar Green drives yield an average drive power savings of 4-5 watts over standard desktop drives making it possible for our energy-conscious customers to build systems with higher capacities and the right balance of system performance, ensured reliability, and energy conservation.

Cool and quiet – GreenPower™ technology yields lower operating temperatures for increased reliability and low acoustics for ultra-quiet PCs and external drives.

Massive capacity – Capacities up to 2 TB offer the most available capacity for storage-intensive programs and space-hungry operating systems, like Window Vista®, with plenty of room left over for photos, music, and video.

Perfect for external drives – External drive manufacturers can eliminate the need for a fan in a high-capacity product with a WD Caviar Green drive, the coolest and quietest in its class.

IntelliPower – A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance.

IntelliSeek – Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration. View demo >

NoTouch ramp load technology – The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.

Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) – Employs PMR technology to achieve even greater areal density.

StableTrac™ – The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations. (2 TB models only)

Low power spin-up – WD Caviar Green drives consume less current during startup allowing lower peak loads.

Advanced power technology – Electronic components deliver best-in-class low power consumption for reduced power requirements and increased reliability.

Ideal For
Environmentally friendly PCs and external storage requiring lower power consumption and cool, quiet operation.

More Info: Western Digital

Whilst Jungle Disk already offer an add-in for Windows Home Server which allows you to use their online backup service, its feature set is pretty limited compared to the desktop edition of the software.

A new add-in by Pål Andreassen allows you to install an monitor Jungle Disk’s standard desktop software on your home server, and monitor it via the WHS Console.

So, you can now use all of the features of Jungle Disk desktop edition on your home server!

Requirements

- Jungle Disk Desktop Edition must be already installed on the home server.

- This Add-In has only been tested on the latest Jungle Disk version (2.5)

Known Issues

- Setting window does not save path to junglediskmonitor.exe

- This version requires jungle disk to be installed to C:Program FilesJungle Disk Desktop

- For some reason the jungle disk monitor seems to flicker when run inside the Home Server Console

- Still no setup MSI package. Installation is manual for now.

- Some times you need to click the “Jungle Disk” icon in the toolbar twice before the application loads

Download: Jungle Disk WHS (Desktop Edition) | Community Support

Tranquil PC are looking for beta testers for their new online backup service, which will be launching later in the year for Windows Home Server plus additional operating systems.

The service, Tranquil Life Server will be launched as an add-in for WHS and the company are looking for between 50 and 100 testers to test the loading of Tranquil’s servers.

The WHS add-in is not yet currently available, but if you are interested in testing the new service, you can download a desktop application, and set up a number of folders for backing up.

In return, Tranquil PC may upgrade a number of testers to the full WHS application at launch.

If you wish to participate, simply download the beta application or contact TLS@tranquilpc.co.uk to request a copy.

In another place and time (8 years ago), my oldest went off to college.  She wanted a laptop for college.  I tried to persuade her to get a desktop, but she insisted.  She was going to take it to classes and take notes on her laptop.  Yea, right…  What I thought, at the time, was not a great idea is now common.  #3 kid started college this fall and it seems that everyone takes a laptop to college.  I guess that they, boys at least, want their desk space for their gaming box of choice, not for a computer!

Back to my oldest.  Eventually, the laptop computer I got her went to the recycle bin at our local landfill.  For some reason, I inherited the case for this machine.  It was a real nice Samsonite case, but worthless for the computers out there now.  It was simply too small.  I really hated to throw away such a nice item, so it sat around gathering dust for a year or so.

One day, I was doing a mod to one of my computers.  I went to one bin to get parts.  I went to one drawer to get tools.  I went to another place to get something else I needed.  Get the picture?  Organization is not one of my strong points, but this was ridiculous!

Then I spotted that case sitting in the corner and the light bulb came on.  I gathered up all my computer tools and moding stuff and instant organization!  I can now find all my computer tools and associated moding stuff in one place.  I no longer spend half an hour looking for that little connector I need to make a wiring harness!

So, if you have an old laptop bag/case sitting around, be green!  Don’t throw it away.  Give it new life and organize yourself.  What follows are some pictures of the case and what I keep in it.

Overall case shot:

 Curious cat:

 Backside:

Another backside shot: 

 Frontside:

 A close-up of the frontside pouch:

 Inside:

 The tool/parts hoarde:

As you can see, it has more compartments than Carter has pills!  Green is good and organization is bliss!

MyMovies is an excellent movie collection program for Windows Media Center (See my earlier review). The author has now turned his attention to a Windows Home Server version, cunningly called MyMovies for Windows Home Server.

So what functions does this new version bring? In a nutshell it has automated disc copy, automatic monitoring of shared WHS folders and now functions as a meta data provider for other video collection programs. The last function is especially interesting, which I’ll cover later.

Automatic Disc Copy

This new feature is a strange one. One of the ‘features’ of Windows Home Server is that it is intended to be run as a headless unit without a DVD drive. Designing an add-in that specifically requires a DVD drive seems to be a bit odd. Anyhow for those of you who want to be able to rip your entire DVD collection to your home server this is the one for you! Basically all you do is pop the disc into your DVD drive (I used a USB drive attached to my MediaSmart server to test this) and MyMovies will copy it to your shared video folder. If you want to copy commercial DVD’s (which is illegal in some countries) then you will also have to install a second application, AnyDVD, on the home server itself. If you don’t/can’t have a DVD drive in your home server, you can still copy to it using the MyMovies client running on any desktop PC with a DVD drive.

Folder Monitor

This part of the add-in will keep an eye on your video share and add any new video files to your database. This part is a little clunky at the moment as it will find any video file in the Videos folder. I have all the Quintin family videos in there, and of course MyMovies has no idea what they are and cannot provide data for it. You currently cannot set a sub folder of a share as a ‘rip’ folder, which will hopefully be fixed in the next version.

Meta Server

This part of the add-in is very interesting. The regular MyMovies Collection program has great metadata for DVD’s but the actual Media Center plug-in user interface is not quite as good as the inbuilt Microsoft DVD library (which is available with a small registry hack). Now you can run a small program to change the DVD library to use your home server to provide the metadata. I’ve tried it and I like what I see. Originally I couldn’t get the Microsoft DVD Library to work quite right, but now it looks great with MyMovies DVD artwork and Metadata. The only let down is that it won’t grab artwork for any movies recorded by your Media Center. Media Center users outside of the US don’t get any cover art for recorded movies, so hopefully MyMovies can fill this gap in the future.

So is MyMovies for WHS the plug-in for you? I will certainly be uninstalling MyMovies from my Media Center PC, and running the Microsoft DVD Library full time as I feel it has a better user interface. I know I will lose the copy feature directly on the MC box, so I will use the copy functions of the MyMovies Client running on my desktop PC and rip to the WHS.

Overall a solid step in the right direction.

Windows Home Server add-ins are brilliant, but not without their problems. At some point we have all been there – without thinking about it, it’s so easy to delete that little used add-in from the add-ins folder on your home server then kick ourselves for not uninstalling it properly via the WHS Console. Another common problem with add-ins is that an old version of an add-in won’t play nice and uninstall properly when a new version comes along. In these scenarios, what can you do?

Manually removing add-ins by editing the registry is a pain and may be beyond those who are not familiar with this kind activity.

The solution comes via Nick from Asoft, who brought us the delightful Asoft AutoExit for Windows Home Server, and has produced another invaluable tool in the form of the Asoft Addin Cleanup Tool.

Not only will this tool remove stalled add-ins from the registry it will also create a backup in case you delete the wrong add-in, what a fantastic tool

Installation is via remote desktop conenction to the WHS by placing the a copy of the file ‘addincleanup.exe’ into the folder c:program fileswindows home server. Once done I would suggest placing a shortcut to the tool on the server desktop.

Nick is very clear that this does not replace using the WHS Console to remove add-ins themselves. I am sure he is talking from extensive testing that using the tool to remove an add-in that is not hanging can cause ”a lot of misery”! However a backup of the registry is made at the time the addin is removed and can be found on the WHS under the folder c:tempaddinbackup_yyyy_MM_dd_hh_mm_ss.reg.

Download: Addin Cleanup Tool | Discuss

This is the fourth in a series of articles detailing how one network went from dilapidated junker to media hero with the help of WMC and WHS.  For an overview of the scope and purpose of this project, I would encourage you to review Part 1.

Onward to the Living Room

When I first started this series, I explained that my ultimate goal was to provide some insight into how to use Windows Media Center and Windows Home Server together in an environment full of novice users.  So far, most of the discussion has been centered on the network infrastructure and back end.  As I indicated at the end of Part 3, my wife was less than impressed with the server.  I did manage to show off a little bit when I hooked our printer up to the server and showed my wife how we could now print from our laptops from the couch, but I have to make clear that I considered her general lack of interest to be a success.  In the weeks since I initially installed the WHS, it has happily hummed along backing up the systems on our home network and synching our files, become the container for more media than any one family should be allowed to consume, and generally gone unnoticed by the rest of family.  This was the plan.

The next step was bringing a Media Center into the living room.  I will approach this topic in two phases.  First, I will take you inside the new hardware and try to give some insight into why I selected the components that I did.  It is not a fancy system, but my purchasing decisions were guided by practical experience with WMC and HTPCs in general.  Then, I will give some suggestions on how to set up WMC to seamlessly take advantage of WHS.

The new HTPC

When planning my son’s new system, I knew right away that it would be Intel-based.  He wanted it for gaming and general purpose use and I wanted it to last many moons in that role as he matures and begins to use a computer seriously.  When planning my new WMC system for the living room, I knew right away that it would be AMD-based.  I wanted it to be as quiet and power conscious as possible while handily pushing 1080p video and 5.1 audio.  As such, my eyes turned immediately toward the one-two combo of the 45W Athlon 64 X2 4850e and the RS780 integrated chipset.

System Specs

Processor – AMD Athlon 64 X2 4850e

Dissipating a cool 45W, this little dual-core processor seems tailor-made for HTPC applications and WHS applications.  It provides more than enough horsepower for HD television, Blu-ray and HD-DVD playback, and even some mid-level gaming if you are so inclined.  Put it in the right case, and it can even be passively cooled.

Motherboard – Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H

Nvidia, Ati/AMD, and Intel have been racing to develop the perfect mainstream integrated graphics processor.  One of the key criteria for me has been the ability to play back 1080p video, something that the ATI Radeon HD3200 GPU on this board handles with ease.  My home theater receiver lacks HDMI audio requiring that I have a separate digital audio output, which can severely limit one’s motherboard choices.  Think carefully about the motherboard features you desire or need.  The more high quality choices you can find integrated into a board, the more expansion slots you can save for TV tuners, video card upgrades, or other desired upgrades.

System Memory – 4gb DDR800 RAM

The usual rule applies: the more system memory the better, especially if you want to run a 64-bit OS.

Hard Drive – 500gb Seagate 7200.11 SATA

The hard drive will be the target of my first upgrade.  From three to four feet, the system is silent, except for the chatter of the hard drive.  The fact of the matter is that a pure HTPC does not need a large desktop drive.  In my case, the WHS holds all of the media content, so the internal drive’s only real purpose is to serve as the repository for the OS and installed software, recorded television, and as the live TV buffer.  I plan to replace this drive with a petite laptop drive.  A laptop hard drive is considerably quieter than a desktop drive anyway, but encase it in the Scythe SQD2.5-1000 hard drive silencer and it will be effectively silent and will fit perfectly into the standard 3.5″ bay of your average case.  Flash based SSDs promise an even quieter future for HTPC enthusiasts, but I do not consider these devices cost-effective just yet.  Perhaps next year.

TV Tuners – ATI Theater 550 pro and AVerMedia PCI-E Combo tuner (M780R)

The tuners were left over from my original Media Center and I could not justify replacing them.  If I were buying again today, I would spring for a pair of Theater 650 Pro cards.  I have always been pleased with the image quality of the 550 Pro card and have read that the 650 Pro is perhaps even a bit better, but I know that other tuner manufacturers have their fans and that certain manufacturers fare better in different regions and with different broadcast standards, so research this choice carefully.  If you are worried about watching and recording television, your choice of tuner card will likely be of paramount importance.

Enclosure – Antec NSK 1380

I used the predecessor to this case, the Antec Aria, for my first WMC system and have subsequently used it in builds for other people.  The NSK 1380 lacks the built-in media reader of the Aria, but this is actually a bonus as the reader was a tremendous dust magnet.  This relatively petite, sound dampened case leaves plenty of room for a microATX board with a full load of expansion cards, 1-3 hard drives, a surprisingly quiet power supply, and an optical drive.  There are a number of case manufacturers out there making cases specifically for the HTPC market.  Most of these cases are designed for full-size ATX boards and are designed to blend into a stack of consumer electronic devices.  Such systems tend to be quieter than the average mid tower, but not always by much, and tend to have a good-sized footprint.  I would prefer an HTPC be as small as possible even at the cost of expandability and gaming potential, but that is obviously a personal choice. 

One advantage of many of the bigger HTPC cases is that they include a small display on the front allowing one to access media, particularly music, without charging up the WMC’s display.  I have struggled with the issue of accessing the music collection without using the main display for a while.  I have an RDP shortcut on each of the laptops to access the WMC, but this is not the most family friendly solution.  A small screen on the front of the case can be difficult to see and can pose navigation challenges even for experienced users.  I had even toyed with the idea of placing a small lcd television alongside the main display, set to clone mode to use for music playback and photo slideshows during parties.  I had high hopes that Windows SideShow would present a solution to this problem and there is still reason to be optimistic now that Microsoft has a Media Center SideShow control gadget in the works, but the hardware has been painfully slow to come to market.  My current thought is to pick up an inexpensive PDA such as the HP iPaq 111 to use as a SideShow remote, but I continue to drool over the nascent Ricavision SideShow devices.

Optical Drive – Lite-on Blu-ray drive

Got it cheap and couldn’t resist.  The idea of buying a read-only drive might seem strange to many people, but an HTPC is not a content creation machine, it is media playing machine.  If I could have gotten a burner for the same price, then bonus, but it is not necessary.

I have enjoyed playing Blu-ray discs on my Media Center, but I do not consider these players ready for the average living room just yet.  The problem lies in the software.  Most of the software available to play back Blu-ray discs does not integrate well into WMC.  Cyberlink’s PowerDVD, however maligned by enthusiasts, has been the most stable player so far, but it requires exiting from WMC to access.  I have tried adding a link to the WMC menu to automatically exit the WMC interface and launch PowerDVD, but it is kludgy and PowerDVD does not always recognize the commands of the WMC remote.  Arcsoft makes a product called TotalMedia Theater which installs a link in the WMC menu and opens a 10-foot interface that effectively makes use of the WMC remote.  TMT is not as CPU and GPU efficient as PowerDVD and I have experienced an unfortunate amount of instability transitioning back and forth between WMC and TMT.  In time, I assume that either Microsoft or one of the media playback vendors will arrive at an effective solution.  Arcsoft is close, but they are not quite there.

Deploying the HTPC

Fully assembled with Vista installed, the new system took its place in the living room.  An HTPC is essentially a headless computer.  The only point of interface is the media center software.  I get around this limitation by using Vista Ultimate and setting up an RDP connection, but you can achieve the same effect directly by keeping a keyboard and mouse handy.  Either way, I tend to think of the WMC interface as the great Wizard of Oz, a powerful public persona, but a facade.  I do not want the family to see the little man behind the curtain, but there will be tell-tale signs in the WMC library.

Library Setup

With Windows Vista, the music, video and picture collections are combined into a single giant library.  One of the first things you will want to do is add your WHS shared folders to the library.  Doing so will allow you to store all of your media on the server for access through the WMC, but each of the shared folders will show up in the videos and pictures interface with the UNC as the label.  Also, no matter how fast your network, local media will pop into view faster than media on the network.  You will have the opportunity to add the network shares as part of the initial WMC setup, but you can add new folders anytime you want.  In the WMC interface, scroll down to the Tasks control menu.  Flick right to the settings option and you can access library setup.  Alternatively, you can enter any of the collection folders and open the more info menu with a right-click or by pressing the i-more button on the WMC remote.  The library setup wizard will present you with the option of adding a folder to watch and then ask whether the folder is local or on another computer.  There is no need to map network drives to the shared folders.  Simply select the option to find the shared folders from another computer and the server’s shared folders will become selectable.

Movies

Setting up WMC for movies requires some choices be made ahead of time.  Windows Media Center has DVD playback built into the interface with the Play DVD option under the TV + Movies control menu.  If your family only watches one disc at at time, this is fine, but if you plan to rip your DVD collection as VOBs to your WHS, it would be advisable to enable the DVD library option for WMC.  DVD library shows not only the disc you inserted, but also the movies you have recorded off of television and can be pointed to VOB files stored in VIDEO_TS folders on the hard drive in the same way that you can add folders to the general media collections.  The easiest way to enable the gallery view is with a registry hack:

1. Exit Windows Media Center.  From the desktop, press the Windows Logo (Start button) and type regedit into the search box.  You need to type the entire name in order to make the program shortcut appear.

2. Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionMedia CenterSettingsDvdSettings

3. In the results pane, right-click the registry key entitled ShowGallery, and then select Modify.

4. Clear the contents of the value data box and replace it with Gallery and then click OK.

5. Restart Windows Media Center.  The Play DVD option on the TV + Movies control menu will have been replaced with DVD library. 

When you insert a disc into Windows Media Center, WMC pulls metadata about the disc from AMG.  This dvdid metadata information is stored in a hidden folder in the account User folder.  If you want to take advantage of this stored metadata then I would recommend checking out the good folks over at www.dvdxml.com.  They have detailed instructions about how to apply the dvdid to your VOB folders and by registering you can access and add to their growing database of dvdids.  If you do not want to use the dvdid metadata or have home movies stored in a VOB format, it might be advantageous to add images to your movie folders to help make your movie collection more user friendly.  Simply add a JPG image of your choice to the folder that contains the VOB files and rename it to folder.jpg.  The movie’s generic placeholder icon in the DVD library will now be skinned with the image.  Keep in mind that the image will be resized to a rectangular shape similar in proportion to a DVD case.  As such, I find it best to use images similar to those one might find on Amazon or IMdB.

Unfortunately, the DVD library is restricted to movies recorded off of television, DVD discs, and DVDs ripped as VOBs in the VIDEO_TS folder format.  If you plan on building a movie collection using a mix of different WMC compatible file types, your movies can be added to your video library.  However, WMC does not offer much in the way of metadata outside of the DVD library and music library, so any movie collection you place in the video library will appear somewhat spartan.  For a mixed collection with complete metadata options, I suggest using a third-party movie management collection plug-in.  There are a variety of such plug-ins available, most of them free, open-source projects in various stages of development that I have enjoyed testing and using.  The best known, most mature, and really the best choice for an environment of novice users, is My Movies.

Television

I have saved the discussion of television for the end.  The topic of integrating WMC’s DVR functions with WHS has generated a great deal of discussion.  The allure of sharing one’s recorded television throughout the house has inspired a great deal of tinkering and testing by enthusiasts around the world.  There are ways to set up WMC to record directly to WHS and there are enthusiast projects afoot to bring Media Center to WHS, but after weeks of tinkering and testing of my own, I have come to the conclusion that the best solution for integrating WMC and WHS is to leave the heavy lifting to WMC.  I suspect that WHSv2 will bring some other solutions, but for now, the other solutions to involve WHS in the recording process tend to be temperamental or overly network intensive. 

Since my goal is to keep the network and WMC setup as stable and user-friendly as possible, I suggest leaving the recording functions to the WMC and then transferring the recordings over to the server for storage and network-wide access.

1. Start with the WHS.  Create a shared folder.  You can either add a subfolder to one of the default shared folders, or create a new shared folder, but it is best to use a folder name without spaces.  WMC tends to get cranky about updating its watched folders if you use spaces in the folder name.

2. Set the permissions on the folder to allow your Media Center machines full access to the folder.

3. Switch to your WMC machine and exit Media Center.  From the desktop, press the Windows Logo (Start button) and type regedit into the search box.  You need to type the entire name in order to make the program shortcut appear.

4. Navigate to the following key:

HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionMedia CenterServiceRecording

5. In the results pane, right-click the registry key entitled WatchedFolders, and then select Modify.

6. Clear the contents of the value data box and replace it with the UNC path to the shared folder that you created on the WHS and then click OK.

7. Restart Windows Media Center.

If you are setting up a WMC machine without a TV tuner, or have not set up the tuner on your machine yet, there will not be a WatchedFolders entry.  If you do not have a WatchedFolders entry in the registry, you can add one.

1. Select Edit –> New –> String Value

2. Name the new entry in the results pane, WatchedFolders

3. Return to step 2 above.

Now, there are three ways you can go about transferring your recordings over.

• If you are a code monkey, then you can try writing a script that will move your recordings as a scheduled task.  This route would be beyond my ken.  Sorry.
• Use TV Manager.  This is a relatively new WHS add-in, but has quickly grown in popularity due to its rapid development cycle, straightforward features, tight WHS integration, and low, low price of free.  The recent 1.01 update adds new functionality to access recordings through the WHS web page.
• Use Recorded TV Manger.  This commercial WHS add-in has been around almost as long as WHS itself and has grown into a tremendously powerful television management system.  If you want complete control over how different media centers on your network access television and are interested in collecting complete seasons of television series, then this is the add-in you want.

Enjoy!

At the end of the day, I had two advantages going for me when I brought this new media center into the living room.  First, this was not my family’s first experience with Windows Media Center.  I had installed a PC in the living room before and we had been using an Xbox 360 as an extender for some time.  Second, my wife is patient.  It is this second advantage that matters most and that I will explore in more detail in my next article.