HP EX475 MediaSmart Home Server (AMD Live, Windows Home Server, 1 TB Hard Drive)

Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard
Customer Rating:

, based on 109 reviews

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Editorial Review:

Conveniently centralize your files and access them from an internet-connected computer
1 TB of storage space on 2 500GB hard drives, expands via 2 additional hard drive bays.
Automatically backup and protect the digital memories on your home PCs running Windows XP and later operating systems
Stream photos, music and videos to PCs on your network or to your TV or stereo system
Powered by Microsoft Windows Home Server software and 1.8 GHz, 64-bit AMD Sempron processor

Maximize the power and potential of your home network with the HP EX475 MediaSmart Server, which enables you to conveniently centralize your files and access them from multiple PCs in your home. Based on AMD Live processing power, the MediaSmart Server enables you to back up your home's PCs as well as share and enjoy digital music, home videos and photos from any computer or entertainment system on a home network. The server also has the expandability to grow with your family's changing needs.

The stylish HP MediaSmart Server easily fits into your living room or office decor.

Its small size will fit on top of even the most crowded desk, and it offers wireless access when connected to a Wi-Fi router (via the Gigabit Ethernet port).

This sleek, streamlined micro-tower design is perfect for use in the home office or the living room, and its perforated steel exterior panels provide cool, quiet operation. The EX475 MediaSmart Server features 1 TB of capacity (2x500 GB drives, SATA, 7200 RPM), 512 MB of installed DDR2 RAM, four hard drive bays for additional expansion using off-the-shelf SATA I or II hard drives, a Gigabit Ethernet port for ultra-fast networking (and connection to a wireless router), four USB 2.0 ports (1 on the front, 3 on the back) for connecting to additional hard drives, and an and an eSATA port for high-speed data transfer to external storage devices--up to 6 times faster than existing solutions.

It's quick and easy to set up your HP MediaSmart Server and create up to 10 user accounts using the Microsoft Windows Home Server software. You can also open a predefined Guest account for additional file sharing capabilities. The HP MediaSmart Server also lets you set up your own secure personal web address to allow file access by remote users.

Easily Enhance Your Network

Expand your storage possibilities with the MediaServer's four hard drive bays.

Every PC on your network will have the Control Center software, giving users the ability to browse shared folders on the HP MediaSmart Server, add photos to the HP Photo Webshare and perform an immediate backup of their computer. Set the access privileges for each user at the shared-folder level to allow Read/Write, Read Only or No Access. You also control the remote access privilege for each user. Approved users will then be able to remotely access shared files and even applications on their home PC through a secure connection from any Internet-connected PC.

AMD LIVE Smarter Digital Entertainment

Share Your Media
Use included HP Photo Webshare software to easily and securely share photos stored on your HP MediaSmart Server with select friends and family. A quick link to Snapfish allows easy photo printing. Enjoy digital music, photos, video and files from any networked PC. Stream content directly to your home entertainment center using a digital media adapter (DMA). The DMA device accesses the media files and coordinates the streaming process between the HP MediaSmart Server and your entertainment device.

Protect Your Data
Keep your PC files safe with automatic backup for multiple PCs. You can customize the frequency of backups and how many backups are stored. Files accidentally deleted can be easily found on the backup image and copied to your PC. In the event of hard drive failure, the included HP PC Restore disc is all you need to return your PC and all your data to their original condition.

Other Features

Centralize your iTunes music libraries and playlists on the server for playback to any PC or notebook running iTunes on your home network.
Incremental backups: After initial backup, only changes are backed up.
Efficient single copy backup: A single copy of each file is backed up, no matter how many computers that files resides on in your home network.
Add an internal or external hard drive to the HP MediaSmart Server, indicate that you want to add the disk in the Windows Home Server Console, and the HP MediaSmart Server storage grows. No need to power down the unit or manage drive letters for multiple hard drives.
Remote access compatibility: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Media Center Edition 2004 or higher, or Windows Vista Ultimate or higher
File sharing compatibility: Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Professional SP4, Mac, OS X, Linux.
Backup compatibility: Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP

What's in the Box
HP MediaSmart Server, power cord, Ethernet cable, software installation disc, PC restore disc, server recovery disc, Quick Start and HP support guides.

Important: The HP MediaSmart Server is not a stand-alone computer. You connect it to your networked computer system. No monitor is needed because its user interface is accessed from another computer.

Customer Reviews:

Great Product, with a few upgrades

The HP Windows home server is a great product that simplifies home computer backups, access and anti-virus protection. One thing that is needed on this unit is more memory and a faster processor. This is a great solution for home users. It is a very quite pc with very low power consumption.

2008-11-24

Another dead on arrival

Unfortunately this one arrived with 4 red lights on the hard drive bays, like the 2007 Christmas review. I heard it is possibly a problem with the memory, according to one tech. HP support said to return it to the seller, who is trying to brush me off to HP. I am forced to try the Amazon A to Z guarantee, unless I want to settle for a refurbished server at a new server price. Meanwhile my hard drives are filling up; I really need this type of solution. If the seller (TheFactoryDepot) gives me what I paid for, or my money back, I might upgrade my review based on more experience with the product.

2008-11-21

Does just what i want it to

Works great, quiet. Bought with 2 640GB Seagate drives, which are cooler, quieter and less likely to die than the largest ones. I use the homeserver with Adobe Lightroom - I've redirected my Photos folder to the Server so that everything I do is backed up immediately, and i don't have to use 80+GB on my laptop for my photos.

2008-11-19

If you are running 64-bit Windows, you will have problems!

I recently purchased an EX470 and my initial glee upon its arrival has been somewhat dampened by the fact that you cannot setup the server if you are running 64-bit Windows client PCs.

The software discs supplied by HP with the EX470 will *only* run on 32-bit Windows, and both of our PCs are running 64-bit Vista.

The Microsoft Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 adds 64-bit client support to Windows Home Server, and this is available for download from the Microsoft Web site. However, to perform the initial configuration and to install this update along with other updates from HP you will need console access to the server, and you can't access the console from a 64-bit client in order to carry out the necessary updates....

The included server restore disc (to recover the EX470 in case of a drive failure, etc.) also only works with 32-bit Windows.

Oh well, now I'm going to have to wait to borrow a laptop running 32-bit Windows from someone so that I can configure and update the EX470.....

It would all be so much easier if HP had updated ISO images available for download which contained 64-bit client software.

The other issue I have had so far is that the MAC address isn't printed on the EX470. (Along with the existing serial numbers, etc. on the bottom of the unit for instance). It would have been a lot easier to setup on my network if I knew the MAC address beforehand!!

By the way, IMHO a really good choice of upgrade/expansion drive for this unit is the Samsung HD103UJ 1TB drive (32MB cache), which currently sell for around $105. We have Samsung drives running with RAID 0 in two PCs, a Mac Pro, a Linux box, and a hardware RAID NAS device with zero problems/drive failures.

It is also possible to upgrade the memory in your EX470/EX475 MediaSmart Server, which consists of a single PC2-5300 DIMM, from 512 MB to 2 GB. [...] is an excellent site for info.

2008-11-18

The good and the Bad of the MediaSmart Home Server.

The actual server is easy to set up. One problem during the install is that you no sooner get the software set up, with accounts then you get an update notice. A service pack installs, and you do the basic setup again. It also does not like Window Live.com for an Internet access site. I finally went with TZO but had to email them to get the one free year.

Getting it to work over the Internet is a different story. Takes 3 days (?) for TZO to set up your account. I am still writing back and forth to their tech support site. When I attempt go to my HTTP://(my site).hpshare.net I get redirected to a HP Product ad site.

I have the server connected to one wired and three wireless computers. The first back-up's take considerable time. Subsequent back-ups are quicker. All of the back-ups have worked well.

My major complaints are the setting up of the photo and music sharing. The products needs a real manual. There are websites that can be gotten to from TZO, but there is a lot of searching with trial and error.

One word of caution. Don't request the trial software from Microsoft. It is included in the package and their have been reports of Microsoft attempting to bill customers who have requested, but did not use.

2008-11-17

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