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| HP EX470 MediaSmart Home Server (AMD Live, Windows Home Server, 500 GB Hard Drive) | 
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| Brand: Hewlett-Packard
Category: Personal Computer
List Price: $708.00
Buy New: $539.99
You Save: $168.01 (24%)
New (6) from $539.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 129
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Hard Drive Size: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 19
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 9.2 x 5.5
nv:Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows Home Server
Form Factor: Microtower
Processor Brand: AMD
Processor Class: Sempron
Processor Speed: 1.80GHz
Memory Type: DDR2
Total Memory: 512 MB
Hard Drive Interface: SATA
Communications Description: Integrated LAN
Interface Type: RJ-45
Data Transfer Rate: 1000 Mbps
Data Transfer Rate: 100 Mbps
Data Transfer Rate: 10 Mbps
MPN: GG795AA
Model: EX470
UPC: 883585222636
EAN: 0883585222636
ASIN: B000UY1WSK
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 HP Mediasmart Server Is Great March 6, 2008
I have just purchased the mediasmart server. I took it out of the box and it was setup in 15mins. Transfered all the files from my old NAS unit. The EX470 works like a champ.. I have the EX470 with the Dlink DIR-655 and they complement each other great.
No Cons at all
Nice home server, but installation is VERY tricky March 3, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I already own an Infrant ReadyNAS, which has been running flawlessly for over a year. I needed a way to back up that box, so I thought this would be a good option. Plus, the PC backup sounded great. I spent the first 12 hours trying to get the WHS connector software to install. I must have uninstalled it and reinstalled it 5 times, along with restoring the server 3 times. The solution? YOU MUST NOT BE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET DURING THE INSTALLATION OF THE CONNECTOR SOFTWARE. If you do, and you have DDNS enabled in your cable/dsl modem, you run a very high risk of associating a wrong IP address to the server name (like I did). At a very minimum, you need to make sure DDNS is disabled. Had M$ put this in the instructions in the first place, I would have saved a day of screwing around with installation problems. Once this was resolved, the box works great. The PC backup is the best feature, followed by the web sharing of your content. The configuration of this is very intuitive for anyone that has been around computers at all. Even novices should be able to figure it out, as HP has a wizard that guides you through the important parts of the setup.
I give the hardware 5 stars, and the WHS operating system 3 stars. It gets docked one star for the installation problem (happened on two different computers), and IT ALSO GETS DOCKED ONE STAR FOR A DATA CORRUPTION ISSUE that is a confirmed flaw in the operating system. Basically, if you use this to backup PC's and share files, you will be fine. If you have only one drive installed in it, you are immune to the flaw. If you edit files stored on this, and use any of Microsoft's other applications like Office, YOU WILL GET DATA CORRUPTION. This is a huge problem for Microsoft, and the WHS development team is scrambling for a fix. The bottom line is that you should never have only one copy of important files. Back them up to 2 or 3 different systems.
Follow-Up:
This item is getting shipped back, as the operating system is fatally flawed. I am getting data corruption issues just copying from one NAS device to this box. Unacceptable. I also cannot delete folders I create as "files are in use". Well, I know that is not the case, as I rebooted everything, and still get the error. This box is not ready for prime time.
Simply great! February 28, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was able to set it up in no time, and it backed up my two computers overnight without any setup other than installing the CD on my computers that the server came with.
Now I am moving all of my large files to the server since my computers were near their HD storage limits. Plus I am converting all of my DVD collection to Apple TV format (using CloneDVD Mobile) and storing them on the server which iTunes sees, and I am now watching my movies directly from my Apple TV device on my TV. Really cool!
However, the only problem is that I chose to have remote access, so it turns out that my really old router (6 yrs old) could not be configured to allow that. The cool part is that the HP server software tries to configure the router automatically, if you select the access remotely option. Since it did not work, I followed the instructions to change the router settings manually to make it work, but no good.
I will be buying a new wireless N router with Gigabit Ethernet to take advantage of the server's high speed Gigabit capabilities. The Apple TV is wireless N, so it is time to upgrade from my wireless B router anyway.
Oh, one more thing, the reason I bought the 500GB unit instead of the 1TB, is by the time I fill it up (est 6 months), the 750GB and the 1TB SATA HDs will be pretty cheap by then, so I'll save the difference in price for now.
**Update**
The remote issue was my cable internet service provider blocks port 80 (Cablevision in NJ), so I had to upgrade to the higher speed internet service they provide, for a fee of course...
Plus they said they offer support for setting up my home server, and website, so maybe I'll take them up on that for any issues that come my way.
Outstanding multi-purpose device for home / small office use February 25, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I absolutely love this device. I had seriously considered a Drobo before I saw this and bought this instead for several reasons. Simply put, it can do things that Drobo can't.
- It comes standard with Gigabit Ethernet (this costs $200 extra with Drobo),
- It behaves as a File Server (with folder level duplication) and offers similar data protection to Drobo,
- It automates the daily backups of all PCs (running Windows) in the house - similar to Apple Time Capsule for the Mac,
- It acts as a ITunes / Media Server - bringing music, photos, and movies throughout the house.
Two complaints - I wish I could change the default workgroup name of this device (doesn't change the product's functionality) and I wish this provided print server functionality.
Very nice! Nice and simple February 25, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I got the server with 2 things in mind:
1)NAS (Network Attached Storage) capabilities. I wanted to be able to save all my files (movies,music,photos, etc.) in an external hard drive but since my main computer is a laptop, I did not want to be attaching the hard drive every time I wanted to save something. This baby attaches itself to your router, may I recommend the D-LINK DIR-655, and wala! you can save wirelessly to the box.
2)Automatic back-up. I needed to back up the contents of my laptops automatically cause lets face it, we're all lazy when it comes to backing up. It's always a chore. The server works much the same way as TimeCapsule for the Mac does. It backs up your stuff automatically without you even noticing it. The back-up policies are configurable so you'll be bound to find a back-up of a few days ago and another one for a few months ago. Also, I should note that the back-ups are incremental, this means that only the files which are new or have changed are backed-up. This is important because eventhough your first back-up may take a matter of hours (depending on how much space you're trying to back-up) every subsequent back-up won't 're-back-up' the stuff that it's already in the server.
For reference, I kicked off the second back-up immediately after the first one finished, and it took about 7 minutes to realize nothing had changed. It seems like a long time but remember that it was scanning and checking every file in your system which for me is about 100 Gigs.
Of course, the MediaSmart server offers lots of other stuff which I won't get into since you can get that info elsewhere, but if you're main reasons to look at this puppy is for NAS capabilites and Automatic Back-Ups, you can't go wrong with the HP MediaSmart Home Server.
And for those of you wondering if you should get the 1TB version, seriously, do you really need it? I would say buy this one and wait until Hard Drive prices drop. I'm sure the drive prices will drop by the time you actually 'really' need the extra space.
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