Kentdome Technologies has just released the latest version of the popular Remote Alert Add-In for Windows Home Server. 

The latest, version 1.5, is described as primarily a maintenence release that corrects some minor GUI issues, as well as fixes charting and issues with multiple network adapters.

Check out the gallery for more images >>

For those not familiar with it, Remote Alert is an add-in that provides notifications about who's remotely connected to your Home Server, plus it adds additional security layers and activity logging.

Whether you simply want to know who's logging in to your server or want to set up a IP blacklist to prevent certain rangings from reaching your home server, Remote Alert is a worthy addition to any Home Server. At the going rate of free, there's really no reason for you not to give it a try.

Download Remote Alert 1.5 >>

HP's been quiet regarding their successor to the current crop of HP MediaSmart Servers, which makes sense based on this post from the Windows Team Blog. According to them, the current generation of the MediaSmart Server will also be the last.

"You may have seen some blogs posts about HP’s decision announcing the retirement of their MediaSmart Server line, which includes Windows Home Server. As such, HP has told us they do not plan to provide a platform for Windows Home Server code name “Vail”. HP has told us they will continue to sell the existing version of MediaSmart Server through the end of the calendar year 2010 and will honor service and support agreements."

Given Microsoft's announcements of late that Vail would no longer include Drive Extender, one of the core features that makes Windows Home Server consumer friendly, it's really no surprise. It's a pity that Microsoft has chosen to essentially abandon one of their most innovative consumer products in the past 5 years.

The "Protect Your Digital Life Giveaway sponsored by KeepVault" has come to a close. Thank you for all who entered the giveaway over the course of the month.

WEEKLY WINNERS

Congratulations to all our weekly winners, who will be receiving a free 1-year 80GB KeepVault Online Backup subscription courtesy KeepVault, which will surely help them protect important personal data!

Week 1 Winner: Don Peachy
Week 2 Winner: Vin Larkin
Week 3 Winner: Dan Hupp
Week 4 Winner: William Gallman

To learn more about KeepVault Online Backup and how it can help you safeguard your personal data, click here.

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS

Drumroll please........

Congratulations to the winners of our two grand prize packages, consiting of a brand new HP MediaSmart Server, an 80GB KeepVault Pro Account for one year, and a MediaSmarthome.com polo shirt! It's everything they need to protect their digital lives... with a polo shirt thrown in for style!

August 30th marked the 5 year anniversary of Hurrican Katrina, which devastated the city of New Orleans and its residents. And while huge disasters like Katrina seem rare, the honest truth is that there are many naturally occuring destructive forces in this world. Tornadoes, wildfires, hurricanes, house fires, lightning strikes, and floods are only the beginning; there are a seemingly unending number of things that can destroy your equipment or your entire home. 

So what do we do? We try to mitigate risk by insuring our homes and posessions against these forces. As important as that may be, unfortunately, most do very little to safeguard themselves against losing the irreplaceable - the digital memories and other important bits and bytes that make up your digital life.

We want to help change that, which is why the entire month of September will be Data Protection Month here at MediaSmarthome.com. Over the next four weeks, we'll be focusing on raising awareness about personal data protection and preservation. Join us throughout the month as we discuss every facet of data protection through articles, interviews, polls, discussions, and much more.

There's a fair number of HP MediaSmart Servers in the wild, and while most computer users have been beaten over the head with messages to protect your their PCs with anti-virus software, most often overlook protecting their Home Servers from the huge number of digital nasties out there.

McAfee is one of the oldest and most respected digital security companies in the world, and along with complete security solutions for consumer PCs and notebooks, they also have a solution for protecting Home Servers. A trial of their software is included with every HP MediaSmart Server, which can be installed at any time by visiting the settings area of the home server console.

As the number of home servers in the market increases, so does the need to protect them. McAfee wishes to be at the forefront of home server protection by improving their product offering and helping those to understand the need for home server protection. As a result, they've launched the

Things have seemed quiet over at HP on the add-in/upgrade front since they let loose the HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo add-in, but today they've let loose a brand new add-in called "HP Easy USB Transfer" and an upgrade to the MediaSmart Expander for TiVo that adds new features and abilities.

HP Easy USB Transfer allows the contents from a USB drive to be copied directly over to the MediaSmart Server or Data Vault.  According to HP, this should be a great benefit for customers who routinely create large amounts of data, like photo and video shoots. Read more about the HP Easy USB Transfer Add-In in our full review.

Finally, the HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo has been upgraded with the ability for TiVo owners to schedule series recordings and have them automatically transferred to the server. Until now, moving programs to the server has been a manual process.

Rumors about new HP MediaSmart Server models have been making the Internet rounds since the EX-490 and EX-495 went missing from HP's online Home and Home Office store. We typically hear rumblings about new models well before old ones disappear from the channel, so we would have been mighty surprised if HP was indeed turning new models in the very near future.

Provided HP is being honest (we think they are given the next version of Home Server is close but still not available), this doesn't appear to be anything more than a temporary stock outage at HP Home and Home Office. Certainly a bummer if you were hoping for some new hardware, but on the bright side, those with EX490s and EX495s get to sport the latest and greatest for a little while longer.

Full quote from HP after the break.

Some who have received their MediaSmart Server 3.0 Upgrade discs in the mail may have gotten a tad confused when they dropped in the Server Recovery Disc and it tried to recover their PC, and vice versa. As it turns out, some users received upgrade kits with the labels on the PC restore disc and server recovery disc swapped. Not a giant issue, per say, but a bit confusing nonetheless.

Fortunately, HP has told us they've been looking into the problem and corrected it as of March 23. Going forward they will be sending out correctly labeled discs.

Not everyone received mislabled discs. According to HP, the only mislabeled discs were North American English 3.0 upgrade discs for the EX470/EX475 series. No other models, countries, and languages were affected. 

If you already have mislabled discs, be assured nothing is incorrect with the data on them. The new discs shipping are identical to yours, only labeled the correct way. In your case, simply swap the PC Recovery Disc and the Server Recovery Disc and run the Server Recovery from the disc labeled PC Recovery and vice/versa. It would also be helpful to manually re-label the discs for future use.

HP today unveiled the all new HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo, which allows TiVo owners to use a MediaSmart Server EX490 or EX495 to store TiVo recordings, transfer them back, play them on a PC using TiVo Desktop, as well as view what recordings are on the TiVo right from the home server console.

UPDATED: It turns out the TiVo Expander should also work fine for EX48x and EX47x customers who've purchased and installed the MediaSmart 3.0 Software Upgrade. However, this configuration is unsupported by HP, so if you have questions or issues with it, you'll need to use the forums and ask the community.

Full details in the press release below after the break. Plus, don't miss our interview with HP's Charlie Shilling, Future Product Manager for the MediaSmart Server, about the new MediaSmart Expander for TiVo.

If you're an EX470 or EX480 Series MediaSmart Server owner patiently waiting for the 3.0 software upgrade to become available, your ship has finally arrived. HP's taking orders later this week, and shipping next week. Huzzah!

Full announcement from HP below:

The 3.0 software update DVD will be available to order beginning later this week, with shipments beginning next week.  These optional updates are available to purchase for owners of our EX470/475/485/487 products who want to upgrade their servers to the latest 3.0 software that is shipping on the EX490/495 products.

Please note the previously communicated information related to these updates:

1)      The cost of the upgrade DVD has been finalized and will be US$25 or €25.

2)      These upgrades will be available as a server recovery solution.  HP recommends that you back up all server files prior to installing the upgrade.

3)      This upgrade is not recommended for EX470/475 owners who have not already upgraded their Server DRAM to 1GB as certain features will not function.