July 22nd, 2008
Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 (with Data Corruption Fix) Launches
By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
We’ve written about the Windows Home Server (WHS) data corruption bug several times since it first emerged in late December. On Monday Microsoft finally - finally, released WHS Power Pack 1, which contains the fix, as well as a bunch of other stuff no one really cares about.
All right, that’s a bit harsh, but waiting 7 months for a data corruption fix for an OS which was sold as a file server for the home is just way too long. English is available now, with French, Spanish and German available soon. As far as what else it contains besides the bug fix, Microsoft has the info:
As many know, Power Pack 1 provides a range of new enhancements, including support for home computers running Windows Vista x64 editions, backup of home server Shared Folders, improvements to remote access, more efficient power consumption and better performance. And, of course, it delivers a fix for the data corruption bug.
For those who might have been involved in the beta testing, this is build 1800.
Despite the bug, Microsoft said the following (emphasis mine):
We continue to hear fantastic feedback from our customers about how Home Server is helping them protect and organize their digital media, access it away from home, and share it with friends and family.
Well, yeah, at least those not using the affected applications. As I said previously, a NAS such as one of these would be a lot easier than setting up a file server. But, if you went the WHS route, at least you now have your fix.
LZW says:
Windows Home Server (WHS) seems to be a hacked version of Windows Small Business Server (SBS) and I believe some NAS boxes are using it. If this product is successful as an embedded OS, it could become as common place as the firmware in a router.
I must say, I’ve found these WHS data corruption stories very strange… Small Business Server is just modified version of Windows Server 2003 which was the newest windows version. (XP is v5.1, 2003 is v5.2) The ability to copy/move/rename a file is built into the core of the Win32 API. (Application Programming Interface) I see no way to screw it up.
What’s next…. A corrupted wallpaper bug? Corrupted start button? Boot screen wont load?
Makes me wonder if Microsoft slapped some fancy Hollywood DRM scheme over the FileCopy API since this product may be used for serving media files?
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
AlterEgoist says:
The HP MediaSmart Server provided their long-awaited Update on the same day that the PP1 was released. MediaSmartHome.com has the details of how to get it.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
John B says:
Do you own stock in LaCie? Are they the only NAS vendors?
July 24th, 2008 at 5:30 am