HP MediaSmart Server

The HP MediaSmart Server is a home server from Hewlett-Packard that runs Microsoft's Windows Home Server operating system.

Models

As of October 2008, the HP MediaSmart Server is sold in two models, EX470 (RRP US$599) and EX475 (RRP US$749). They feature a 1.8GHz AMD Sempron 3400+ processor, one Gigabit Ehernet port, four internal SATA drive bays, four USB 2.0 ports and one eSATA port.The two models are identical with the exception of the amount of included storage: the EX470 has one 500GB hard drive preinstalled, while the EX475 has two 500GB hard drives preinstalled.

Hackers and enthusiasts have modded the EX470 by adding a VGA monitor, upgrading the memory from 512MB to 2GB and upgrading the processor to a 2.6GHz AMD LE-1640.On December 29, 2008, HP announced two more models, the EX485 and the EX487, available for pre-orders starting on January 8, 2009. The newer models include support for Apple's Time Machine backup software. They also use a 2.0 GHz Intel Celeron processor, replacing the AMD Sempron from the old models. Other features include a revamped user interface and larger preinstalled hard drives (one 750 GB drive for the EX485; two 750 GB drives in the EX487).

On April 30, 2009, HP announced the MediaSmart Server LX195 which was intended to be a low-cost entry into the Home Server market. The new model featured a single internal 640 GB drive, a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, 1 GB of DDR2 memory, gigabit Ethernet, and four USB ports for storage expansion. The software features included with the LX195 are same as the initial launch features of the EX485/EX487 server.On September 14, 2009, HP launched two new MediaSmart servers. The EX490 comes with 1TB of hard disk storage and costs $549, while the EX495 comes with 1.5TB and costs $699 both 7200 rpm. The 490 comes with an Intel Celeron Processor 2.2 GHZ and the 495 with an Intel Pentium Processor Dual Core 2.5 GHz.On November 30, 2010, The Windows Home Server team at Microsoft confirmed rumors that HP would not be offering hardware for the next version of Windows Home Server (codenamed "Vail"), and that HP would stop selling MediaSmart servers altogether after the end of the calendar year 2010.