HP launched a home server desi

Based on the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform, the HP MediaSmart Server ex485/ex487 is a central repository for automatically backing up and accessing digital music, videos, photos and documents from multiple computers on a home network.

The MediaSmart Server automatically organizes files across all PCs, streams media across a home network and the Internet, and publishes photos to popular social networking and photo sharing sites.

"A growing number of digital-savvy households have both Windows and Mac computers, with hundreds and sometimes thousands of media files and documents scattered across these devices," said Jason Zajac, vice president of strategy, Worldwide Attach Group, HP. "The HP MediaSmart Server protects, stores and organizes this content from anywhere on a network so consumers can access and share it any place they are connected."

HP MediaSmart Server ex485/ex487 features include:

- HP Media Collector: conveniently schedules the MediaSmart Server to copy and centralize digital files and libraries from networked PCs
- Media Streaming: remotely streams photos and music to any Internet-connected PC or Mac
- Server for iTunes: centralizes iTunes music libraries on the server for playback to any networked Mac or PC running iTunes - HP Photo Publisher: upload photos to Facebook, Picasa Web Albums and Snapfish
- HP Photo Viewer: allows sharing of photos with friends and family
- PC Hard Drive Backup: backs up networked PCs via the Windows Home Server backup feature
- Mac Hard Drive Backup: backs up Macs running Leopard using Apple Time Machine software
- Server Backup: duplicates designated shared folders to a separate hard disk drive
- Online Backup: duplicates designated folders to Amazon?s S3 online backup service for an additional layer of protection
- Smart Power Management: can schedule times for server to go to "sleep" and "wake up," saving on energy costs
- Processor: Intel Celeron, 2.0 GHz 64-bit. Two gigabytes (GB) of 800-MHz DDR2 DRAM now standard on MediaSmart Server Expandability: additional drives can be added for up to 9 terabytes (TB)

Pricing and availability

Manufacturer?s suggested retail price for the HP MediaSmart Server ex485 with 750 GB of hard disk storage is $599 while the HP MediaSmart Server ex487 with 1.5 TB is $749.

The HP MediaSmart Server can be pre-ordered beginning Jan. 5, 2009, from Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Buy.com, Frys.com and NewEgg.com; it is expected to ship in February.