HP Debuts PC/Mac-Compatible Home Server

By Colleen Bohen -- TWICE, December 29, 2008

Palo Alto, Calif. — Hewlett-Packard today launched a home server designed for Windows and Mac computers.

Model ex485 comes with a 750GB  hard drive at a suggested $599 and the ex487 comes with 1.5TB of space for a suggested $749. According to the company, the drives can be expanded to reach up to 9TB with the addition of extra drives.

The HP MediaSmart Server ex485/ex487 uses the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform to provide multiple computers on a home network with a central space for backing up and accessing files; the devices save files to integrated hard drives and duplicated designated folders to Amazon’s S3 online backup service.

According to HP, the server automatically organizes files across all computers, streams media across a home network and the Internet, and can publish photos social-networking and photo-sharing sites.

The server runs on an Intel Celeron processor and offers 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 DRAM.

“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, strategy VP, 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.”

The device new servers are expected to begin shipping in February, but HP said pre-orders from Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Buy.com, Frys.com and Newegg.com will begin Jan. 5, 2009.

HP will show the server at International CES in Las Vegas next week in the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall 3, booth 31112.