***Note: Before deciding to purchase or build your own Windows Home Server machine, make sure you read this article on the serious data corruption issue that Microsoft is currently working to fix.  They have launched a beta of the PowerPack that should fix the issue (and seems to be working well for me), but I feel I should put this warning out there for anyone planning to purchase.  You will need to register.  ***

If you like, you can always read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of my journey to see the details leading up to this.

Don't you hate when someone starts blogging profusely about a topic you are interested in and then just stops and seems to disappear for 3 weeks?  Well, I apologize - but no one has offered me a big enough chunk of cash to allow me to give up my day job, and that job has simply been getting in the way a lot lately.

So wow - long time, no see!  But that doesn't mean I haven't been goofing around with the WHS.  Not to mention installing the new beta Power Pack that is turning out to be awesome!  Today I want to cover add-ins, because I think they represent a cool trend with Microsoft and the media center/WHS products.

Believe it or not, we're seeing some "open source" projects crop up around Media Center.  And on top of that, Microsoft has made it extremely easy for someone to add a plugin when they see functionality that is missing.  This is something that is new to me in terms of my past experience with Microsoft .  Of course, I may have missed something.  I am sure that the good folks in the Open Source movement would scoff at our using this term for what I am describing.  But I believe that no matter how you couch it, Microsoft is making an effort to make at least two of their products more accessible.  And the passionate early adopters around Media Center and WHS are jumping at the chance (yes, I still call Media Center users "early adopters" because this product is still a Beta, as far as I'm concerned).

One example of the add-ins that are being created is a great little app called GridJunction by Alexander Kent.  I live in an older house so one of the first things I wanted to do when I set up my Home Server was to put it on a UPS to keep the flow of electricity steady and let it shut down gracefully if the power should go out while I am not around.  Unfortunately, if you have a WHS you know there is a tiny problem with this expectation:  there is no easy way to install the software that controls that functionality onto the WHS (especially if you have a headless system, like I do).  This is where Alexander's app comes into play.  GridJunction will recognize a variety of UPS systems and play the role of the software that you normally would install from their CD to control your computer.  It will monitor the UPS, and if the unit goes to battery power, it will turn your WHS icon in the system tray yellow and alert you as to how much power is left before shutdown. 

If you are unable to get to your computer in time to shut it down yourself (or the power is not restored), it will assist the computer in shutting down gracefully and thus - possibly - saving your data.

Installing these add-ins is truly a piece of cake.  The first thing you need to do is download the .msi file from the author's web site (those of you who have ever worked with deploying software to an enterprise should be familiar with .msi files).  This is essentially a file that will perform like an executable on your WHS system, but it is meant to be deploy remotely.

Before you start with GridJunction. it is probably a good idea to have your pre-charged UPS system connected to the WHS.  Don't forget to connect the USB cable as well!  The GirdJunction web site has a list of currently supported units.

After that is ready, copy the file from your computer to the "software" directory on you Windows Home Server.

After the file has been copied over, open up your Wondows Home Server console using the Start menu, or si,ply double clicking on the icon in your systray.  Click on the "settings" button in the upper right-hand corner.

This will open up the setting menu, which should have an option for "add-ins".  Select the add-ins option and you will see a window which shows you all of the currently installed add-ins.  In my case there are none.  Go ahead and select the + Available tab.

This will show you any add-ins that are currently available from your Software folder.  In our case, this would be GridJunction.

Click on the "Install" button on the GridJunction entry.  The wizard will now run through a few screens as it installs.

When the install is finished you will be prompted to restart the console.  Go ahead and do that.  When you come back into the console, click "Settings" again and you will see that you now have an option for GridJunction.

When you click on GridJunction, you are brought to a status page which shows various stats on your UPS health.

If you are an adventurous soul, you can now unplug your UPS to test the software and see what occurs during such an event.  PLEASE NOTE:  This could have seriously adverse affects on your data and I take no responsibility for any loss you may experience from doing this test.  Proceed at your own discretion.  Please be sure you have a fully charged UPS before doing this.

When you have disconnected the UPS, you will see an alert similar to this:

Note the WHS icon in the system tray has turned yellow.  Once I plugged the unit back in, everything went back to green.  This is a great little app.

But there are tons more and new ones are being written every day, so be sure to check them out.  We Got Served and MS Windows Home Server both have a large catalogue listing.

Wow - o.k.  So I feel much better now that I have finally broken radio silence.  I am hoping that it will not take as long for me to get to Part 5 of this series.  In the meantime, if you have a Windows Home Server and you have not yet don so. go NOW to the MS Connect web site and register to download the public beta of WHS PowerPack 1.  It is well worth it.

Cheers!

Gmedia