HP MediaSmart Server EX475: A multimedia server

With remote access, you will have surely understood that you can access your multimedia content as if you were in the house on your own network. Is such a function really useful? Imagine that you are at the office and it’s your lunch time… You can’t download music onto your work computer…  What can you do? Nothing stops you from logging onto your Smartmedia server and showing your colleagues your family photos from the latest holiday, whilst sharing your musical tastes…

To allow remote connections to yourself, or even your friends, you will firstly need to be sure whoever needs access has a user account in WHS. In the inherent properties of each of these accounts, you will need to ensure that the box “Activate remote access for this user” is selected. Once everyone has access who needs it, you will be able to access your contents remotely with a web browser by inputting your routers IP address (and not the servers address) into the address bar, assuming the communication ports are open (see the third part of this article). This looks like http://myIP.

We understand that for ease of use, memorising a server and domain name is a lot easier then that of an IP address. Once again, you will need to go into the WHS Console Settings and select Remote Access. In the domain names section you will need to press the Configure button!

Three domain name providers will be displayed, each offering their services: Windows Live Custom Domains, a customised domain name TZO.com (pay) and a third custom name at HP still using TZO.COM (free for 1 year). Without hesitating, opt for the free Microsoft service, as all that is required is a Windows Live ID.

If like a lot of internet users you use the Windows Live Messenger client, there is nothing to worry about. You simply need to enter your email address and password. Next, choosing a domain name is entirely up to you. At the end of the operation, the remote connection address to your server will be saves so that you can connect and communicate with it by inputting https://domainname.homeserver.com/.

To assure that everything is working correctly, go to the Remote Access Settings. The status will indicate that the update is underway. Simply clicking on the details button and then refresh will show you in a few seconds that you can access the server and your data from anywhere in the world! Information about the web site at the bottom of the window in Remote Access allows you to change the appearance of your home page.