HP discontinues MediaSmart Server line
HP has decided to discontinue its MediaSmart Server line of products. Microsoft acknowledges the decision on the company's Windows Home Server blog.
One of Windows Home Server's staunchest allies is now moving on.
HP has decided to discontinue its MediaSmart Server line of products featuring Windows Home Server. The news was confirmed by Microsoft on its Home Server Blog yesterday.
"HP has told us they do not plan to provide a platform for Windows Home Server, codenamed 'Vail,'" Microsoft wrote on its blog.
Microsoft went on to say that HP plans to sell its existing MediaSmart Server platform through the rest of the year "and will honor service support agreements."
HP reportedly confirmed the news to MediaSmartServer.net, a site that focuses on Windows Home Server. The publication, cites a member of the HP StorageWorks team, who reportedly told the publication that HP "is transferring the MediaSmart Server team to the Palm Global Business Unit to help with the future development of WebOS."
HP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Losing HP's support for Windows Home Server is an obvious blow to Microsoft. But in the same blog post, the software giant said that Vail will still have support from Acer and Tranquil PC, along with "many system builders."
"We are entirely committed to the future of Windows Home Server V1 and V2," Tranquil PC managing director D.J. Thompson said in the post. "We will also ensure that there is a suitable transition path from V1 to V2 for our existing and new clients."
Microsoft has faced some adversity with its Windows Home Server as of late.
Last week, the company announced that it was removing the drive extender feature in beta versions of Windows Home Server, as well as Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials and Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials, starting next year. The feature allowed users to quickly add hard drives of different sizes to their devices to increase total storage.
After announcing its decision, the Windows Home Server team faced angry users who were upset to see the feature go. Microsoft then wrote another post on its blog in response, saying that the decision to remove the drive extender feature was "incredibly hard."