Many have contemplated putting together a home server network to streamline their storage and other tasks, but have been wary to do so for lack of a beginner-level hardware/software solution.  When Microsoft Home Server first debuted, it aimed to provide exactly that.  And after being initially crippled by file corruption issues, last year brought a fix to these issues in the form of the July Power Pack 1 update which helped WHS finally start to realize its promise.

The WHS team has been hard at work since and today they will release the sum of their efforts, WHS Power Pack 2.  Like other Power Packs (PPs) it bears a resemblance to the professional Windows Server and PC Windows Service Packs (SPs), in that it packages bug fixes and minor improvements.  While is certainly not a major release, it does deliver some key improvements, that users or potential customers will certainly appreciate.

One of the key improvements that the PP2 brings is to streamline the setup or out-of-box experience (OOBE).  The update reduces the setup stems from 23 to 13.  For seasoned users, it brings an improved SDK to develop for WHS.

Remote access is one key focus of PP2.  WHS already featured remote access capabilities, allowing you to connect while away from home to your server's administrative controls, shared files, and networked computers.  However, the technology relied on UPnP, which many routers don't support -- so many users were out of luck.

While WHS PP2 doesn't change the communication scheme from UPnP, it does offer new connectivity wizards.  One eliminates the annoyance of configuring remote access and thinking it’s working, only to discover it’s not.  The new wizard tests the remote connection, allowing the user to know whether their router supports UPnP, or if a return might be in order.  Router detection/configuration has also improved and the Remote Access section of the admin console's Settings window has been streamlined as well.

Another key focus of PP2 is media sharing.  One key improvement is the addition of new Windows Media Center (WMC) features.  Media Center users in the past could not "see" by default their network shares, and had to go through relatively complex steps to make them visible.  PP2 brings the Windows Media Center Connector, which automatically adds the server-side Music, Photos, Videos, and Recorded TV folders to the appropriate locations in WMC.

From there you can stream content to devices like the Xbox 360 via Windows Media Center Extenders (MCXs).  Content flows from your server to you WMC PC, then into the extender device.  The extenders group can be configured with folder-by-folder permissions (Full, read or none) (though one desirable feature, permissions by extender, still is not implemented).

Perhaps most important, though, PP2 allows you to stream high-definition MPEG-4 media formats content at last, including H.264 video and AAC audio files.  As the Xbox 360 already supports these formats, you now have the tools need to create an easy high-definition streamed content network.

WHS PP2 is available today on Windows Update.  Initially it will only be available in English, but Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish versions will be available by the end of April. 

In related news, Microsoft has opened up WHS for free download by developers.  The soon-to-be-available OS download should help spur even more improvements to WHS.  In summary -- things are looking up for Microsoft's Windows Home Server.