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The most distinctive of these is the ability to use the networked storage as a Time Machine volume, and HP's configuration tool even allows you to set a limit on how much space is made available to Leopard's backup feature, a capability that Time Capsule lacks. However, restoring a whole system from the server is not possible, and you'll have to reinstall OS X and restore individual files by hand to your Mac.

Yet where Time Capsule contains only a single

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disk, MediaSmart Server has four hard drive bays that can be used to boost the total amount of storage, or you can configure it to mirror folders between disks to provide additional protection for your Time Machine backups and other files against drive failure.

Copying compatible music files to the server allows them to be streamed across your network to Macs and PCs running iTunes, where the server appears as a shared library. The same music is also made available to Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) hardware such as Xbox 360.

When you're away from home, music, photos and other files can be accessed through a web browser by visiting an address that's provided with the server, as a dynamic DNS service is provided by HP.

Although HP has added support for Macs, the initial configuration process has to be done from a Windows PC. Unfortunately the company will not provide support for performing these steps on a Mac, regardless of whether you're running Windows as a virtual machine or even if you reboot into a Boot Camp volume.