I’ll be the first to admit that my backup habits leave something to be desired.  Saying that I back up once in a blue moon might be too kind.  I’m amazed that I’ve made it this far without a catastrophe.  So, when I first saw the HP MediaSmart Server, I knew that I didn’t just want one, I needed one.  I loved the idea behind it…a small box with only network and power connections designed to backup up all of your household computers and act as a media/file server as well.  The 500Gb model was in my price range ($499.99 after a $40 instant discount on the HP Employe Purchase site).  It seemed to be a lock for my next purchase and then several small things happened. •    1 Tb hard drives became widely available…still at quite a premium, but available. •    I realized that the HP device could only be purchased with 500Gb hard drives.  The 1Tb model that HP sells has 2 500Gb drives leaving only 2 slots available to put more drives. •    A couple of months before I was going to buy the HP MediaSmart Server, I checked the website and found that they had removed [...]