Windows Home Server is a Microsoft server operating system designed to be integrated at the core of a multi-PC home network offering backup, additional storage, remote access and security capabilities. The child of Charlie Kindel, General Manager, Windows Home Server was initially drawn up back in 1999, but it had to wait until 2007 to be born. During this time, the project went through no less than four stages, until it went into development, therefore the codenames Quattro and Q. Windows Home Server was officially announced at CES 2007 in January 2007 by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. The product finally went gold on July 16, went the team announced that it was releasing it to manufacturing.

Hewlett-Packard will be the first Microsoft partner to deliver a hardware-software bundle, tying Windows Home Server with its own MediaSmart Server. But as the Redmond company announced earlier this year, HP is by no means the sole hardware partner delivering the infrastructure necessary to run Windows Home Server. Case in point: Fujitsu-Siemens.

In the image included at the top of this article you can feast your eyes on the sexy design of Scaleo. In this context, Fujitsu-Siemens joins HP as an original equipment manufacturer delivering hardware for Windows Home Server. Still, while the pricing and availability date for HP's MediaSmart Server have already been made public, although unconfirmed at this point by either Microsoft or HP, the details related to Scaleo are fresh.

Fujitsu-Siemens will feature no less than four internal hard disk bays, a total of four USB ports and two e-Sata ports. The hardware design will allow owners to place the product either horizontally or vertically. However, Fujitsu-Siemens currently plans to release additional details at IFA in Berlin, so I think this information is sufficient for a spoiler.

On a side note, it seems that the Microsoft and HP partnership might have hit some type of glitch. According to unconfirmed reports the two companies are considering postponing the release date of MediaSmart Server preloaded with Windows Home Server. A HP representative stated that MediaSmart Server will be available for the holiday season, but not as early as mid September, as was initially planned. The reason given for the move was the fact that Microsoft needed to address further issues related to the user experience level of Windows Home Server. But the news has to be taken with a grain of salt as Microsoft has already released Windows Home Server to manufacturing, meaning that it considers the code final.