If you're in the market for a new DMR device, make sure it's a certified Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) device, because Windows Home Server 2011 now supports DLNA out of the box.

Throw Windows Home Server's centralized storage into the mix, and you suddenly have a much wider variety of media to stream. Yes, you can activate the Media Streaming feature in Windows Media Player 12 (or the Media Sharing feature in Windows Media Player 11) and share your library over the network, but that sharing is limited to the media on your computer. The ability to stream music over the network is one of Windows Home Server's most attractive features. You also learn nonstreaming techniques for sharing photos, music, and videos via Windows Home Server. This chapter shows you how to get your devices ready for streaming and how to activate streaming via Windows Home Server.

Windows Home Server offers four media streams: music, pictures, recorded TV, and videos. Access the device settings, and make sure that UPnP is enabled.) (Most UPnP devices have options to disable and enable UPnP, or 'network control' as it's sometimes called. Note, too, that Windows Media Connect uses standard protocols-specifically Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Universal Plug and Play (UPnP)-so, theoretically, any device that supports these protocols should also be able to receive Windows Home Server media streams.

In Windows Home Server 2011, the server now supports Microsoft's Play To functionality, which enables the server to act as a digital media server (DMS). The latter two are examples of digital media receivers (DMRs), or devices that can access a media stream being sent over a wired or wireless network connection and then play that stream through connected equipment such as speakers, audio receivers, or a TV. Supported programs include digital media players such as Windows Media Player and devices such as the Xbox 360 and Kodak Wireless Digital Picture Frame. Windows Home Server comes with support for Windows Media Connect, which is software that streams digital media from (in this case) the server to programs and devices that support Windows Media Connect.

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