API Overview
The following sections explain how you can extend Windows Home Server by using the Windows Home Server API.
Extending Windows Home Server
There are three ways you can extend Windows Home Server: extend the Windows Home Server Console; extend the Windows Home Server platform; or a combination of both. Depending on the application that you develop, you can extend Windows Home Server in any of these ways.
Also, you may use the Windows Server 2003 API. Where there is overlap in functionality, use the Windows Home Server API instead. For more information about the Windows Server 2003 application environment, see “The Windows Server 2003 Application Environment” at the Microsoft Web site.
Extend the Windows Home Server Console
The Windows Home Server Console is organized with a tab structure. If you click a tab, the display, or pane area, of the console changes to display contents that relate to the tab. Although some of the tabs are fixed and cannot be removed or moved, you can add new tabs with custom functionality to the console as part of your custom application.
API Reference
The Microsoft.HomeServer.Extensibility namespace contains interfaces that must be used in order to extend the Windows Home Server Console.
Programming Tutorial
For a step-by-step demonstration of how to extend the Windows Home Server Console, see the Extending the Windows Home Server Console section of the Programming Tutorial.
Extend Windows Home Server
You can also extend Windows Home Server platform in general. The API for Windows Home Server provides an easy way to access information about many Windows Home Server objects, including the following:
Client computers
Shared folders on the server
Application folders on the server
Managed volumes on the server
Hard disks on the server
Backup jobs on the server
Notifications on the server
UPnP-certified routers on the Windows Home Server network
Using the API, you can retrieve information about each of these objects, and then you can use that information in your application.
API Reference
The Microsoft.HomeServer.SDK.Interop.v1 namespace contains the classes and interfaces you can use to extend the Windows Home Server platform.
Programming Tutorial
For code snippets demonstrating how to retrieve information about some common Windows Home Server objects, see the Extending Windows Home Server section of the Programming Tutorial.