Setting up a media server for home use

Pavan

Pavan

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Hi Guys,

Need some advice :) I want to setup a media server/centre at my new place. Friends have recommended a HP microserver as it has mutiple HDD bays and is well priced. I'd need the HDMI in/out gfx card, network adapters (ethernet + wifi) and multiple USB ports but not much more. Can you guys recommend a specific prebuilt microserver with similar specs? And any advice on where/who to buy from?

Media server will hook up via ethernet/wifi to all TV's and devices in the house. I have bought a receiver/amp thats an integrated amp + network receiver (denon avr 1713).

Thanks!
 
Naw the prebuilt ones suck hey. Your friends know their ****

/edit I might get a Roku instead tho, but that's just me
 
General recommendation is to use the NAS in a back room/office, and get a thin client (Roku/Raspberry Pi/whatever) to use on the frontend. It keeps the noisiness (fans, disks, etc) away from your viewing environment.

A Raspberry Pi can be had for about R400, which is about what you'd spend on the graphics card anyway, so ....
 
Guys I need help here.. I have the same idea, to have the pi as a front end and the server as NAS. At the moment I run Lubuntu on the server. I know very little linux so slightly buggered hehe. My pi (running openelec) can see the folders I created on the external drive connected to the micro server, but I cant for the life of me access them. When I try, I get a user, password to fill out in XBMC, but no luck.
Also when I try to change permissions on the external drive via the Lubuntu GUI, ot just reverts back to default. Would a Windows setup be a better bet to do what I want?
 
senyetse said:
I've got the Raspberry PI - media server set up. Works very well. Got it all running on XBMC.
Click to expand...
I find it EXTREMELY slow ... every time you click something, it pauses.

Is there perhaps a streamlined version of the OS / XBMC that sorts this out?
 
Pavan said:
Hi Guys,

Need some advice :) I want to setup a media server/centre at my new place. Friends have recommended a HP microserver as it has mutiple HDD bays and is well priced. I'd need the HDMI in/out gfx card, network adapters (ethernet + wifi) and multiple USB ports but not much more. Can you guys recommend a specific prebuilt microserver with similar specs? And any advice on where/who to buy from?

Media server will hook up via ethernet/wifi to all TV's and devices in the house. I have bought a receiver/amp thats an integrated amp + network receiver (denon avr 1713).

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'd recommend the HP Proliant Microserver, but when they go on special again. I have had one for a year ... it's awesome ... and just bought another on special on Saturday.

Set it up as a headless server, then use a thinclient, or VERY basic fanless PC (Barring the CPU fan in most cases, but which will mostly be quiet as long as you do not push the CPU).
 
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Speedster said:
Openelec?
Click to expand...

Not sure what the OS was, I think I used RaspBMC ... that was late last year though ... perhaps things have evolved?
If there is a SMOOTH XBMC or similar install for the RPi out there, I'm all ears ... And I refer to smooth being the menu system, not the movie.
 
I would go the HP Microserver very reliable.
I would also consider cable over wifi to ensure great streaming. But that might be me being too picky

Regards

Tim
 
eitai2001 said:
Not sure what the OS was, I think I used RaspBMC ... that was late last year though ... perhaps things have evolved?
If there is a SMOOTH XBMC or similar install for the RPi out there, I'm all ears ... And I refer to smooth being the menu system, not the movie.
Click to expand...

That's what I meant. Openelec is a smooth XBMC install for the RPi
 
what i have is an amd x4 (i think) running as a mythtv backend and frontend on debian (edit - the mythtv part is not necessary for what follows below)

it has (i think) 2gb ram. 3TB combined HDD. it runs sabnzbd, couchpotato and sickbeard.

i run the onboard motherboard card (Geforce 8200) for both 720p and 1080p on 1080p on a 50" tv (edit - never experience lag)

my mac, windows and linux computers can pick up where the files are located through sharing via nfs and i play the files via vlc (edit - on my debian box i state which ip addresses have access to the files. on my router i have mac addresses fixed to ip addresses. so nfs becomes an easy solution)
 
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