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Media Server
Jokerman
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
While browing the internets, I came upon an ad for the new HP media server. Now this is just a cool thing to me in general because hey, now i can toss all my mp3's and whatnot on this badboy and have my laptop and stuff bogged down with crap.
However, it's pretty steeply priced. So I thought i would put it to everyone here if it would be possible to build (or find something else) that does the same thing for Mac's and Pc's for less.
However, it's pretty steeply priced. So I thought i would put it to everyone here if it would be possible to build (or find something else) that does the same thing for Mac's and Pc's for less.
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All you really need is a cheap computer running Mythbuntu and with a lot of hard drive space.
GT: Tanky the Tank
Black: 1377 6749 7425
You can build a machine cheaper yourself, but not with such a nice case (at least after you factor in a Home Server license, about $99).
"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
"Was cursing, in broken english at his team, and at our team. made fun of dead family members and mentioned he had sex with a dog."
"Hope he dies tbh but a ban would do."
The Windows Home Server software on the HP MediaSmart server adds stuff like:
* An easily expandable storage pool (just stick more hard drives in it)
* Incremental PC backup with special code that eliminates duplicate data
* Data replication (protects data on your shares against hard drive failure)
And a few other nice perks like remote access to shared files and a remote desktop gateway.
Also there's a few reasons why you might decide to go with pre-built rather than homebrew for the home server. The MediaSmart server has really nice front-loading hard drive bays that let you install hard drives without the need for screws, cables or tools, or even shutting down the server. Also it has indicator lights for each hard drive that show which drive has failed, or which drive you just "ejected" from the server. Also it's very small, quiet and unobtrustive.
Incidentally, does anyone know if there's a way to see files stored on such a Linux box on FrontRow on a Mac? My plan is to use my monitor + laptop to play the file while it's stored on the other computer (desktop is loud, clamshell laptop isn't).
It runs Vista Home coupled with Tversity for streaming to my porjector, a ventrillo server, and Ceberus for my FTP!
For streaming? just turn on itunes sharing on one computer and stream away to other itunes... i do it from my "server" mac because it's already on 24/7 for the appletvs.
Streams to my desktop, laptop, xbox and family htpc.
Spec are:
2gb DDR2
Some asus motherboard with gigabit ethernet and 6 sata ports
4x 1TB WD Green hdd's
in an Antec 300 case
I'm pretty sure you can just create an alias to the folder you wish to browse (say, the videos folder on your network share) and chuck it in the relevant folder in your user profile on your Mac (so for this example, ~/Movies). In Front Row, it will just display as a subfolder in the Movies Folder menu. Just gotta make sure the share is mounted each time you try to browse it. Also, I believe you can auto mount shares on login by mounting them, and then dragging them to your login items.
I mean:
~30$ sempron CPU
~50$ AM2+ mobo (/w video)
~30$ 2gb of DDR2 (7.50$ if you only want to match the 512mb that I believe comes with the HP server.)
~100$ 1TB HD
That's 210$ and leaves you 290$ to pick out a case/psu, or a case/psu + OS if you want to run with Windows.
That said I did find a sempron/mobo combo with onboard video for 50$ on newegg so you could shave another 30$ off that price.
Not all routers have USB ports.
God wouldnt the speed be terribad?
It just seems like USB would be so slow.
True, but I don't really think much of them... I should really try and find a few reviews on different products before making up my mind though... Anyway, my mate has a Lacie HD with gigabit ethernet (with a gig switch in his router, and gig nics in his machines) and he gets absolutely abysmal transfer speeds. It took about 10 minutes for ~700MB last time I saw, with him as the only user. I know I can't base all my assumptions off this one product, but it really lowers my expectations.
What would be the best connector/video card for composite (RCA) input TVs? We're still in the SD era (damn TVs just won't die!) so I was thinking S-Video to Composite, but I think it can't do audio so I'm uncertain what to do.
I run Mythtv at home with four frontends (well, every computer is a frontend
There are a lot of good fanless nvidia half-height vid cards that have s-video out. I'm not sure on which model would be best, just make sure its supported in linux - there's quite a bit to search on the mythtv-users list archives (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/). Svideo to composite should work, and yes, you'll need a mini-plug to stereo RCA converter (you plug that into the speaker out jack on the computer, and into the audio RCA jacks on the TV)
Also, if you don't want to worry about outputting to a TV and don't have a linux box: http://winmyth.sourceforge.net/ - used for watching recorded TV... for avi files you'd just share the media folder and watch it like a normal AVI
I believe there's packages for just the frontend, for linux boxes.
Trentus, while I'm sure all the hardware is gigabit-capable, it really sounds like your friends network is only running at 10 mbps if things are that slow (10mbps would take ~10 mins to transfer a 700mb file.)
Thanks for the info, I was fearing I would need a computer for each TV
Although I wonder... can I have multiple instances of MythTV running?
I was thinking multiple instances of MythTV, so that each TV would have its own maximized instance. All instances would have the same media access. Obviously I'd have to think about how to control the thing too after the initial setup (multiple MCE remotes? *shrug*).
Though now that I think about it I wouldn't even need MythTV (though a user friendly interface would be nice). I could easily replicate this with any OS - every display would have access to the media folder, since I don't plan on TV recording at all, just movie file playback. Hmm.
You'd be much better off buying 4 cheap computers for this.
GT: Tanky the Tank
Black: 1377 6749 7425
I don't think DVDs are HD quality though, but 4 DVD quality videos at once might still take a hefty strain on processing power, with the components I had in mind.
Ah well, I think I'll concentrate on making a nice backup server instead.
VGA to composite is tricky, but VGA to RBG-Scart is trivial. Something like this should work if your graphics card can output 576 interlaced. Nvidia's drivers have good support for custom resolutions, but I could not confirm that my 9600gt could output 576i since it's out of sync range for my monitor.
There is also good old Powerstrip for custom resolutions.
For audio you could use Media Player Classic's audio routing tables to have one instance only output to front and one instance only output to surround.
The real headache would be input. Managing four different inputs to four different programs on one computer sounds like a major pain. You could use perhaps use virtualization to manage different usb inputs and pipe them to the correct program, but that is probably overkill.
While an interesting thought experiment, I would not suggest anyone actually build a four output media player. Two outputs should be doable without too much hassle though.