Building a Media Server...

[giyad]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and this is my first time building a server so please bear with me... I know there are a lot of questions, but I want to get it right

Ok, I've got a couple of questions. I want to build a server in order to store all my media (photos, videos, and music). Simple enough. I already have a pretty powerful (but storage lacking as it only has 150GB) desktop PC with an Antec P180 case which itself could house enough drives (6 internal bays) for a server. <strong>First question, should I just purchase more drives and use the current system (which will save money) or would it be significantly better (more reliable) to build a completely new system for the server?</strong>

Second, being new to the whole server thing, do I need to install a server OS (FreeNAS, Ubuntu, WHS, etc...), or can I just use Windows Vista Premium? I ask because I don't want to install the OS on the drives as I want to build in some redundancy too (I'm likely going to buy 2x 1TB WD Caviar Greens). Can a server just be a stack of drives that reads/writes data, or does it need its own OS?

Now for the fun part...

I want to be able to watch my videos on TV, and wirelessly stream my music to laptops... So, should I build an HTPC as well, or just buy Popcorn Hour or a media center extender?? The benefits of an HTPC is that I can include a blu ray drive, plus I can use Windows Media Center which I've heard great reviews about. The benefit of popcorn hour or a media center extender is saving money.

The idea I have is to use Powerline to connect my server/desktop to the router (router is not in the same room as PC). From there, I either connect a HTPC or the media extender. The router is an 802.11g so I will be streaming music fine, but video will go over ethernet through powerline.

If this was incoherent and just a lot of information please let me know, I'll try to tone it down, but I would love to hear what everyone thinks!!

Thanks in advance!

Oh, and one more thing, I already own a copy of WHS and Windows Vista Premium, so the prices of the OS's are no longer a factor.

 

[00Roush]

This might help you with understanding a server... http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2005/servers.asp

You didn't mention if the desktop pc you already have would be just used as a media server or also for personal use. In my mind you would want it to be dedicated to being just a media server so if you still needed it for personal use you might be better off building a separate machine for the media server.

For the OS you would probably be just fine using Vista Home Premium. The only limitation I can see is that by default I think it only supports 10 connections. So if you are planning to hook up more than 10 computers you might have to change the OS.

Most servers have a single drive for the OS and then add other drives for storage. So you could get a cheap 160gb drive for the OS then the 2x 1TB WD drives for storage.

You should be able to setup a HTPC to also serve as your media server so you would only need one machine to do both tasks. Then as you mentioned you could use your router to stream your music to other computers. Not really sure how well the Powerline networking works. You might do some research to fine out if it reliable and can provide enough bandwidth for HD content. You might need a gigabit network to be able to stream HD videos to other computers.

00Roush

 

[starfox101]

just my 2 cents.. I built a server using an older pc. First I used freenas, worked fine but had little problems I wanted to fix. Then I got naslite, fine program, cheap, works great! Now have qnap 409 pro. The qnap is the way to go. The old pc was pulling 400 watts, qnap is under 100. When changing from freenas to naslite had to reformat each drive, pain in the butt. also the drives used in the old pc were ata. Anything new will be using sata. I have 6 500 g/b ata drives sitting in a closet and 3 new 1 t/b in the qnap.
Media server is the only way to go. I have a netgear eva8000 works great, has a bug or two, but I can get around it. I have had two or three others I have sent back. Rapsody N35 is the back bedroom it works, but will never get out of beta, not even in the same class as the eva.

all wired cat 6
netgear FVS336G router
netgear GS108T switch
Qnap 409 pro nas server
eva8000 media server
rapsody N35 media player

 

[giyad]

Thanks for the responses guys!

This might help you with understanding a server... http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2005/servers.asp

You didn't mention if the desktop pc you already have would be just used as a media server or also for personal use. In my mind you would want it to be dedicated to being just a media server so if you still needed it for personal use you might be better off building a separate machine for the media server.

For the OS you would probably be just fine using Vista Home Premium. The only limitation I can see is that by default I think it only supports 10 connections. So if you are planning to hook up more than 10 computers you might have to change the OS.

Most servers have a single drive for the OS and then add other drives for storage. So you could get a cheap 160gb drive for the OS then the 2x 1TB WD drives for storage.

You should be able to setup a HTPC to also serve as your media server so you would only need one machine to do both tasks. Then as you mentioned you could use your router to stream your music to other computers. Not really sure how well the Powerline networking works. You might do some research to fine out if it reliable and can provide enough bandwidth for HD content. You might need a gigabit network to be able to stream HD videos to other computers.

00Roush

Sorry, yeah I was implying that the desktop PC be used as both a media server and as my desktop. The plus side is that I don't play games anymore so it won't be used excessively, just for surfing the web and doing some work (nothing CPU demanding).

I think I will take your advice and have a single drive for the OS (my WD 150GB Raptor), and I think I will be using Vista Premium since it has Media Center.

In response to Powerline, I've heard only great reviews.

I thought about what you said with having the HTPC as the media server. At first I was really excited about that idea, but then I thought about having all those drives in an HTPC with fans to cool them down and figured it would probably be too loud under the TV... I think Im just going to build a small and basic HTPC with a Tuner (for recording) and Vista Premium, then set it up on the network to take advantage of the desktop/server storage space. What do you think?

just my 2 cents.. I built a server using an older pc. First I used freenas, worked fine but had little problems I wanted to fix. Then I got naslite, fine program, cheap, works great! Now have qnap 409 pro. The qnap is the way to go. The old pc was pulling 400 watts, qnap is under 100. When changing from freenas to naslite had to reformat each drive, pain in the butt. also the drives used in the old pc were ata. Anything new will be using sata. I have 6 500 g/b ata drives sitting in a closet and 3 new 1 t/b in the qnap.
Media server is the only way to go. I have a netgear eva8000 works great, has a bug or two, but I can get around it. I have had two or three others I have sent back. Rapsody N35 is the back bedroom it works, but will never get out of beta, not even in the same class as the eva.

all wired cat 6
netgear FVS336G router
netgear GS108T switch
Qnap 409 pro nas server
eva8000 media server
rapsody N35 media player

Thanks, I'd never heard about QNAP and it does seem like a great option, just wish it was a little cheaper... You have a nice set up there, my only complaint is the eva8000 and rapsody N35, I think you should look into Popcorn Hour ($180)...

Ideally, I would like to build a separate device for my server and then hook it up to a wireless/wired network so that I can stream music and video. But, its going to cost too much to build an HTPC and a server at the same time, so I think Im going to spend on building the HTPC, and just throw the drives into my ANTEC P180. This way I can just take the drives out and build a server later when some more money rolls in