Home Media Servers

[cook]

Anyone bought or made their own media server? I have a few externals that are full of media but I'm thinking one central location would be a much better setup.

I'm considering making my own somehow, seems like a cheaper option than a pre-made box. I've seen some guides on turning old computers into servers using FreeNas or an Ubuntu/Plex setup. The other option is buying the hardware separately and building my own box rather than using an old computer.

Any of the Coli brehs have experience with this?

 

[Czerka]

i have a mini-ITX computer running ubuntu which is hooked up to the rest of the network. i was going to do an NAS box but after doing research on it, you need to have certain kinds of hardware (the processor I bought wasn't compatible) and it just seemed like a rabbit hole I didn't need to go down at this time
there was a small learning curve but i dont have a computer science background or anything. it automatically torrents any movies and tv shows i want and stores it and my htpc can access it via xbmc

 

[newarkhiphop]

@2gunsup has his own nas

here some good guides

How to Build your own NAS or networked attached storage Computer Networking

Turn an Old Computer into a Networked Backup, Streaming, or Torrenting Machine with NAS4Free

Am lazy so once all my media reaches a critical point am just copping a synology and throwin two 4 TB drives in there

 

[Chill]

Most I've had was this cloud storage drive I don't know if that would count:

Spoiler

 

[Silkk]

I need a way to stream from my external, PS3 doesn't give that option.

I normally go External -> Mac -> TV

Wanna be able to cut the middle man out tho

 

[cook]

i have a mini-ITX computer running ubuntu which is hooked up to the rest of the network. i was going to do an NAS box but after doing research on it, you need to have certain kinds of hardware (the processor I bought wasn't compatible) and it just seemed like a rabbit hole I didn't need to go down at this time
there was a small learning curve but i dont have a computer science background or anything. it automatically torrents any movies and tv shows i want and stores it and my htpc can access it via xbmc

Was the processor not powerful enough or are there other specific requirements?

@2gunsup has his own nas

here some good guides

How to Build your own NAS or networked attached storage Computer Networking

Turn an Old Computer into a Networked Backup, Streaming, or Torrenting Machine with NAS4Free

Am lazy so once all my media reaches a critical point am just copping a synology and throwin two 4 TB drives in there

I've read the lifehacker guides on this...doesn't seem too hard. I'm leaning towards a freenas setup. Just not sure if I want to use an old computer. Might buy new hardware to do it

 

[Czerka]

Was the processor not powerful enough or are there other specific requirements?



I've read the lifehacker guides on this...doesn't seem too hard. I'm leaning towards a freenas setup. Just not sure if I want to use an old computer. Might buy new hardware to do it

it was my motherboard actually, to take advantage of some of the backup benefits of freenas you need certain hardware which is more limited when you are only getting mini-itx

QUESTION - AMD Mini-ITX Builds? | FreeNAS Community

also IIRC my motherboard's ethernet wasn't compatible (it was a brand new model too)

compatibility list:

FreeBSD 9.2-RELEASE Hardware Notes

i dont really care about data loss since everything i have is pirated so it wasnt worth the trouble for me

 

[Sonny Bonds]

I used to use one of those D-Link NAS boxes. I found some instructions online to add a torrent client to it that would stay connected without a PC being on. It was neat, but it slowed down over time. And it was pretty noisy too.

 

[CTech83]

Tossed plex media server on my HTPC. Works great, but I'm almost out of space. Since it doubles as my gaming machine, my video card takes up space where I could load up two more hard drives. Got 18 TB of storage.

 

[Ukbrotha]

Get a Synology NAS. Total game changer.

 

[el_oh_el]

I was planning on turning my htpc into a media/webserver and just getting a streaming box to hook to my PJ.

 

[cook]

Get a Synology NAS. Total game changer.

which box do you have?

i was just reading this guide, looks dope. (not sure why it wont let me post the link)

http://www.robvanhamersveld.nl/2012/12/17/synology-nas-as-the-ultimate-xbmc-media-backend/

just not sure i want to drop that much $$ at this time.

 

[Ukbrotha]

which box do you have?

i was just reading this guide, looks dope. (not sure why it wont let me post the link)

http://www.robvanhamersveld.nl/2012/12/17/synology-nas-as-the-ultimate-xbmc-media-backend/

just not sure i want to drop that much $$ at this time.

I got mine a few years ago. Pretty much changed the game for me. I've got the 2 bay DS211+. The current model of that is the DS214+. Its a bit of paper but it's worth every penny. You can even install the Plex app on it.

 

[cook]

I got mine a few years ago. Pretty much changed the game for me. I've got the 2 bay DS211+. The current model of that is the DS214+. Its a bit of paper but it's worth every penny. You can even install the Plex app on it.

2 bays for about $370

 

[Ukbrotha]

I know, but if you can, you wont regret it.