Original Poster Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 firstly yes I know the title says media and network both not meant for this thread :p but along with software this discussion has a lot of hardware discussion I would hope... so just thought this was best place to put it! ok HELLO ! :p I am trying to set up a network which allows my dad (who can turn on a computer and access his emails) to watch videos and listen to music stored on the server, now this would be simple enough as I would have just set up the server as a webserver and let him access it through a link (i am a web developer for me this is easy option) but his PC just died... (think its the PSU so i will probs replace it) but for now what should i do? the end devices are as follows.... 2 raspberry Pis (256 ram) , a laptop and his HTC...i think he also wants to get a tablet which will have a micro HDMI... the laptop is a shared one so he cannot use it all the time and he wants something on the 40 inch tv (as any man would).here is my next sticky wicket.... I have 3 servers a dell power edge (OLD AS HELL ITS SELF), two HP proliiants one i forgot the model of but is about 5 years old (2 x 2.2ghz duel core xeon) and the other is a ML570 G4 .... now you probs thinking... not bad he has a bit of power, but here is my problem in every situation here I have very low storage space... my power edge has around 500gbs of storage which is ok (but has less then 750 ram) at the moment but that is not on raid 0 its like 72gbs x 5/6 or something like tha....t the HP proliant 5 years old one has 2 x 72 raid 0 and the G4 has 7/8 x 72 gbs raid storage ...so this is where the issue comes up... I do have a loads of HDDs (2.5 and 3.5) and my biggest is 1tb 3.5 inch ... which I can use along with around 4TBs of storage from 2.5s and 3.5s added together ... but they wont fit in the server obv... I was thinking of a NAS but I wanted to try and do this without spending much more... I have external cases for my hard drives ...suggestions ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Seagate Central and you're done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagum Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 USB2 should be fine for streaming movies, even 1080. Just plug them all in and it should be fine for as many users as you have. Setup the duel xeon with linux and plex media server, then you can use upnp or dedicated plex apps on iOS/android/windows/mac/windows phone to stream your media content. As long as you name the files, it should even download all the art work, and imdb blurb too with minimal effort and it'll be presented to him in a really nice netflix style interface. For his TV, you can get a dedicated Roku box (smaller then a cd case) for around ?40 that is very well supported by plex app and he'll get a really nice streaming experience, both with paid content and your home local media server via plex. Or if he has a bluray player or game console that has upnp he might be able to use that to view media from the plex server. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Poster Posted July 9, 2013 Author Share Posted July 9, 2013 USB2 should be fine for streaming movies, even 1080. Just plug them all in and it should be fine for as many users as you have. Setup the duel xeon with linux and plex media server, then you can use upnp or dedicated plex apps on iOS/android/windows/mac/windows phone to stream your media content. As long as you name the files, it should even download all the art work, and imdb blurb too with minimal effort and it'll be presented to him in a really nice netflix style interface. really good suggestion! think I will look into doing that (or maybe just make him a VPS on the other one) what about the front end though? lets say he doesnt get a tablet? do you think a Rasp will be able to handle it? Seagate Central and you're done. wow, ok I am REALLY cheap... seriously like im such a tight ass I dont crap for a week on a good occasion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagum Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 really good suggestion! think I will look into doing that (or maybe just make him a VPS on the other one) what about the front end though? lets say he doesnt get a tablet? do you think a Rasp will be able to handle it? wow, ok I am REALLY cheap... seriously like im such a tight ass I dont crap for a week on a good occasion... I don't really know much about the Pi, but a quick google suggests you can get xbmc installed (well supported) and then use a plugin for it called PlexBMC and that should get you plex support. It also seems like people are working on a native Plex client for the Pi too, so you might be in luck soon... how soon, who knows :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Poster Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 I don't really know much about the Pi, but a quick google suggests you can get xbmc installed (well supported) and then use a plugin for it called PlexBMC and that should get you plex support. It also seems like people are working on a native Plex client for the Pi too, so you might be in luck soon... how soon, who knows :) you wouldnt be able to help me with this would you? does not seem to be a guide on how to use this plex media server ? (i am in command line) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Observer Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 have a Pi with Rasplex and can play anything i want. Want to test XBMC on the Pi, think ill do it this week end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Poster Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 have a Pi with Rasplex and can play anything i want. Want to test XBMC on the Pi, think ill do it this week end. ooo is it good? is ras plex and OS or just an app? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Observer Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 ooo is it good? is ras plex and OS or just an app? OS i guess, you need to install it onto your Pi, and have Plex Media Server running on Server. the UI is abit slow but over all it is very now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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