Sir Topham Hatt Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 My aim: to have about 10Tb of storage for a Media Centre to watch movies/tv programmes on my TV. Going on from another topic, I have a clear choice: Build a Server While this may be the most complicated way, I should think by the time it is up and running, it'll be very good. Simply a bunch of 2Tb disks in some form of array, so either JBOD or combined storage. I'd prefer JBOD as it'll be easier to manage files that way for transportaion elsewhere, no array, I'll risk one of them going and loosing the files with it (never happened as yet?). Buy a Server At the moment, this is my preferred option as I'm not that confident in building a server. I just need something I can add about ten HDDs to (as by the time I reach ten, I am sure something bigger and better will have come out (maybe not though I guess)). The HP MediaSmart EX490 seems good but only has 4 HDD spaces. PROBLEM WITH SERVER: How do I then stream the video to my TV? Buy a Media Centre PC Expensive and will have the same effect as the above in the end, but may come with a remote which is what I would like. PROBLEM WITH MEDIA CENTRE PC: Noisy? Expensive? Buy a WD TV Live The WDTV Live is a lovely device, however I will still need some way of storing the HDDs on the network, so would end up having to buy a small server anyway! Buy an Asus 1080p HDP So the Asus 1080p HDP device has caught my eye, but is basically the same as the WDTV Live. PROBLEM WITH MEDIA PLAYERS: Still need somewhere to store the files. I ONLY want movies and TV series. I don't need any software that allows me to look at photos or music and would prefer this option to be removed. Also, if I was to buy something like this - how does it connect to my PC? Again though this would just be storing files not being able to stream them to the TV. Any advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xilo Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822165171&cm_re=dlna-_-22-165-171-_-Product Buy something like this. Already comes with the hard drives and they can be replaced or you can add to it via USB. It supports DLNA streaming, so anything on your network that supports DLNA can view the media. Most recent TVs, Blu-ray players, or a PS3/360 supports it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawksy Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Besides the Media/file server, you can add a Boxee box to the tv, to stream movies and internet content. Or hook the pc itself to the big-screen, instead of 2 pc's, and run xbmc or boxee software to index and organize all the movies with thumbnails/information to view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Topham Hatt Posted December 1, 2010 Author Share Posted December 1, 2010 Can I install XBMC on my PC then and have it running as a little media centre? The problem then is using a remote, obviously my PC won't like that and I'd prefer to keep the movies and TV episodes seperate from the internet so they don't get eaten. Interesting though, I may install it and see how I get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankSpin Posted December 1, 2010 Share Posted December 1, 2010 I would recommend against buying one of those pre-built boxes like Buffalo or D-Link mostly do 2 or 3 drives in a traditional RAID which means if the 2 drives or the box dies, everything is lost. For this reason only is why I'm considering UnRaid or FreeNas (using ZFS) because it's not a traditional raid array so it's easier to recover data if things get out of control. UnRaid actually has a couple recommended builds on their website, sans drives, that will more than future proof the build. Yes you can use XBMC, as far as remote control goes over it you can use a generic Windows Media Center remote with the Eventghost app and full control over XBMC with a remote. I do this now but with my harmony remote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xilo Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 I would recommend against buying one of those pre-built boxes like Buffalo or D-Link mostly do 2 or 3 drives in a traditional RAID which means if the 2 drives or the box dies, everything is lost. For this reason only is why I'm considering UnRaid or FreeNas (using ZFS) because it's not a traditional raid array so it's easier to recover data if things get out of control. UnRaid actually has a couple recommended builds on their website, sans drives, that will more than future proof the build. Have you even looked at the specs I linked? The one I linked to has 4 drive bays and supports a wide variety of disk setups RAID and non-Raid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+StevoFC MVC Posted December 6, 2010 MVC Share Posted December 6, 2010 You could get a qnap device for the storage. http://www.qnap.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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