I’m looking to get setup with a home server of some sort. Lately, I’ve been using XBMC more for watching TV shows and movies, more so downloading and watching at a later date because the streaming sucks. Currently my setup is this:
HP Laptop Entertainment edition w/ Windows 7
Kodi V14 installed running over Windows
It’s currently docked in my TV stand, hooked up through the HDMI and synced into my Harmony remote. I was able to sync all the buttons from the remote that came with the laptop. I also have a wireless keyboard with integrated mouse.
I have an Apple TV 2 that is also jailbroken with the latest edition of Kodi. (Really don’t use this because I ran into a cache storage issue and it crashes)
Xbox One to be used as a media access point and also have an Xbox 360 that could do the same.
Now here is what I’m looking to do.
I’d like to have a main server hub that the files will be stored, possibly auto download shows once I setup Sickbeard for TV shows and CouchPotato for Movies. I would then like to be able to access them from within my network utilizing the Xbox One, 360 and ATV 2. I will also plan to utilize Plex to be able to get these on my phone/tablets on the go. My Smartv also ha a Plex app built in that
Now my main question, what is my best option to setup a server? I have thought of a few ways to do this, obviously factoring cost/time into all of this.
I could just continue to use my laptop and possibly attach an external HD, but I fear streaming from that would be terrible if it only has a USB 2.0 and I’m also leaving the laptop running all the time. It as an internal 500GB hard drive, so I wouldn’t get super far, but it would fill up quick.
Convert an old tower into a NAS file server
Buy a small NAS server
I’m still fairly new to all of this, so you’ll have to pardon my ignorance on some of this, I’ve kind of been learning as I go. I’d like to stream line my current setup and also get a good server to start with. I’ve also been known to over analyze things too. Basically, here’s what I need to know from you guys.
What are my best options here, keeping price in mind? I’ve seen some use a RasPi build, converted tower, build a custom NAS sever…it’s a bit overwhelming to actually see what’s the best option right now? @JayS I know we spoke in detail about some of this, but never really specifically the server. I’d like to hear your thoughts.
NAS works well, but the ultimate way to do it would be a Plex Server or an XBMC server, then have either a Plex or XBMC capable device at your TV to stream the items from the perspective server. A lot of smart tv’s and settop devices (roku, amazon fire, nexus player) are now coming with Plex pre-installed, so that’s convenient if you go that route.
That said, I use a NAS device (dual 2TB hard drives) and have XBMC installed on a Google Nexus Player and it works well. Streams just fine over wifi. It’s not as cool of a setup as others have, but it’s low maintenance and it works for me. I have zero motivation to hack on computer stuff when i get home from work.
My “server” is just a plain old desktop with Win7 Ultimate, AMD quad core with 8GB of ram. I added plenty of fans to keep lots of airflow over the 5 hard drives installed in it that total up to 5.5TB of storage.
It hosts all my TV shows and movies. It’s running XBMC with a MySQL backend so any XBMC client connecting to it in XBMC gets the same box art, can update the watched/unwatched status flag as well as resume from timers. It’s also running sabnzbd for usenet downloading, sickbeard for automated TV show search and downloading from usenet and couchpotato for automated movie search and downloading from usenet. I’ve got RDP enabled on it and the RDP ports forwarded from my router so I can access it from anywhere, an FTP service that I enable from time to time to let people grab files from me and AirVideo running to stream media to iOS devices. It’s also running windows media center as the main house DVR, getting signal from an HD Homerun prime.
Just recently I decided I wanted a backup of my media library so I picked up a pair of 4TB drives and I’m tossing them in a little Ubuntu box and using this software to make a backup every night: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/
This is where I’m likely headed. I don’t have the need for Live TV or TV DVR setup right now. It’s mainly for streaming and storage, but accessible at anytime, anywhere. I have a 4k TV that has the Plex app on it in my living room and also the Xbox One that can access the files directly, once synced. I see that Xbox even has a Plex app now. I would imagine PS has it too. You would basically just have to setup the Plex software on the server itself right?
If I didn’t want to “build” a server persay, what’s a good NAS option. Also, what’s the price compared to building one? I’m not very knowledgeable when it comes to that part, I just know what I want to do here.
Also, for this server, a graphic card isn’t necessary because I will be using the front end equipment for that right?
Yeah, I’ve never setup Plex, but I think you set it up on a box, point it at files and then the the app on the TVs can stream them. Here are the Plex recomendations. The thing about Plex is that it does HD Transcoding on the server, so you need SOME horsepower for that.
Some NAS devices even support Plex Media Server, OR you can attach the NAS to a machine running Plex Server, store all of your files on the NAS and use the computer as a Server. Click through the above for that information as well.
Isn’t Chromecast generally used for the front end? I think I have enough hardware for that between the SmartTV, Xbox x2 and ATV2. I’m more so looking to have a main hub at this point for storage and the ability to run 24/7 to be accessed on the go and through the house. @ProgRocker, I think at this point, I would be wise to just look into building a tower/existing tower that can handle this. Should I start from scratch and piece together a new one, pickup a used tower and swap parts…what’s the best way to go here?
check the system requirements and start scouring craigslist. Totally up to you on new/used/built, but you can probably find a ready-built machine on woot.com or something that suits the need.
I’ll be honest I suck with home theater setups, it’s just not my area. I usually just stream from phone to chromecast on my TV. You can also stream from applications on your computer (I think VLC player does this) to your chromecast.
Chromecast is fine if you want to browse through some files, play something, and toss it on the TV.
Plex and XBMC are about creating an easy to use and organized library. I have 5TB worth of media spread across 5 drives. It would be a complete clusterfuck if I was just searching through folders any time I wanted to play something.
That’s a great jump off point, but from what I read yesterday, it’s a finicky piece of equipment. You would basically have to strip it down and do a fresh install in order to get Plex Media to run on it, otherwise you have to run Plex from another OS and tap this device, which defeats my objective to have a stand alone “server”, capable of running XBMC & Plex on it’s own.
Looks like my only options here are to go forth with a build, based on some of the tower recommendations above or to drop more money for a small standalone NAS box (not preferred) to have the full function of running my own OS and still storing the files there, while maintaining a low power 24/7 device.
That looks to be a very good deal. I could get a 1TB Seagate HD for $50+/- and I wouldn’t need the Windows that it comes with because I’ll probably use FreeNAS.
edit-oops, one of the woot towers comes with Win 7, not the Lenovo.
Yeah, definitely looks like I am going to build a Plex server. I have an old tower that I think can handle it. I will NFS mount my NAS and continue storing there.
Just pulled the trigger on that Lenovo. Got the $25 off and I’ll send in the $20 rebate. In the meantime, I’m going to keep an eye out for a deal on hard drives. I’d like to get more than a 2 TB, just so I don’t have to upgrade sooner rather than later. A lot of the reviews said that the cables were too short when they went to install the hard drive, so I’ll grab a pair of cables too.
Eventually, I’ll probably upgrade the Ram once I start using it more, but it should suffice for now. Thanks for the heads up on that deal @boardjnky4 :tup:
I’ll buy the externals and just bust them open to use the SATA drive that’s inside. I’ll never understand why external drives always go on better sales than internal drives.
Probably because most people only know to connect it via usb. For HD snobs like us, usb 2.0 and maybe even 3.0 will slow the stream if it’s a large file.