Home Media File Server/PC

FrankDaTank · 25 Jan 2014 at 14:46

Hey, looking for a few ideas on making a Home Media Server. First attempt at it. May not even need it, but will explain.

Basically I have about 7TB of media built up over the years. Most of these are on 3.5" HDDs consisting of 1x1TB, 1x3TB 1x1.5 External and 3x500GB

At the minute they are mostly connected to my Main PC that you see in my Sig, however I have a few older towers I can make a working PC out of and was wondering the best way to go forward? My PC is pretty messy looking inside!

I could lump them all into another PC and have that powered on running a version of Windows 7, but I was wondering if there are any other ways to do it that would be better?

All I need essentially is some way of accessing all of the content via the network, but would like to consider going down the route of a server. Looking for suggestions for PC Setup, i.e OS that would perform the best(open to non windows), PSU needed for amount of HDDs, Ram, do I need a dedicated LAN card etc, or any other specialized software to make it all run smoothly.

Media consists mostly of TV Shows and Movies (HD 1080p ones too).

Home network setup includes my PC connected to a ****** Netgear router as a Wireless extender via Ethernet from the main SKY Router(in another room).

So am I better sticking with what I have or have you any suggestions on what I could do with existing hardware? Also Low budget, as always would help!

Bluecube · 25 Jan 2014 at 16:25

Take it the disks are NTFS format?

At the very basic level, all you need to do is throw together a really basic PC setup (a low end AMD CPU may be the way ahead) and pop Windows on it. You will be able to share the disks quite easily that way. No dedicated LAN card or specialist software required. A decent 450W PSU will be enough unless you also cram in a heavy duty CPU/ GPU which I doubt you will be! You could also look into running a Linux distro. Mint is easy to use and will also let you share your data.

If the data is important to you, I'd look at getting a couple more 3Tb drives and seeing about a RAID5 setup but that's me.

FrankDaTank · 25 Jan 2014 at 17:53

Thanks for that. Yes disks are in NTFS. Does that matter? I was thinking of Linux as I have never used it before, and for the life of me I can see no reason not to, especially if all I need it for is for sharing over the network!

I am probably going to get another couple of 3TB's to set up raid down the line, but at the minute I want to de-clutter the Gaming rig I have and then have something simple and Network attached. Any recommendations on the Linux version?

Need to get the Linux for dummies out then!

Any and all other suggestions welcome. I can keep it simple, but wouldn't mind techn' it up a bit, maybe not needed though.

Tomsk · 25 Jan 2014 at 18:01

I've got >10TB of various media files.
I originally started with just a load of HD's connected to a PC.
I then used a WHSv1 system for a few years until MS stopped supporting it.
Next was a NAS4free system which I used with a rPi for just over a year.

In the last 6 months I've switched to a Windows 7 system with Stablebit Drivepool.

Bluecube · 25 Jan 2014 at 21:13

Linux is pretty straightforward these days. Mint is a very good distro. Easy to install, easy to use yet has powerful software on tap when you need it.

FrankDaTank · 26 Jan 2014 at 15:07

Thanks for all that. Im torn between giving linux a go(mint sounds good), but I will do a bit more research around stablebit drivepool as I would like some sort of software control too as I can only see the collection getting bigger.

Nas4Free would be a choice too. Hmmm decisions. Thanks.

Bluecube · 26 Jan 2014 at 15:15

Nas4Free is very good at what it does. However I found it limiting as it really is just a NAS OS. There's not much else you can use it for. You may however find this a good thing!

Morfik · 26 Jan 2014 at 18:17

Do you have a PC hooked up to your TV currently?

I have about 5TB of media and wasn't sure whether to go down the NAS route. Ultimately what swayed it for me was the availability of large HTPC cases, it's cheaper to have one PC than a NAS + PC, you can leave a quiet HTPC on 24/7 and not notice it.

You could build a large HTPC around one of these cases and just use normal Windows

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-215-SV