Media Server

jdk · 2 Jan 2011 at 23:48

I'm wanting to build a media server that will be plugged into my TV / Cinema amp and store & play all my music and HD films. Can anyone recommend anything that's pre-built? I need it to be quiet and fairly low power consumption. Ill also need it to be easily sharable with my MacBook Pro.

Thanks!

whitecrook · 2 Jan 2011 at 23:51

mac mini

jdk · 2 Jan 2011 at 23:51

waaaayyy too pricey, and struggle with big HD movie files.

wij · 2 Jan 2011 at 23:56

jdk said:
waaaayyy too pricey, and struggle with big HD movie files.

Pricey, maybe but mind handles 1080p h264 files perfectly well (I have files that hit around 30mbit/sec peaks and its no trouble at all).

PlexApp is also very nice.

I know a couple of people that are using the Acer Revo things with XBMC running on them and they seem to cope well.

jdk · 2 Jan 2011 at 23:59

I agree plex is great, I run that on my MBP. I've seen friends Mac Mini's and on detailed panning scenes, they seem to struggle. I'm looking for something around the £300 mark or as close as possible. Will look into the Acer thank you.

whitecrook · 3 Jan 2011 at 00:05

im sure if you factor in :

the cost of your tv, amp, speakers, mac book, magnetic storage, the mac mini would be a small fraction of that as a complete system.

and, if you factor in your time and 'fiddling about' you save an awful lot going for the mac rather than something else, especially seeing as you already have a mac.

Not sure how well front row works in practice, but CMD+ESC brings up a great browser for your system. It's right there, already. Especially if you use itunes a lot.

The alternative is as mentioned the Revo PCs, or an mini-ITX system, you can get/build really sweet setups, but again, they are generally pricer than the revos but less than the macs.

What about an older gen mac mini?

jdk · 3 Jan 2011 at 00:09

I think an older mac mini would handle intensive HD films even worse than the newer ones. I could also do with it being easily expandable hard drive wise, and I think I'd rather fit proper hard drives in the future than attaching many USB ones.

wij · 3 Jan 2011 at 01:00

jdk said:
I think an older mac mini would handle intensive HD films even worse than the newer ones. I could also do with it being easily expandable hard drive wise, and I think I'd rather fit proper hard drives in the future than attaching many USB ones.

My home is wired with Cat5 and the whole network is Gigabit.

The media files are all stored on a server so in my case I was not concerned about the number of drives I can cram in the media centre as I wanted everything to be stored centrally and accessible from any device on the network.

Not sure what generation MacMini's your friends have got but mine is quite happy handling bitrates near enough native bluray without any trouble (mine is one of the last generation before they made them smaller but it has 4Gb of RAM in it).

I don't use FrontRow, I think its garbage compared to something like Plex where films / tv series are concerned though the integration is nice if you have a library full of DRM low quality movies from iTunes, or with Perrian installed and a bit of poking it can be made to work with other things

@jdk

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-pcs/999568-acer-aspire-revo-owners-thread.html

Might be worth a read in relation to the Acer Revo - they are about £200-300 depending on the spec you go for it seems.

IMO it would be a very neat system though you would probably want to factor in the costs of a centralised storage system like a NAS drive or the like as it obviously is not going to take a large number of internal drives!

whitecrook · 3 Jan 2011 at 01:17

does the op want a media server or a media player or some kind of compromise between the 2. You can get 2TB USB drives now. Is one of them enough? How much space do you need?

What about any old/generic fileserver in the cupboard/backroom/garage and something like a popcorn or wd tv plugged into the tv?

jdk · 3 Jan 2011 at 17:52

That revo does look really good, and a really good price too, especially as a MacMini will be twice maybe three times a Revo. It just concerns me that it only has space for one hard drive. Ideally i'd want a full size case but with the low power aspects of a Revo and connect it directly to my TV and cinema amp. I need a media server and player all in one.

mikeh501 · 4 Jan 2011 at 11:52

jdk said:
That revo does look really good, and a really good price too, especially as a MacMini will be twice maybe three times a Revo. It just concerns me that it only has space for one hard drive. Ideally i'd want a full size case but with the low power aspects of a Revo and connect it directly to my TV and cinema amp. I need a media server and player all in one.

personally id split the duties of server vs streamer, but to answer your question then i'd either get a revo (or zotac zbox) running XBMC and a bunch of external USB drives for storage; or get a HP Proliant Microserver (has 4 drive bays for an easy 8tb) and put a low profile radeon card in it for HDMI connectivity.

Qu3 · 4 Jan 2011 at 12:16

I found the more drives you have the louder it is, the louder is it the more annoying it gets, the more annoying it gets the more you don't want it sat next to your TV

Depending how much media you have the Revo may just do find, but if you think in a months time you'll fill it and need a lot more space.. You're better getting a media server or NAS and a Reco to use as a streamer..