Some help with a basic spec please, NAS/Stream/Download

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26 Dec 2005
Posts
198
Hi

I've not put together my own rig for what seems an eternity, the last I remember is back when the first ever Athlon was released :D I'm not very familiar with what's available today and what works well together.

What better place to get some expert advise too! :p

I've moved to Mac's for many reasons however I would like build a NAS/Stream/Download machine. I was looking at buying a QNAP/Synology and running SABNZBD but user reviews were not very positive with the unpacking, streaming of files etc

So it needs to...

- Run Windows WHS probably,
- Handle downloads, unrar, par2 from Usenet on my Virgin 50MB :D
- Stream (transcode) to my iPad, iPhone using AirVideo or something similar
- Stream (transcode) to the PS3 too

I will house the server in the cellar so it doesn't matter what it looks like but I need it to be fairly quiet as we use the basement for storage and the wife is always popping down there!

Don't need an optical drive, won't be connecting a display just use remote desktop.

I think 1TB to start with will be enough and I can add more later, RAID is not a requirement.

I was looking at using the Intel Atom as it consumes a great deal less power, but as I'm at work during the day the only time it will be on is in the evening's and weekends probably use wake-on-lan maybe?

Won't be gaming at all, so something basic would be great.

Thanks very much for taking the help out I appreciate it :)
 
from my experience transcoding will need a fairly meaty CPU.

I tried transcoding via Tversity to my xbox 360 and the pc couldnt keep up with a HD vid (Q6600 4gb ram windows vista)
 
I'm currently using a MacBook 2.4GHz Core Duo 2 - 4GB RAM, and it does h264 well enough for the iPad/iPhone via Plex, AirVideo or ZumoCast. For the PS3 I'm using PS3MediaServer and haven't had any major issues thankfully!

Want to have a dedicated box for it all now.
 
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