XBMC Media Streaming (WAN)

paradisiac

paradisiac

paradisiac

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i have done a bit of googling, and setting up a VPN and using UPnP seems like it would work.
so my question is, what the best way to have it setup server/host side?
do i have to have folder structures in a specific way so that the clients will get them in the appropriate sections? ie movies, tv, music, pictures.
 
I use xbmc regularly, I have my folders set up as so:

separate hard disk.

Video files - TV Shows
---> Series title
---> Series title
- MOVIES
- MUSIC
--> Artist
----> Album

Seems to work well over my lan.

You don't need to be too anal with your directories, it's pretty good at grouping together all the correct shows for the series and season. Movies don't matter at all, just lump them all in one folder.
 
is TVersity an option also?
sorry, im probs not asking the right questions.
im sure a lot of you will know from my previous posts/threads, basically i want to build a media server where each user can have their own library, and stream it over the internet. WHS2011 is really good and easy for this, but it wont allow libraries, which is a shame.
now ideally i would like it to stream to pc, laptop, tv (not sure on model, but can connect netbook to it if need be), wii, iphone, and windows/android phones if possible.
 
englishpremier said:
I use xbmc regularly, I have my folders set up as so:

separate hard disk.

Video files - TV Shows
---> Series title
---> Series title
- MOVIES
- MUSIC
--> Artist
----> Album

Seems to work well over my lan.

You don't need to be too anal with your directories, it's pretty good at grouping together all the correct shows for the series and season. Movies don't matter at all, just lump them all in one folder.
Click to expand...

ok kool, thats pretty much how my stuff is sorted now. whats the best way to stream it over WAN though?
 
I'm confused.

So you will have a media server somewhere, say in the garage, with all your video files on.

Then you want to be able to use XBMC to watch the stuff on your HTPC?

Also you want others elsewhere in the world (WAN) to be able to stream from the server too?

For that wouldn't you want a dedicated upnp server? Then the clients can use any front end they wish, it wouldn't have to be XBMC. I know XBMC can stream through upnp but why install a gui frontend on a server?

Maybe i misunderstand.

I presume you have good upload speeds on the internet connection that the server uses.
 
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at the moment i have my server, which has WHS 2011 on it. that has my music, video and data hard drives in it. i can access everything using xbmc on my local network via file/folder sharing. i can access everything fine anywhere else using the remote web connect in IE/FF to stream. but this wont allow user libraries. so basically all media on my server is available to all users. which is annoying as my dad does not want access to some of my films/music, and i dont want his. but the way WHS 2011 works, you get everything then have to build playlists by filtering the stuff you want. whereas if i could use something like Hamachi, TVersity etc with XBMC, then each user would only select their folders to go into the XBMC library, therefore no filtering out other users stuff.
i dont want XBMC on the server, i wondered what the best way to get the content from my server, to all the client machines that would be using XBMC as players.
 
Yes that would work with XBMC. Multiple user libraries are supported as is tversity as a server.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=41260

If your dad is outside your network then yes a vpn is by far the safest way, thought if you aren't too fussed about security then you could just open the ports on your router and share your IP with your dad. This will save you having to mess about on your dads pc in setting only XBMC to go through the VPN while everything else, regular browsing etc.. goes through his own isp.
 
By default XBMC (when used as a upnp server) uses port 8080 for upnp i'd probably change this to something else e.g 9877 or something random.

You'd then need to tell your router to allow connection on this port i.e port forwarding. you'd have to look at your router's manual for this as they all differ slightly.

This won't make the media server auto detectable on your dad's end, you'd have to manually tell your dad's xbmc where to find your server by telling it your ip address and the port you set up.
 
englishpremier said:
By default XBMC (when used as a upnp server) uses port 8080 for upnp i'd probably change this to something else e.g 9877 or something random.

You'd then need to tell your router to allow connection on this port i.e port forwarding. you'd have to look at your router's manual for this as they all differ slightly.

This won't make the media server auto detectable on your dad's end, you'd have to manually tell your dad's xbmc where to find your server by telling it your ip address and the port you set up.
Click to expand...

yeh portforwarding isnt a problem. so i install XMBC on server?
then i have to set port **** to point to 192.168.*.* (my server) on my router. then on dads XBMC you go to libraries, add, UPnP and then type in my WAN IP address:**** and its good to go?
 
that's my understanding. I'd recommend asking the question on xbmc forums for a more complete picture before embarking on the task.

If only xbmc could automatically transcode video on the fly, i'd be able to stream from my server to my netbook which isn't powerful enough for my HD files.
 
englishpremier said:
that's my understanding. I'd recommend asking the question on xbmc forums for a more complete picture before embarking on the task.

If only xbmc could automatically transcode video on the fly, i'd be able to stream from my server to my netbook which isn't powerful enough for my HD files.
Click to expand...

i went down the Hamachi route and so far so good. i can just map the folders as drives on the machines so XBMC, WMP, WMC, VLC, Itunes....can all open and play the files.
just need to work out how to set Hamachi to only show certain networks certain shared folders.
 
I just use a Windows SMB share and when setting that up it asks for user name and password, nice and simple.
E.g. the share is '//server/media', for films I have '//server/media/films/' and for TV '//server/media/TV'.
No DLNA etc..
This works with XBMC under Windows, Linux or Andoid.
 
Wont the wan upload speed limit what you can stream seamlessly depending on content and bitrate?

I know I can't play a high def video without it stuttering using a VPN to connect to my network over the net and then browsing to my shared folder.

Would using something like Plex be a better option as that will transcode videos on the fly depending on connection speed
 
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