HTPC & Network Attached Storage

[pinotnoir]

I finally figured out what to do with my old PC's. I plan on making htpc computers and a network attached storage. Anyone here using an HTPC or NAS in their home? My old multibox pc will be amazing for a home theater PC. This is going to be fun and painful at the same time.

[pinotnoir]

Well I plan on skipping NAS for now while I focus on turning my former mulitboxing q6600 system into an HTPC. I just ordered the case and a few extras today with newegg. I will post how the build goes later. There are many of us with old boxing pc's we used that can become powerful HTPC's. Eventually I want to have a NAS hosting all my music, movies, photos, and tv shows that can stream through my network to all my Home Theater Rooms in the house.

[Acidburning]

def post when you get the setup :D
I am interested.

[Tin]

Take a look a microsoft home server - it is easy to use and do not cost a lot.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

[pinotnoir]

I was looking at the Synology DiskStation DS411+ 4-Bay NAS Server (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas/nas-reviews/31324-new-to-the-charts-synology-ds411-diskstation). According to the test results it's very fast on a gigabit network. Part of my HTPC purchase included an Asus RT-N56U (http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31436-asus-rt-n56u-black-diamond-dual-band-gigabit-wireless-n-router-reviewed)router. I plan on making my old router dedicated to wireless G for my two playstations and our Ipad and Iphones. The new Asus will increase my wired gigabit pc's speed and stream wireless N to my HTPC. With the router dedicated to N it should be fast enough for my HTPC. If not I will run a wired connection to my bedroom. This project is going to consist of a huge learning curve. I needed a break from Wow because I was getting bored. Last night I purchased a Logitech 1100 Harmony remote to control all my devices in my home theater. Now I can put all the remotes away and just use one. Best buy has the Harmony 1100 and Harmony One cheap online. The stores will match the online price. It's not often you can buy something at Best Buy for $258 when it's listed on newegg for $399.

[moosejaw]

Have you looked into BeyondTV (http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/) ? I ran it on my old boxing machine (Q6600) and it worked great. The software can manage your network storage according to your needs. You can store a show locally and it will move it to the NAS after it recodes it. Fully scripted handling of recordings.

[MiRai]

This (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4666/file-server-builders-guide) article/guide about building your own file server popped up on Anandtech yesterday.

[pinotnoir]

This (http://www.anandtech.com/show/4666/file-server-builders-guide) article/guide about building your own file server popped up on Anandtech yesterday.


I have an old AMD 3500+ machine that has 6 Sata ports, gigabit network, and 2 gigs of ram. If the 3T drives go on sale at newegg again for $100 I plan on buying several of them to build a freenas system. If it doesn't work out I will eventually buy the synology nas. If I get into the htpc serious I wonder if I can make a few extra bucks by selling them online. Once people see how they work they will be the next greatest thing for consumers. There will be a day in the future where everyone has an htpc hooked to their TV's.

[ebony]

av done this many times but atm mine is just a testing reg windows homeserver is nice and easy to use and you can get 2011 for like 30$ but its a pain if the master HDD is small