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Best option for streaming media server?

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cesium666

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I currently have several hard drives in my desktop storing all my media (i.e. HD TV Shows and Movies). I was thinking of buying some sort of cheap, small, low-power media server (NAS perhaps) to hold 4 hard drives (all 4 will be 4TB size), which, connected to my network, can be used to stream the content to my desktop and something like a media streamer box (or maybe a really tiny pc running XBMC).

Is there any reasonable solution that can handle these drives and streaming at full quality? Highest bitrate file is around 20Mb/s for a few 1080p movies. Would be connected to a Linksys E4200 router.
 
I kinda went "bleh" on UPnP / DLNA type technologies since it was hard to stream certain file formats (mkv, e.g.)... but there's probably a way to make it work if you were really dedicated. I believe XBMC has some kind of support for this built-in. There may be some other transcoding methods available. Obviously the "downside" here is that you need some kind of GPU hardware in your NAS... though even a low-end AMD APU would handle 1080p decoding quite easily (provided AMD's drivers aren't crap, which is a bad assumption to make).

I think my strategy is going to just have a NAS and then I'll let the clients worry about doing the decoding and rendering. In this sense I'll just access the media from the NAS via NFS or CIFS (ok, NFS... screw CIFS). You have to figure that you'll need some kind of client software to interact with (IR remote, etc.) anyway. (Though even here some people are getting sneaky by just running HDMI cables from the server to the TV and then working XBMC controls via wifi with tablet / smartphone apps, etc.)

You may get some better ideas at the XBMC forum in regards to how to set up an XBMC client / server relationship and how to go about determining hardware needs.
 
jwcalla said:
I think my strategy is going to just have a NAS and then I'll let the clients worry about doing the decoding and rendering. In this sense I'll just access the media from the NAS via NFS or CIFS (ok, NFS... screw CIFS). You have to figure that you'll need some kind of client software to interact with (IR remote, etc.) anyway.
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That was my plan as well. I'll take a look into the NFS stuff for streaming as well as the XBMC forum. Thanks!

edit: would wifi (300mbps N) be enough to stream these files?
edit2: if this thing can decode my MKVs (some research indicates the mali400 is more than capable of doing 1080p decode), this could be the perfect client for xbmc on ubuntu for my TV http://www.fxitech.com/products/
 
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cesium666 said:
edit: would wifi (300mbps N) be enough to stream these files?
Click to expand...

by far. and the E4200 is such a capable router that I couldn't imagine it giving you any headaches. I don't think it supports jumbo frames (IIRC) but I doubt that would be a fly in the ointment for your case.

edit2: if this thing can decode my MKVs (some research indicates the mali400 is more than capable of doing 1080p decode), this could be the perfect client for xbmc on ubuntu for my TV http://www.fxitech.com/products/
Click to expand...

hmmmmmmmmmm. looks interesting. i haven't settled on my entertainment setup myself so things like this interest me.
 
I have done 1080p over a wireless link for years with my mythtv based htpc. This is with wireless G. Although my family room right below the wireless router.
 
I built an AMD zacate system to be my low power media server. It uses around 40-60 watts. Check my sig for details.
 
af22 said:
I built an AMD zacate system to be my low power media server. It uses around 40-60 watts. Check my sig for details.
Click to expand...

What OS are you using? I haven't been able to figure out if AMD has good video decoding support on linux? I hear the E-350 platform idles around 15-20 watts?

That Cotton Candy thingymajigger makes we want to wait for decent ARM-based NAS's. hehe. I know they have Synology, etc., but I want something ZFSable.
 
jwcalla said:
What OS are you using? I haven't been able to figure out if AMD has good video decoding support on linux? I hear the E-350 platform idles around 15-20 watts?

That Cotton Candy thingymajigger makes we want to wait for decent ARM-based NAS's. hehe. I know they have Synology, etc., but I want something ZFSable.
Click to expand...

I am using Server 2008R2 simply because I had over 4TB of data on NTFS that i could not migrate over to a unix based solution due to the lack of temporary storage.

The E-350 is superior over the current atom lineup. You don't need video playback support for your server. If you want to use the E-350 as a light weight HTPC, that's another discussion. It will handle 1080, but flash is hit or miss.
 
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