Windows Home Server... for gaming?

T

The Jackyl

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 16, 2008
Messages
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Just wanted to see if anyone has had experience using the OS for a combination media server/gaming rig. The system I am building will be primarily used to store and stream video to my PS3. I plan on having the the computer pretty much put out of the way, next to my PS3 and HDTV wired through a gigabit router (DIR-655). I also plan on, with the use of wireless controllers, play games like Batman AA off the computer which will be hooked up to my TV with an HDMI cable. My only concern is if there will be any compatibility issues with using Windows Home Server (hardware, software, drivers). Here are the specs for my rig.

ASUS M3N72-D AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131323
ASUS EN9600GSO/DI/512MD3/V2 GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814121320
Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817371020
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103471
CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-6400C5 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145184

and about 4TB in SATA drives. probably toss in an older IDE drive for the OS
 
I have a second steam account that I sometimes use on my WHS when a friend is over. It runs TF2 and L4D just fine as well as Disney's Toontown. :p

Just keep in mind a lot of regular workstation style apps like antivirus and messenger won't install, etc.
 
There nothing really preventing it, but Why?

Just sounds like a bad idea.
 
As long as games install and run properly. My main computer will still be my Sager NP9262 so I'm not really worried about installing anything besides games on this new rig.

Are there any drawbacks to running games on WHS? Why would it be a bad idea?
 
Drawbacks are:

32-bit, limited to less then 4 gigs of memory, probably doesn't matter with games now, but who knows in the future.

Windows 2k3 based - directx 9 only, depends on what games you're be playing, but it'll never have 10 or 11 support.

It'll also take a few tweaks to make it perform better as a desktop, probably want to run through the 2k3 as a workstation guide and pick the parts that pertain to you.

http://win2k3.msfn.org/
 
Direct X could certainly be an issue. I do plan to play the latest games on here like Batman AA which looked so much better on my laptop than it did on the PS3.

Might have to go with a dual-boot with WHS for streaming and W7 for gaming.
 
Alrealy tried to game on Windows Server and I had FPS drop, and forget DX10+... So it's not realy the best choice for gaming...
 
gaming on WHS wouldn't be smart. It's the system holding and protecting your data. You really don't want to do anything more with it as you're asking for potential issues.

I personally don't want to take the chance that games, patches or other apps can introduce any kind of instability in the system. Mine serves files and nothing more.
 
I tried what you are thinking of.

Then I realized its better to install XP pro, and ps3mediaserver for all my streaming needs (music, videos, pictures...).

That way XP lets me do all my gaming and install all the software I want, and PS3MS alows all the video streaming I want.

My question is how to make the server go on and sleep/standby/hibernate at certain times on a schedule. No need to be on during the day.

Also, gaming on the same pc as you are serving may not be a good idea. Use dual boot based on what you want to do. I eventually built a separate gaming and everyday rig and put the server in the closet.
 
I have PS3 Media Server on my laptop and I haven't been that fond of it. Mostly the way it updates its media content has given my headaches more than on a few occasions and it seems quite slow loading the list of video files. I might go with Twonkymedia Manager or Sever. Test driving a trial version of Manager right now. It seems a lot faster at loading lists of video files.

I'm starting to lean more towards the idea of just installing Windows 7 and Twonky.

I shouldn't have a problem with doing a gaming/media server combo as with my home it would only be doing either gaming or streaming at any one time, not both.
 
Its easier with PS3MS not to use the library function (just disable it). It slows it down too much. I gues it helps that I keep my stuff organized in folders pretty well so I dont think i have more than 30-50 items in any given folder. I imagine if you have a few thousand mp3s or a hundred or more large movies all in one folder it would take a while.
 
I checked and the library function was disabled (by default) and I do organize my media pretty well. Each tv show has a sub folder for each season. Even then a 12 episode season might take 20-30 seconds to show up. I'll test both programs tomorrow when I set up the new system.
 
mine is organized same as yorus then pretty much.

If I rememebr right there is a setting to cache screenshots for videos. Otherwise, it generaets fresh screenshots for whatever second in the video you want every time you browse to it. If they cache then the first time it may take 10-20 seconds to generate those, otherwise its instant on. I think there is also a setting not to use any screenshots at all.

And also, it all depends on your PC speed and network speed.

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Look at the Navigation/parsing settings here. I set mine to 30 seconds in and with cache enabled. That way I make sure all the screenshots arent the black initial screen.
 
I actually turned off thumbnails. Don't really need them IMO.

My network has been a bit troublesome. At one point I'll be getting about 6MB/s and then for some unknown reason I'll be struggling to get 400kB/s. Might have something to do with that new Windows anti-virus program, I installed recently.

Also the videos have to go from my NAS to router to laptop back to router and finally to PS3. Once I get my new rig up and running (hopefully today once I replace the DOA mobo I received) then it will be just PC-router-PS3, all wired.
 
i have WHS installed on my server. it's basically designed to be just that... a server. Drive Extender, home server console, file duplication, automatic back-ups of your network PCs, nightly harddrive scans, etc. these are the kind of functions you would want a regular file server to handle.

i suppose you *could* use it to play games but i don't see why you would pick WHS over a regular desktop OS.
 
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