Legit Reviews

well the bottomline is i want to make a media/storage server and was wondering what os would be the best to use and any guides or advice you guys have when making/setting up a server, btw the clients that would be connecting to the server are either on xp or xp x64

ViPeR.Ja wrote:well the bottomline is i want to make a media/storage server and was wondering what os would be the best to use and any guides or advice you guys have when making/setting up a server, btw the clients that would be connecting to the server are either on xp or xp x64

I hve actually been trying to find this out for a LONG time!

I either get the inevitable Linux references or windows media center. I have not found anything that does what I want it to EASILY yet. Media center is about 8billion times easier to mess with than anything linux has to offer, just because of the drivers - windows works with almost everything, where linux is REAL picky about stuff.

I found this - http://www.team-mediaportal.com/ - but never messed with it.

I just want one that is a server/storage area too - NOT a recording center. I want to be able to put movies on the hard drives or in the dvd drives and have the program find a nice picture of them to use as a selectable link to play the content - thats it. I would LOVE it to deal with tv series as well so I could put all my MASH, Stargate, Babylon 5, etc on a hard drive.

Mike

Let me know what you think if you try that mediaportal software as i am curious myself.

Not sure if this is what you need but try Mythbuntu (there's the inevitable Linux reference), it is basically MythTV but designed for ease of install and use (have you tried that one KnightRid?)...other than that, if you want a dedicated server, try FreeNAS.

I have been thinking of doing the same, What about Windows Home Server? anyone try that?

<BTW> FreeNAS is more of a Network Storage device than a server.

i was thinking about installing windows server 2008 datacenter or something

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2007/06/05 ... n_server/1
happy reading. i followed that guide and my old p41.8ghz became my favourite box in the house

Darkstar wrote:..... <BTW> FreeNAS is more of a Network Storage device than a server. ....

True, but for a cheep easy to manage central storage can't really beat it. It runs on darn near anything, needs less than 128mb ram and 32mb of space for the install, and can run headless (no monitor/keyboard/mouse)

Guess it all boils down to how do is needed out of it. If you want a central storage for the rest of the house to access the same files then a NAS is perfect. But if you want the box to do double duty, hold the files and be hooked to a TV as a PVR then you're going to need something like Myth or Media Center.

Darkstar wrote:<BTW> FreeNAS is more of a Network Storage device than a server.

Have I inadvertently revealed that networking is my weak suite?

Alathald wrote:Not sure if this is what you need but try Mythbuntu (there's the inevitable Linux reference), it is basically MythTV but designed for ease of install and use (have you tried that one KnightRid?)...other than that, if you want a dedicated server, try FreeNAS.

Thats what I was waiting for ;) I ran this with a machine that does not have a capture card and it just freaks out. It wants you to set everything up like you want a PVR even though you dont.

I am taking it that Viper wants like I do - JUST a media server, kinda like the media extenders you can buy, but using a regular computer.

Mike

Oh I almost forgot about FreeNas - my lord, have you ever tried to get that thing working with XP, Visat and Linux computers - you have to have a degree in "beating the hell out of computers with a hammer" to try that one, I have and never got it to work. Oh and throw wireless in there too ;)

KinghtRid, what version were you trying to use? I had it working with several different levels of windows 98/me/xp/vista. Just mapped drives to it.

I haven't tried to set it up on a wireless connection, had the box it was on wired straight to the network.

I'm building an unRAID server. For a 3-hard drive configuration, software is free. More than that and you'll have to pay. Problem is it only goes up to 16 hard drives max. Might be picky about hardware, too, but if you're custom building and not just reusing old parts, then there should be no problem. It works kinda like software JBOD (with or without parity), except each hard drive has its own file structure so if one hard drive fails, you only lose data on that one drive. Obviously, if you have a parity drive, you've got a bit of redundancy and can reconstruct data lost on a single hard drive. Just no wireless. It's also more NAS than server so you'll have to do all the fancy UI stuff on the client machines.

FlexRAID is another option for Windows users. It works like unRAID except it sits on top of Windows so it's pretty useful if you need the server to double duty and require the use of Windows apps. It's still in its infancy so I'm not sure if you're willing to entrust it with your data. From all accounts, though, it seems to be pretty reliable.

bubba wrote:KinghtRid, what version were you trying to use? I had it working with several different levels of windows 98/me/xp/vista. Just mapped drives to it.

I haven't tried to set it up on a wireless connection, had the box it was on wired straight to the network.

Whatever the newest version was when i set up the linux box upstairs - within 2 months ago. I have to use wireless upstairs since i cant run cable through the walls due to having insulation put in as we remodel. I should have installed networking to every room as we remodelled, but with the cost of the cable and tools, the wife figured we were spending enough ;)

I cant even get regular ubuntu to use a shared printer on vista or see any of the shared folders!

anyway, that unraid seems like a nice solution for a box! too bad they only allow 3 drives for the free version. I might have to play with that sometime. Also the flexraid is intersting, but I wish it didnt need to operate ontop of windows - I will have to read more to see if it can be used with no operating system.

Mike

Why are the damn hard drives cages so expensive? unraid has some options, if you are totally wasted out of your mind. Cheapest one is $1199 for the 15 drive bay ones. Now come on - cheap ass MB/cpu/etc and they want $1199 for the thing..argh. Every place i look at drive bays they are the same. its sad really.

Viper - has any of this helped you out? Havent seen any response from you.

am currently away from home and just hanging out in MN so when i go back am gonna try the link martini posted up

KnightRid wrote:Why are the damn hard drives cages so expensive? unraid has some options, if you are totally wasted out of your mind. Cheapest one is $1199 for the 15 drive bay ones. Now come on - cheap ass MB/cpu/etc and they want $1199 for the thing..argh. Every place i look at drive bays they are the same. its sad really.

True, they're kinda pricey but aside from the profit margin, there are also labor costs involved since I'm sure they're building and testing those manually. Their prices are reasonable enough if your time is more valuable than the $230 additional it costs to get one pre-built. It's up to you if you want to pay for the convenience or not.

Limetech MD-1500 parts and software
Aopen H800 $100
5 in 3 SATA backplane $330 ($110x3)
PC Power and Cooling 610W $110
MB/CPU/RAM $150
Promise SATA300 TX4 $140 ($70x2)
unRAID Server Pro + USB flash $140
TOTAL: $970

Besides, you can always build your own. Imho, that's more fun. Aside from labor costs savings, building also gives you the flexibility to buy parts as you need them instead of spending thousands of dollar all at once.

My build for 9HDDs:
Antec Three Hundred $60
Corsair 520HX $110
Abit AB9 Pro $85
Intel Celeron 430 $40
ATI Rage 8MB $10
Kingston 2x1GB DDR2 800 $40
Sandisk Cruzer Micro 1GB $10
unRAID Server still currently free
CURRENT TOTAL: $355

Future upgrades:
Athena Power MR-125B $45 ($15x3)
unRAID Server Pro $120
TOTAL: $520

Alternative/additional parts to accomodate 15HDDs:
COOLER MASTER Centurion 590 $70
Corsair 650TX $110
5 in 3 SATA backplane $330 ($110x3)
Promise SATA300 TX4 $140 ($70x2)
unRAID Server Pro $120
TOTAL: $955

thermaltake armor can hold 16 or 17 (18 with out a disk drive)hard drives, and keep them all cool to