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Networked media server DIY or prebuilt?

post #1 of 4

10/13/12 at 11:30pm

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59 Posts. Joined 11/2007
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Hello

Wanted to get some feedback on media servers. I have a sony es bluray changer and though it produces excellent video, the slow loading times is destroying a great player. Anyway I have reading up on alternatives to Bluray collection and came across vidabox LiivNas. Looks sleek and love the feature to "drop and rip" I assume this product will be expensive and was hoping if someone can guide me into building a DIY media server . I have also looked at NAS's and feel they may be underpowered so maybe building a media server using a i3 or i5 would run better. Any suggestions or recommendations on part choice and case? And software

Thanks
RSP

post #2 of 4

10/14/12 at 3:45am

10,863 Posts. Joined 8/2008
Location: Long Island, New York
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Quote:

Originally Posted by guju69

Hello
Wanted to get some feedback on media servers. I have a sony es bluray changer and though it produces excellent video, the slow loading times is destroying a great player. Anyway I have reading up on alternatives to Bluray collection and came across vidabox LiivNas. Looks sleek and love the feature to "drop and rip" I assume this product will be expensive and was hoping if someone can guide me into building a DIY media server . I have also looked at NAS's and feel they may be underpowered so maybe building a media server using a i3 or i5 would run better. Any suggestions or recommendations on part choice and case? And software
Thanks
RSP

NAS underpowered for what exactly? If the ultimate purpose of your NAS is to store/stream your collection then you don't need a CPU Intensive device. If you are looking to do more intensive tasks then that would be a different scenario.

Really, the question is how comfortable are you with building your own, being your own tech support, etc...? I originally had an HP MediaSmart server, but as my needs grew I went the DIY route (approx 30TB WHSv1 server, you can see more details here). For DIY, the software options would most likely be unRAID or some variant of Windows (WHS 2011, Windows 8, etc...). I think it is best first to map out exactly what you want your server to do and then work from there.

Here is an AVS thread on building a media server

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1071162/guide-to-building-a-media-storage-server/7560#post_22491362

post #3 of 4

10/16/12 at 5:37pm

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59 Posts. Joined 11/2007
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I think I am comfortable with building my own server but would need some guidance. While still researching I saw a website that offers a pretty neat media server. Vidabox LiivNas looks really nice and love the drop and rip feature. The device is quite expensive and was hoping to get some advice and help in building one that can accomplish the same thing. I figure I can get a better faster option while paying less.

A few questions:

Would the drop and rip feature be available from a software? If so can someone list some.

Can someone suggest a good case with excellent airflow. Does not have to be rack type, actually prefer a tower with harddrive swap feature

Suggestions on MoBo and processor. Might be over Kill but was thinking Z77 and a i5 or i7 CPU . Read somewhere that transcoding might be an issue if videos are compressed. Plus would like to be future proof for atleast 5-10 years if possible

Would a Ethernet card with dual jacks help with read and write speeds? Will be using to house all media: pics, videos, documents and will have multiple users at same time

OS? Which should be the best choice. I was leaning towards WHS .

Harddrives was thinking of 5 or 6 WD red 2 GB drives

Power supply?

Ram

Bluray drive

Memory card reader

Would I need a raid controller? Which one? Anything else

Any websites that do custom media server builds. I went avadirect but they don't offer latest hardware for media servers

Thanks in advance

post #4 of 4

10/16/12 at 5:46pm