[joshua_dawg]

Hello All,


I have spent the last few days reading the forums, and doing a bunch of research. I apologize that this is a redundant topic, but after all of that, I feel more confused than before I started. Just like probably half the people on here, looking to consolidate storage into a 24/7 available NAS box, so I was originally looking at the Synology boxes per suggestions in a few threads. However, I would ideally like to be able to stream to the TVs in my house, and to get that from the Synology (and get at least 4 bays) starts to get pricey.


So I am exploring the idea of building my own (done a few PC builds in the past, nothing too fancy). Looking for some suggestions. As I said, my main needs in this are storage and serving up media. I would like to start digitizing my DVD/BR library. I would consider adding a video card and hooking this directly to one of the TV's, but I don't want to have to use a mouse and keyboard and such to watch movies. Just want to browse my collection of movies with a remote, pick one, and go! I currently own an ATV and some Xbox 360's, but I anticipate having to get something else (maybe a Roku 3) to stream to for each TV.


My questions are:


1. What is the best OS for this purpose? I was considering FreeNAS, but it sounds like there are better options. My current thought is just running Ubuntu on it. From my reading on here, sounds like if I run Plex Media Server should be able to serve everything up? On that note, if I am running Plex, would it accomplish my goal of being able to use this as an HTPC without having to use mouse/keyboard? Would I need to install both media server and home theater version on in this case?


2. Hardware suggestions for the build? I would like to run RAID via software (any links to understand setting that up would be appreciated!). I know it needs some power so that it can transcode on the fly, but I would like to also keep in my that it will be running 24/7. Thinking I would like this build to come in under $500 before hard drives, but don't know if that is reasonable.


3. Regarding transcoding, when I rip DVD/BR, I currently use MakeMKV to rip. As I understand it, this gives me excellent quality and surround sound, but it is not supported for playback on many devices, so my server would need to transcode. It sounds like, if I have the hard drive space, this the best solution. Is that the general consensus? Trying to be sure I get this one right the first time! Tho I don't have top of the line everything, I am somewhat of a purist...


Thanks, I appreciate any feedback!!

 

[Matt L]

I guess the one issue I see you need to resolve is the transcoding. That will indicate which way to go with the base system. The question I would ask is how do you plan on viewing your saved content? if it's only at a big screen tv than I see little need for transcoding. if you plan on streaming to a phone or tablet then you will need to transcode. Transcoding adds another lay of complexity to getting the content to the display and i like to keep things as simple as possible. My media streamer of choice, the WD, works quite well with simple network shares on a wired network. There has been some discussion of using a media server over shares due to it using less network overhead, but I see this as a non issue in a wired environment -- which you need for any high bit rate application. I rip all my BDs using MakeMKV and have no issues. currently I have 3 2T drives in my main computer and stream from it all over the house.

 

[joshua_dawg]

Awesome, thanks for the reply! You are correct, transcoding is really the hold up in my build. As it is now, I only plan to watch on TVs and big screens. However, given the trends towards everything mobile lately, I figured it would be smart to explore what I would need to be able to stream from MKV to tablets, phones and other small devices. As far as I can tell from the forums, this will mostly impact the CPU that I end up with, which is one of my big questions. Is a dual core i3-4130 (for example) enough power to transcode 1-3 1080p streams?

 

[Ryan Peddle]

I'd like to jump in on this conversation. I too am building a media server. I will be using a QNAP model for storage and HDMI output. Primary function is for use in my basement theater, and maybe on the 55" plasma...but the #1 focus is basement theater. 100" screen.


So as I wait for my QNAP to arrive, I am learning and trying to build my "movie only" library from my Bluray collection. Everywhere I read, people say to use MAKEMKV and Handbrake. Compression is out. So I don't think I need to use handbrake. I will have 20+ TB of space and about 300 blurays not all of which I will rip.


So lets leave compression out of it. Is Make MKV still the way to go...or is it BD ISO.


Right now I am trying out Make MKV, full rip of movie only, and using Plex as a media server to my PS3. Last night I tried playing it back, and while the picture was fine, the audio was atrocious. I made sure to select the lossless audio and the core audio, forced english subs, and metadata. Very straight forward.


When I play it back, I am getting 2ch MP3. Not acceptible at all. Lossless DTS HDMA down to 128 stereo MP3.....well you know my reaction.


What am I missing.


Remember....I want perfection. I haven't spent $50K on my basement to settle for almost perfect.


Please help.

 

[Matt L]

I've only used MAKEMKV for my rips and they all process fine including audio. I do drop out the foreign languages, and rip both Dolby and DTS. Only advantage of BD ISO is if you want to recreate the disk in the future and if you want the extras. I want neither so MAKEMKV is perfect for my use.

 

[joshua_dawg]

So at this point, my main question is about hardware. Using what I have learned here in the forums, I made a build list and was hoping for some feedback on whether this is enough power to transcode 1080p on the fly to my devices. Thanks in advance!


Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 54W Dual-Core Processor

ASUS H87I-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory

 

[joshua_dawg]

Can anyone comment on this? Or perhaps let me know what I am doing wrong that is causing me to not get replies!

 

[ash_man]

I don't have any direct experience with transcoding, but from what I have read, certainly anything more powerful then an atom processor will do, so in your case the i3 processor should be fine. If you want to improve the transcoding performance then you might want to consider an i5.

 

[Ryan Peddle]

Looks like you are on the right track. I will be using a QNAP TS-670Pro Turbo Nas with HD Station. They utilize the Intel iCore3 processor as well. You work great for transcoding.

 

[joshua_dawg]

Awesome! Thanks for the replies!

 

[Dhalmo]

My recommendation is as follows. Achieve two goals, 1. Your entire media collection on your TV, 2. Your wife can pick it up and play it at will without technical explanation. I don't waste time transcoding because I like my files native and untamperered or uncompressed, plus I value my time and unless I'm running servers, transcoding all of my Blu-Rays will take me too much time and compromises. Run things native, hard drives are cheap man!


1. Buy an array of cheap Hard Drives (HDD) at 4TB a piece that support USB 2.0/3.0. Current prices are around 3 cents/GB so a 40 GB BluRay rip will run you about $1.20.

2. Hook up your HDDs to a USB hub and then the USB hub to any PC running Windows.

3. Install HaneWin NFS Share program to share your collection of HDD's to your home network.

4. Do NOT attempt to use wi-fi as it will stutter blu-rays like an SOB, sucks.

5. With CAT-5 cable, connect your PC to a router that is connected to a media player dedicated device.

6. I use the Popcorn Hour C-300 that is connected to my TV via HDMI.

7. Play all of your DVD / Blu-Ray rips on the C-300 on your TV in a nice menu option. Supports full subtitle / language / DTS-HD / Blu-Ray Java and Live.


Assuming you already have a PC and TV, the C-300 might be your most expensive piece at ~$300 bucks but I don't have a more valued component in my setup. Good luck!

 

[joshua_dawg]

Yeah, Dhalmo you are right! That seems like a great solution! I will probably end up doing this, but using this new server to store the files. Will definitely check out the Popcorn Hour, looks pretty cool!! How does it compare to the popular WD TV Live boxes which are considerably cheaper?

 

[Dhalmo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by joshua_dawg  /t/1517644/home-server-build#post_24385384


Yeah, Dhalmo you are right! That seems like a great solution! I will probably end up doing this, but using this new server to store the files. Will definitely check out the Popcorn Hour, looks pretty cool!! How does it compare to the popular WD TV Live boxes which are considerably cheaper?

Based on the hardware specifications my recommendation would be to go with the latest generation Popcorn Hour machine, the A-410, as it has the latest Sigma 8911 Dual Core processor. This will process video more effectively than the WD TV Live boxes which have older chip sets. For audio it has a 24-bit DAC and supports all of the lossless formats. It will be shipping soon for $259 and I'll be picking one up myself. Last night I tested out an Ender's Game Blu-Ray ISO as well as a 3D Blu-Ray native rip of Gravity, both looked stellar on my Hitachi Director's series plasma (waiting for the Vizio Reference series this year for an upgrade). My personal experience with the PCH devices is that the setup is complex because there are so many features, but the payoff is great. The link to IMDB for movie information like director, year, etc. is automatic during the construction of the library. Here are two websites you should explore if you decide to go down that path.

http://www.cloudmedia.com/products/popcornhour/a-410

http://www.networkedmediatank.com/


Let me know how else I can help!

 

[BruceD]

I think a better suggestion would be to ignore the RAID suggestions and go for a parity drive solution like Flexraid, Snapraid, etc. which gives the same protection without the risk.


These can be used with Windows or Linux. If you choose Win7, your drives can be pooled into one accessible volume, you can do transcoding, and if a drive fails, you can actually take it out of the server (replacing it with a good drive that will get repopulated), plug it into another windows PC and see what you can recover if need be. Normal RAID arrays (software or hardware that stripe data across multiple drives) can completely lose everything with 2 drive failures at the same time, but not the solutions described above.


Most Home networks don't need the speed provided by RAID arrays, it is simply a disaster waiting to destroy all your digital media.


I recommend visiting the htpc forum and looking at various server builds there, also pay attention to detailed step-by-step guides from user assasin, they are very good and free!
http://www.avsforum.com/f/26/home-theater-computers


You will find lots of ideas in that forum


Just as an FYI, I built my server for about $500 (includes Asrock H77Pro4 MB, 16GB RAM, i5-3550 CPU, IBM 1015 SAS HBA (for 8 hard drives), seasonic PSU, WHS 20011 server sw, 4GB Flash), already had a 320GB HDD and an old case.


Currently using 4 x 3TB drives with Flexraid and pooling.


Since I work in IT I do the following , but don't expect many would follow: All the Microsoft software I run are virtual machines, because I boot the hardware from the 4GB Flash drive running the ESXi 5.1 VMware hypervisor (which is free).

 

[GusGus748s]

I've been using UnRaid for about 4 years now, and it has been solid. All I do is stream all of my BD / DVD/ TV Shows to my Dune Smart Series D1 media player via hard wired network. I've installed Plex Media Server in my UnRaid, and I am able to stream all of my content to my wireless devices without any issues. I can stream and transcode to 3 iPads, and stream to my Dune at the same time without any stutter. I can even stream outside network with Plex, but this depends on your internet connection. So, if your internet connection is slow then you will have some issues.


I've bought 2 more UnRaid licenses since I'm thinking of building a couple more servers