How to set up a media server???

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Short answer, you get a box (be it PC or specialized) stick HDDs in it, and share the storage to your other computers. Really that's it.

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On the case part, well, you simply get a case that will fit the drives, additionally, you can pick up the "3 in 2" HDD cage/drive coolers to fit a few more in. But there's really no getting around the need to just buy a case with enough bays.


As for motherboard, you're going to have to get additional HDD controllers (PCI/PCI-X/PCIe) for the extra drives. Be it a nice RAID controller or just simple HDD controllers. The Coolermaster Stacker is a popular media server case.


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You can get external HDD enclosures, ones with dedicated PSUs that connect to the PC various ways (USB, Firewire, SATA), Norco makes some, MacGurus carries some also.

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Based on the questions you're asking (no offense), and where it seems like you are, I would seriously consider an Infrant ReadyNAS NV . In addition to my PC media server (1.75TB RAID-5) I have a ReadyNAS X6 (predicessor to the NV) and it's great. It will take up to 4 drives, you can add them as you go and it will expand on the fly. It provides redundancy, and it's completly self-contained.


Grab an NV and a 750GB HDD, and you'll be on your way to a 2TB array. Just note that as of today, Infrant hasn't released firmware supporting the 750s. yoh-dah (Infrant rep) says they're hoping for a beta firmware supporting the 750's in the next week.

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Well actually, this isnt a media server per say, because only my computer will be using it, so its more just a way to have huge storage capability

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Well ive been reading a bit more and trying to figure this all out. And ive found the SuperMicro 5 in 3 hard drive enclosure which would allow me for 5 HDDs in the box. So that plus a hdd controller would come to about 220 shipped vs the NV which is about 600, but then again the NV alllows for basically unlimited on the go storage potential.


So if i get the supermicro enclosure and a sata 4X pci controller, would I be able to hook up 5 drives? Im thinking a 37gb 10k-rpm for my OS plus 4 500gb drives. And also, stranger, u mentioned that the NV doesnt have the firmware for 750 GB drives. Does that mean ( sorry another stupid question probably) that motherboards have a maximum storage capacity? In other words, would i be able to use the supermicro and the 5 drives seamlessly? Also, what other concerns such as heat or PS should i be concerned about and how would i be able to take care of those issues?

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And no man, i dont take any offense. I really appreciate the help, and i can admit i know nothing about this stuff, so its all good haha. Its annoying when people in a position of knowledge are unwilling to help newcomers to a specific topic. I hate it when people get pissed at newcomers who dont know as much as they do. Doesnt make sense to me---defeats the purpose of a forum. I need help in media storage, you help me out. You need help buying a vintage car, I could help you out haha.


Anyways, back to the computer. And yeah, i defintely want the X 11, even if it means getting an external HD enclosure that hooks up via USB or something because the setup will require an IR/VFD, DVD player etc etc. Its going to be the corner piece of my home theater system and I dont want it looking like a server.

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Between a good RAID card (to match the ReadyNAS capabilities) plus an enclosure and you'll be much closer to the NV price than $220 probably.

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Should be able to.

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It will probably depend on how big the discs are, but you should be able to. I'm not really sure what the "problem" is with the 750's on the ReadyNAS, but it has it's own custom OS so that's probably part of it, it may be that Infrant just hasn't officially qualled the 750's yet. Just doublecheck that there are no limitations on the controller you choose (there really shouldn't be).

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For 4 drives, I wouldn't worry much about PSU, any quality PSU should be able to handle that much. I didn't start running into problems until I hit 8-10 drives.

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So it sounds like you're building an HTPC, and want some mass storage for that.


If I could give some advice from my "journey":


Storage should be kept as cool as possible/practical. Heat is what destroys HDDs, more than anything else. That means fans, moving a good bit of air.


HDDs are loud, I don't care what anyone says, if you take care to choose quiet component, you'll end up with the HDD being obnoxious, especially if you have more than one.


This all comes to one conclusion, storage is noisy, the more storage, the more noise, and it's really hard to quiet it without sacrificing something (money or durability).


My advice to you, would be to get a laptop HDD for the boot/OS drive in the HTPC, speed is not very important, but noise is IMO, and laptop drives are the only way to get quiet storage (other than solid state).


For the mass storage, put it in another room where you can keep it nice and cool, and not worry about how loud it is. If I were aiming for 1-2TB of storage, I'd definitely go with a ReadyNAS NV. Drop a 500 or 750GB drive in to start, and add more as you need room.

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What is RAID exactly and what does it do ( advantages)? And would i just set that up in my bios?


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Yes, i was concerned about the heat, and dont want a ton of fans running in the background of my music and movies. As far as the laptop HD, is that just an IDE HD? And also, ive wondered what the speed of a hard drive actually has to do with the hard drive in itself. When you access files, isnt it the speed of the processor that allows faster accessibility? Or is it the speed of the hard drive? The only reason i chose the 10k rpm HD was because i read somewhere that it allows for almost instant boot ups and faster access to media files.


Ok, well if im going with the NV, i have to stretch my budget which I dont like because it means Im going to have to cut corners somewhere else in my whole setup ( im about to dive into a major HT/HTPC setup). But if its the most cost effective/reliable option WITHOUT having to buy a server case, then I might just do it. So with the NV, how does it operate ( you said it has its own OS). Would i just stick in all the HD's and then usb it to my htpc? And if its in another room, how would i do that? Also, it would be hard for me to put it away from the whole setup. I'd have to set it up in the closet or something. ( I have a single room at school and cant put it in the hallway even though that would be really funny ).


Again, thanks for the help stranger. I love learning about this stuff--feels so much better to know I can put one of these together ( as simple as it may be) then to go out and buy an overpriced media storage center.


Ashok

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RAID is (something to the effect of): Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks.


In a nutshell, depending on "level" it provides redundancy so that if a disc in the array fails, no data is lost (RAID-0 is an exception that provide no Redundancy).


RAID-5 is the most common/popular RAID level for media servers, it provides the highest efficienty, using only one drive's worth of space for redundancy.

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Yes, but you'll need to get an adapter because laptop drives use a different connector.

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No, the speed of the HDD is, by far, the biggest bottleneck in a PC these days (depending on application). CPUs can process data much faster than a HDD can read/write. Of course notice the big "depending on application" qualifier there.

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There are probably two big factors in HDD speed:

Density (how much data/size, usually related to total size but not always).

RPM.


Basically the higher the density the faster.

The Higher the RPM the faster.


Higher RPMs reduce "access time" (aka "latency") meaning if you're reading/writing lots of different little files (random access), latency is the biggest bottleneck. Server environments are where this comes into play bigtime.


However on media PCs, you don't do a lot of "random access", most access on media PCs is more "sequential", thus access time is a minimal bottleneck.


All in all, you may notice a minor difference in performance with a laptop vs 10k drive, but IMO, for an HTPC it's not worth the noise/heat tradeoff. You don't boot often. Nor will the OS disk speed help you if the media files are on a different disk.

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FWIW, if you look around, you can find other NAS solutions (Buffalo Terrastation, etc) that may be cheaper.

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The NV is a NAS ("Network Attached Storage") you just plug it into your network, and it sits out there, all by itself, providing storage. It's got a nice web interface for what (little) management you have to do (basically just initial setup).

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Probably, though I wouldn't No real particular reason why, though.


The one other option you've got, which is really a pretty new one, is to just drop a 750GB drive or two in the case. I had 4 drives in my HTPC for a while, while I was in school. And it worked. And with 750GB drives it's actually practical to have a video library on a drive or two these days.


Then down the road, if you wanted, you could get a NAS (like the NV) drop a 750 or two in there, and then copy the data from the drives in your HTPC and migrate the drives into the NAS. I'd still consider the laptop drive for boot though.


This is actually probably the best way for you to go for now, IMO.

since you have a 360 already (assuming you do as i saw 360 referenced earlier) you dont need to have anything at your tv.... here is what my setup consists of:


I have a massive server case in my wiring closet (where the router and cable modem is) and just put a ton of HD's in there (when vista comes out im planning on raiding them all for ~1.2 tb) but if you install media center edition you can use your 360 as a "extender" to your media center (and it will be more or less silent compared to running a computer at your tv)


But my 360 is able to stream live tv, recorded tv (recorded to the media center), music, hdtv clips, etc.


But this requires you to have media center edition (if you dont aready) but then you can just find the biggest server case you can find and put in tons of HD's and stick it in some closet and run an ethernet wire to said closet and you are ready to go. I dont even have a monitor or keyboard on my server anymore as you can do pretty much any maintnence over remote desktop.

http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/13...etup-Guide/p1/