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Build Media Server

V

vashwood

Member
Right now I just use my PC to share my media around the house. But I really don't want to keep my PC on all the time because of energy issues (I want to keep my PGE bill as low as possible)

I was thinking of buying a NAS hard drive and just plug it into the router. But I started reading that it may be cheaper to build my own NAS. I don't need much. I don't need RAID or anything. I just want something quiet that won't draw too much power.

What are the min specs you guys recommend?
 
I have an Unslung Slugbox and as long as you're using a wired connection and any OS other than Vista, it works fine. Transfer rates are around 4-5MB/sec - not great but considering this is a low-cst, low-power embedded device it's not bad. I got mine way back when they were new so i had to "overclock" it back to stock speed, which the new ones are currently clocked at so you don't need to worry about cracking the case and pulling out the resistor.

In short, it's painfully slow if you try to access it over a wireless connection. It's unbearably slow using Vista even on a wired connection. If you have a folder with a lot of files in it, it often causes Windows Explorer to crash. Even with Vista SP1 the slow network connectivity doesn't really seem to be fully resolved. It's been said that it is because if changes to their implementation of SMB. I don't know, but otherwise it works perfectly fine with Windows XP SP3, Leopard, and Ubuntu Hardy in case you're wondering.
 
Damn Ok. I currently have a HTPC downstairs running Windows XP and I'm playing HD videos through my wireless G network just fine. I was hoping I didn't have to have my desktop computer upstairs running to play the videos if I use a USB Hard drive and this NSLU2. But if its too slow then I think I need to look for a new lowcost option.
 
For my media server I picked up a Pentium D box off craigslist for cheap, threw in a 750gb HD and put it down in the basement with an ethernet cable running to it. It streams videos to my desktop upstairs and to my 360 and I can remote desktop into it and manage torrent and music downloads. Its only got a 350w psu in it and I leave it on 24/7, best addition I have every made to my network.
 
I currently have a DNS-323 on my network with 2 Seagate 500 Gig drives in it... The box is fairly small, and out of the box, it has an iTunes server, FTP server, uPnP server, and some other bells & whistles.... With a little software 'hack', I have gained telnet access, and am running a webserver on it, in addition to a media server that serves movies/music/pictures to my PS3 wirelessly.... Crystal clear picture on .avi files i stream to the PS3 from this.... There are MANY extra things you can do with it that I just haven't had time to look into.....

LOTS of good info: http://wiki.dns323.info/
 
Originally posted by: zylander
For my media server I picked up a Pentium D box off craigslist for cheap, threw in a 750gb HD and put it down in the basement with an ethernet cable running to it. It streams videos to my desktop upstairs and to my 360 and I can remote desktop into it and manage torrent and music downloads. Its only got a 350w psu in it and I leave it on 24/7, best addition I have every made to my network.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing with a P3-700. The P3 was fine for just serving files and video. Eventually upgraded to a P4 when I added a mail server and utorrent.
 
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