NAS vs Old PC about to be retired

[jleves]

I'm building a new system and my old system doesn't really have a use. It's a AMD 2400+ w/ 768MB of memory. I would like to have a storage server to house MP3s and ripped DVDs that would serve out to other computers and a TVIX or two at the entertainment centers. I can either go with a ReadyNAS or drop a sata controller into the 2800 and add some SATA drives. Which provides a better solution? I'm not really worried about noise or power. Any suggestions/advice?

 

[skyking]

better? park this computer next to a good TV and call it an HTPC, and kill two birds with one stone

 

[jdogg707]

I just did this by adding a SATA RAID controller and a few 500GB HD's. Running RAID 5 I have a good bit of data consistency along with a really fast box. I use Xbox Media Centers as my front ends and put Ubuntu on the file server to share the media via Samba. The whole process has been extremely simple and it is cool to be able to watch the plethora of TV shows and movies I have from any room of the house almost instantly.

 

[jleves]

Skyking - I figured the AGP slot and 2400+ wouldn't really be fast enough to display video in any kind of HD format. Is that a bad assumption?