Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nas and Media

What should I do: Ext. Hard Drives, Media Servers, NAS, etc.

aswego — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:34:00 -0800

Please talk to me like I'm stupid. I have a bunch of video files (~5TB...so far) hanging out on a bunch of external hard drives. Right now I just take turns plugging them into whichever laptop I'm going to use to watch the videos. I'd like something a little more convenient and easily accessible from multiple rooms in my small apartment, but I'm not awesome at setting up networky things (I've never successfully gotten two different laptops in my apartment to even "see" each other over the wireless router). What should I do? More specifics:

Current external hard drives owned (in case these could be repurposed somehow): A Seagate 4TB that needs a wall outlet to be used, a Seagate 3TB that needs a wall outlet to be used, and two 1TB WD drives that don't need wall outlets to be used (but are presumably very fragile).
I would probably be adding more video files to this collection on a daily basis.
Several different Windows laptops and VLC would be the primary potential viewing methods.
Don't own or care about Netflix/Roku/Video Game Systems.
Would avoid using iTunes to the extent possible (have an iPhone and iPad, but use them primarily for podcasts and ebooks).
Though the ability to possibly watch some of these video files on a television someday could be nice, it's not a priority as I don't currently have one.
Similarly, being able to get at the files from somewhere else (via FTP, maybe?) in an emergency seems like it'd be cool, but it's not really a priority.
Don't really care about backing up my laptops constantly...nothing too important on them.
The appeal of having redundant copies of the video files comes from experience with hard drives failing and the months/years it takes to accumulate all those files all over again, as well as the idea that it might be harder to accumulate them next time (basic digital hoarder mentality).

I checked out previous AskMefis, but a lot of the cheap NAS's recommended maxed out at something like an 8TB setup where two 4TB drivers were mirrored for backup purposes. I'm already well past the 4TB point, so I'm hoping for something with even more space. Also, I would probably need a lot of hand-holding setting one up. I can learn this stuff if someone explains it slowly and walks me through, but if somebody starts out by mentioning something like "Tomato" or "firmware," I'm probably lost already.

I also saw the recommendation of the ASUS RT-N16 wireless router, which at least seems like it'd get me partway there by just plugging my two largest external hard drives into it (is this correct?). My current router seems to work fine as far as upload/download speeds go, even though it's pretty old (>5 years), so maybe that money is better spent toward an NAS.

(How) Can I access my XBox 360's USB Hard drive as a network drive / streaming server?

Alabaster — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:57:40 -0800

Just got a free XBox 360 (bundled with another purchase). Can I use it (with an external hard drive) as a standalone (no PC attached) media server for storage and streaming of my music/video library? I would like to store my music, picture, and video library on an external USB HD attached to the XBox 360, and then access these media files in the following ways:

-As a network drive, for transferring media files to and from the XBox from any PC on my home network (wirelessly).
-As a streaming media server, for streaming musicvideo from the XBox to a PC or device on my home network (for example, in another room)
-Transfer/Stream the XBox-stored media files over the internet to my PC at a remote location (port forwarding, VPN, SSL-tunnelling and all that other fancy stuff I'll have to familiarize myself with).

Other features I'd like (but I imagine are unlikely):
-Some kind of unattended/scheduled downloading of subscribed podcasts (RSS, Bittorrent, etc.) -- again, there is no PC attached
-Some kind of DVR functionality (record from cable TV to the XBox external drive).

I'm aware that I could do all/most of these things by building an inexpensive HTPC but that's not an option at the moment.

My Dark Twisted Media Fantasy

kbanas — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:02:42 -0800

I have long held a fantastic dream of what I want my home theater setup to be. I've tried several times, in several different ways, to realize this dream - but there is always something. There's always something that doesn't work right - that makes my final implementation lacking in some fundamental way. I'm starting to give up hope. So - I'll tell you what I want and what I've tried - and I want you to tell me if there's another way. I can't be alone here. What I have to work with:
Several terabytes of music, television and music stored on a Windows
Home Server on my local network.
A HD television
An AV receiver
Bright House cable service with a digital cable box
A Windows 7 HTPC
A Logitech Revue Google TV
A Hauppauge HDPVR

What I want:
I want to listen to music, and access my local media content, and play
and record live TV and access internet-based applications like Netflix
and Hulu and network streaming sites (abc.com, etc) all from a single
device/interface/remote. I would also really like it if all this was
searchable, but I'll take what I can get.

I don't want to switch between different devices and different
interfaces and different remotes based on the type of content I want to access. I want everything in one box. Is
that too much to ask?

What I've Tried:

Logitech Revue GoogleTV
It's OK. If it's the best solution, I'll keep it, but presently I've
got a pre-paid shipping label for it and I'm getting ready to send it
back, because there are some real problems.
-The player for local media content (stored on my WHS) is barely
functional. None of my local media content is reliably indexed - none
of it reliably comes back in search results - and the universal
searching is part of the big selling points for GoogleTV. Also, a lot
of my videos don't play properly, because there are certain audio
codecs missing. Apparently this is a work in progress, but there have
been no updates yet.
-Um, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX and others have all banned the GoogleTV from
accessing online streaming content, which is in theory one of the neat
functions of the device. I don't want to get on a soapbox but I don't
understand why Google didn't get this straightened out before they
launched the product - and, also, why there seems to be no real
urgency now to get it fixed. This is a huge bad thing.
-It allows me to record and watch live TV, but not in any accessible
way. It just uses my DVR from my Brighthouse cable box, so all the
recordings are locked down and inaccessible. The interface and guide
are all the same ugly crap software from the Brighthouse box, which I
hate and is horrible.
-Apparently in a month or two the "application store" for the GoogleTV
should open up - maybe the platform will continue to mature and grow
and I should hold on to it and hope it gets better?

HDPVR
This is a new solution, after I decided to return my Revue. I'm not
in love with it either.
-OK, so, I read about this thing a bunch and I ran out and I bought
one. It lets me watch and record live TV in the Windows Media Center
interface on my HTPC. I can also do pretty much everything else on my
wish list, because, well, it's a PC.
-The HDPVR from Hauppauge, which is pretty much the only one of its
kind as far as I can tell, only has ONE TUNER. So, if I wanted to be
able to record multiple things at once, or watch and record at the
same time, I would, in theory, have to buy another Hauppauge box and
get another cable box from my provider? Ugh.
-The HDPVR exploits an analog loophole by using component video at
1080i. It then connects to my HTPC via USB. The resulting picture
quality is good - it's passable, really - but it's not great. There's
some artifacting... maybe that would be improved with an upgrade to
my HTPC.
-It takes a long time to change channels. With the included IR
blaster, it took 25 - 30 seconds to change channels. I researched and
switched to a Firewire setup, and this cut it down to 10 - 12 seconds
per channel change.
-It doesn't have the cool universal search of the GoogleTV - but,
since the GoogleTV search results don't work on local media and online
streaming is broken, I guess that's ok.

Other Alternatives:
The only other option I see open to me (and perhaps I'm wrong) is to
investigate getting a cablecard from Brighthouse and then getting one
of those adapter cards for my PC and tuning the cable directly into
the media center. This seems possible, although expensive and
annoying. There only appears to be one card available that does this,
and it's apparently like $400.

So, that's the dilemma. I know. I know this is so hard because what I'm trying to do is entirely against the grain from what apparently every major corporation in the entire known universe wants me to do - but I don't care. I want to make this happen!

Would linux breathe new life into my old powerbook?

jlowen — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:21:21 -0800

I want to have a fast capable NAS/file server/upnp device very similar to the QNAP TS-110 TurboNAS. I have an old 12" Powerbook G4 aluminum MAC OS x laptop. Would it be possible to install a barebones linux installation on the Powerbook to have access to many of the same features of the QNAP device? My Powerbook is a 1.3ghz with 800mb memory, with OS X 10.5 (leopard) installed. I want to use it to stream movies to my PS3 using upnp. I have tried software like Nullsoft's medialink and the PS3 media server, but the laptop does not seem capable of serving up media files to the ps3 without serious stuttering and lagging. (Even with both devices using ethernet cables - A problem my new shiny macbook pro does not have)

I was considering purchasing a QNAP TS-110 but it seems that my powerbook has twice the power and should in theory make a dandy media server. Would it be possible to learn and install a linux variation on the powerbook to recreate the same core features of the NAS device and turn the old decrepit powerbook into a capable media/file server? Note: I need only serve the file from the powerbook to be played on other hardware.

Is there a particular linux distribution I should use? Or would it be better to upgrade to a dedicated NAS?

Multimedia-filter: Looking for help from all you Network and digital media Gurus in making my first house totally awesome. Movies, Televsion, Music, Wifi, Streaming Content and 50mgbt broadband within.

Cogentesque — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:03:13 -0800

Multimedia-filter: Looking for help from HDTV, NAS, Media Servers and Network Gurus' in making my first house totaly awesome. Movies, Televsion, Music, Wifi, Streaming Content and 50mgbt broadband within. Ok guys, this is my first new message on metafilter, so thanks for everything thus far - to business.

The Premise:
In two weekends time, my girlfriend and I are moving into our first house together in Southampton (UK).

Thankfully she is very accomadating and shares the same views with me reguarding the wonder of technology and allure of gadgetry and thus: we have decided to go down the "cyberhouse" network route - all be it slowly.

What we currently have
50mgbt line and a Television package from Virgin.
2 relatively high-spec PCs downstairs (in the lounge) (XP/Vista soon upgrading to Windows 7 im sure)
A new TV - to be bought - (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/154997/show_product_reviews?offset=10&review_type=both&review_order_by=RLF - ebuyer's own)
1 ipod touch
Host of parts to make a low spec PC.

What I would like in my cyber house
DVD's playable on the TV
Normal channels (Virgin package) playable on the TV
Video (films, episodes) from PC's playable on the TV
Music, both downstairs and upstairs: DAB radio/Cd's/Downloaded Music/Online Radio (last.fm etc would be great)
The ability to change the music remotely (ideally, different sources for different rooms)

Some ideas I've been looking at so far
KVM Switch and a long HDMI cable for my computer to use TV as alternative screen - enabling videos from pc to be played
NAT Storage hiding somewhere in the network
Popcorn Hour to play video from PC
Sonos music system to play upstairs and downstairs
Media pc configured to do the job of sonos and popcorn hour (apparantly this is very tricky?)

What do you think metafilter? Remember that we are definately "on a budget" but I much more trust your collective ideas and conceptions than my own - so what would you reccomend should be my immediate course of action?

Zero to HTPC in 700?

itesser — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:59:47 -0800

Going crazy trying to figure out my HTPC/media server options from scratch. Yes, I've been reading other threads but I'm a unique snowflake so there's My husband and I are a couple of nomads with a handful of computers (desktops and laptops, 3 Win and 1 Mac) who will be getting our first real TV/stereo/etc when we move into a new apartment late next month.

I want to...
- Stream Netflix to our TV
- Watch other internet video on the TV (and stream Pandora?)
- Play locally stored video / music on the TV/stereo
- Have all our music (~200 gigs) in one place, plus long-term expandability
- Keep important files in one location for frequent backing up to/from multiple computers
- I don't care to watch network or cable tv

My budget is somewhat flexible, but I'm aiming for solutions around $700 for the media-serving part of the set up.

After several hours considering my options (though I admit I'm not experienced at this, plus it's way past my bedtime), I think my current best bet is: xbox360 + XBMC on an XP system* + (Free)NAS. Would 3 machines be overkill?

* I like the iphone remote! and for a few other reasons

Or ditch the NAS and put a bunch of HDs in the XBMC system?
Or ditch the XBMC and stream directly from NAS to 360?
Or replace the XBMC with a MacMini+Plex?

Windows Media Center + iTunes Library + OCD = suck.

robbie01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:51:50 -0800

Windows Media Center + iTunes Library + OCD = suck. I have a highly organized MP3 library with thorough ID3 tags (thanks OCD) managed via iTunes on a Mac. The library itself is stored on a NAS device (LinkStation), but that doesn't really matter.

I keep iTunes open on my Mac and set to Share so my Windows PC can access the library via Windows iTunes. No problem.

My PC is running Media Center Edition 2005 (with all updates) and I want it to be able to use the MP3 library in both iTunes AND the Media Center app.

If I point MCE's "My Music" to the NAS device containing my library, it seems to find/add the music okay -- but it does a piss-poor job of reading all my carefully defined tags in the music files -- namely things like Album art, the artist, and sometimes other basic info on a few random (but thoroughly tagged) tracks.

Out of about 350 albums, MCE automatically imported art for maybe 8 albums, and every single solitary MP3 under iTunes/Mac has album art embedded in it--guaranteed.

I know that the Media Center app pulls all of its actual media data from Windows Media Player's Library, and I've figured out that you can "automanually" add things like album art by having WMP attempt to look up your album.

But this process would be tedious to do by hand for every track on every album, and what's worse is that I created some custom album art for non-commercial tracks, AND when WMP DOES find your album/art, the art it inserts is really crappy low-quality JPGs, which look terrible when viewed in large size in the Media Center interface.

So, long set up, but: why won't Media Center just use the ID3 tags in my MP3s, including album art? I don't want Windows going in and overwriting my tag data with what IT thinks the genre/artist/album name is just so it can add its own version of low-quality album art to the file.

And it's not just album art, either. On a few CDs, it will take half the tracks and put them under the correct album name, and then the other half it will create a new album name that has maybe the last 7 characters cut off. And there are about 10 tracks that it just completely blows, not reading even the most basic ID3 info, even though it's definitely there.

One of the reasons I want this work via MCE2005 is that I want to have access to my MP3 library on my Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender, with full art, etc. So forgetting about the Windows platform altogether is not an option.

So, any way to achieve this ideal set up:

* Single MP3 library on NAS device, thorough ID3 tags and album art associated with every track

* iTunes on Mac plays and shares Library to Windows iTunes (so far no problem)

* Windows Media Center Edition PC(s) look to NAS device for same library, but imports it cleanly with all album art/tags, etc. intact.

* WMC PC shares this clean/thorough library to Xbox 360 as WMC Extender