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Setting up a home Nas/Media Server


Masteroc

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So i've been googling my a** of for a while now trying to come up with a good home NAS/media server distro or any type of options that I am left with. I really don't want to spend money on any of the commercial ones from Newegg, etc. since I have a few decently specced spare computers just lying around. What i'm looking to have is a Nas with about 2tb of storage in a Raid 1 array. I need it to not only stream, but transcode videos from the Nas to my PS3 and Xbox 360. So far i've tried using Windows 7 plus PS3 Media Server, but I have surprisingly enough had a lot of trouble with Windows 7 networking and compatibility with my game systems. To come to the actual question, I was wondering what might be the best solution for this? Maybe ubuntu server + samba + ps3 media server? Or maybe FreeNas (haven't used the newest versions)? Or even Openfiler with some streaming addon? Any ideas or suggestions would be very greatly appreciated.

-Thanks

P.S. Torrent downloading would be a great plus but is not required.

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I use Win7 + TVersity (epic software). Works great for PS3 & 360. You can always use XP instead if you need those extra resources for real-time transcoding ^_^
Agreed that TVersity/XP combo = win.

FreeNAS = more win.

Systm did a segment on some of that stuff just before is it was canceled one of the Linux solutions they used was mediatomb.

FreeNAS used Mediatomb for a while, but uses FUPPES now.

FreeNAS should be able to handle everything you need to do.

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I have 2 FreeNAS boxes at work (office side/bench side) and one at home. Love it.

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Ubuntu + XBMC is all you need! You can add ftp, ssh, samba, Mediatomb (for on-the-fly transcoding to other devices), and more with just one command. Need I mention XBMC will play almost any format under the sun, limitless skinning possibilities, iPhone/iPod Remote Support, and has DAAP & UPnP support, all out of the box.

Ubuntu comes with bit torrent already installed by default, you can add as many hdds as you want, plus you get to learn about, and play with Linux!

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*** XBMC, the Hacker's Media Center of Choice ***

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Thanks for all the great comments! I will most likely end up using FreeNAS, although last time I used it, I remember that I had trouble getting it to play nicely with my PS3 and Xbox.

@sablefoxx: I totally agree with your XBMC suggestion; however, the computer that I am talking about in this thread needs only to be a server since I have a PS3 or Xbox in any room that I need media at the moment. I totally wish that the Xbox Original could play HD so I could continue to use that and XBMC...literally played (almost) everything I had!!

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Doesn't XBMC for Xbox do 1080i with special component cable?

It will output to a 1080i tv and upconvert dvds and some media files (not really sure how well it does this). And that is what I have been doing for a while. However, the Xbox does not have the processor power to decode HD video...whether it is streamed, or played from the HD.

http://xbmc.org/wiki/index.php?title=Suppo...and_resolutions

The chart in this link will better illustrate what I mean.

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