Hey Bit Tech, old reader but new forum member joining in here. I'm looking to build a sort of NAS or mini server if you will. What I am using atm is TVersity to stream from my stationary PC to my PS3 onto my flatscreen. I have long been trying to get rid of my stationary PC, since my laptop is better and I'm using it both at school and at work. Makes everything easier and portable. So I wanted to build a NAS that could support my usual Bittorrenting and Stream to my PS3. So far I've put this together: Intel Atom 330 motherboard 2gb DDR2 Kingston memory 2x 1TB WD Caviar Green harddrives This is not only a cheap setup, but also suits whatever I need. Will install WinXP on it, and run remote desktop on it. Now the things I need is a power supply and a case. I want silence, meaning I am thinking of modding the fan cooler on the motherboards GFX/Northbridge, with a passive cooler. I've been looking at the 1U 120watt Fanless power supply, which should be enough. But when time passes I am thinking of upgrading with a SATA raid cart and install a harddrive bay. Much like this. But I can't seem to find the same case here in Denmark, and it would be stupid and too expensive to import the case since there might be one out there that better suits my need. I've looked at the Lian Li V351, but this is not hidden danish retailers yet, but I suppose the V350 is the same case in many ways. But it is a bit steep in price. Input please...
my NAS currently resides in a antec 300. it's not the quietest case in the world, but it is cheap and has good airflow, which means you can 5V your fans and get a nice quiet setup. (edit: just realized you've got a mini-itx. nevermind that recommendation) also, you should ditch TVersity and get the java PS3 media server. it kills tversity in every possible way.
I was thinking of buying just a normal case with decent airflow in it. But it would be nice if it was in a small formfactor case, like the XPC cases etc I will look into that Java PS3 media server. Thanks for the tip
Still looking to get some advice. Currently using Playstation Media Server, but it does have a few problems. But it's great since it runs .mkv etc, but seems it takes quite a bit load encoding it. But if the Intel Atom can stream .mkv good, then it's f'ing great, cuz then i can switch to Linux and save a few $$$. Though then I will have some problems with remote desktop, since I was thinking of running it screenless, meaning I could control it from my normal PC, and didnt have to run a Keyboard/Mouse/Screen setup all the time.
take your mkvs and convert them to mp4 with mkv2vob. then your streamer won't have to transcode them on the fly for the PS3 which should reduce the load by a fair bit. if you go with linux you can either learn the commandline and save some ram by not installing X and a DE, or you can install a full desktop and use VNC to do your remote desktopping.
I've been planning a ~20x25x150cm Plexiglas box for the NAS that I'm working on, pretty much the same spec. should look good sitting on my desk once it's done.
Well, my box is supposed to be hidden in a corner in my bedroom. But if you have some sort of CAD plans or anything, please share. supertoad: Thanks for all the tips. Will mkv2vob run on Linux?
I tought VLC could stream too, but there are some dedictated packages too (can't remember their name from the top of my head). Linux also supports way more file formats out of the box then Windows
I love VNC now, i have an old shuttle up and running for backups and the odd download from sourceforge, but its main role is as a NAS, which is bottle necked by my wireless connection due to lack of funds right now. I can stream FLAC albums over my networks pretty well atm. So i am good for now.
I was in the EXACT same situation as you, except I stream my media files to my xbox instead And my laptop is/was way faster than my desktop pc, which at that time shared my files and used up huge amounts of power. Only one thing to do, ditch the desktop pc,replace it with my laptop and build a NAS to house and share my data. Laptop : Asus G50 Nas: Intel D945GCLF2D dual core atom, 2*500gb seagate drives, 1gb kingston memory, Antec NSK1300 sff case. I have replaced the fan in the psu with a silent papst fan that currently runs at 50% power, but the northbridge fan is still connected, I have tried running it passively, but it idles at about 70 degress, which is too much for my liking tbh, so I will have to change the cooler. The drives are suspended in the cage using rubber grommets, which makes hdd noise almost inaudible. I'm very satisfied with this setup, although I have to silence it somewhat more, but I need money and time
If you go Linux Playstation Media Server (PMS, What a name eh?) will allow streaming and on-the-fly transcode to a PS3. There are some files that I've found that do not work so well but that's encoding issues with the original in the first place. If you are going to use the Atom board you may have difficulty getting a SATA card that works well with it unless you spend a lot of money. I had a Silicon Image based PCI 4 port sata card. It would consistently cause no-boot with my Atom board even after a BIOS update for the card and board. I eventually killed the card while scraping the barrel for possible firmware that I could use and found a bad flash. I'm now running an mATX AM2 board with 4 onboard SATA ports and of course, the ability to add more than one PCI/PCI-E SATA controller in the future. While the Atom is nice at first for the silence and lower power use if you have a need for a lot of storage (I am converting all my purchased DVD's to mp4 with 5.1 audio at the moment at ~1.5GB each and have over 250 discs to do + Photo and music storage + DV Camera footage etc) you will outgrow it very quickly.
I like this idea. What sort of coolers are you using? Can it be passively cooled this system? EDIT: Could you give me the specifics on your system? Would be very helpful in getting an idea what sort of components i should go for.
vlc can stream to vlc, it can't stream to arbitrary uPnP clients. and it really doesn't matter how many file formats linux supports, the ps3 only supports a limited set of formats so you are limited to whatever your transcoder supports. mkv2vob is a windows tool, on linux you need to use ffmpeg or mencoder, which is a bit more complicated than the 1-click gui of mkv2vob.
