Modding How to Build a DVD Server

well you can build a cheap media center system, in fact the most expensive part of a media center will be its storage, well depending on how much you want to store. As to your question why build a server, well if you only have ONE room that you plan to watch your movies on say like the living room/family room then ya a silent computer located in that room would suffice you BUT say want to be able to watch movies in those rooms and in your bedroom, studio, shop, kitchen and so on then a sever would come into play to stream that media to all those locations.

 

i assume the server would the processing? or would it just act like a storage device?

 

It would act like the storage device so if u didnt want a dedicated computer you could build/use a NAS

 

For those of you thinking about the Sony BR mega changer, I own one and will offer the following comment. It is an excellent rock solid unit with a more than adequate GUI.

The issue, and it does not matter if you have the RS232 or IR versions (I have the RS232) is how long it takes to get a movie i.e. start viewing the movie, once you have traversed the GUI (reasonably fast) and selected the disc to play.

Way TOOOOO Long. First comes the carousel time 5-10 seconds, then the BD load time (5-20 seconds), then comes all the nonsense I do not want top see (FBI warnings and trailers) and then finally the Movie's main menu screen where I always select play.

98% of the time, I just want to watch the movie as released!

 

huh that is good to know, as that looked like one heck of a player and pretty reasonable to all considering.

 

This is a bit of a different question; but anyway: I want to build a DVD server but I don't really have too much money (y'know, I'm a student) so what I want to do is build a file server/iTunes server/DVD server/HTPC. I don't know if tht makes sense but what I want to be able to do is use it as a nas box but then I'd also want to use it to watch the films/listen to the music on my main tv at home. I'd want to be able to watch films/listen to music from other pcs aswell but then add more films and music to it through the htpc/nas box itself.
Now I have a fury of ideas for the scratch built case etc. I'm just not too great with the software side... I don't know what would be best to use and if this is even really possible?
Hopefully that post makes sense... =p

 

You'd probably have to use a bit of a mishmash of software to get all that working. Personally I'd look to linux and use XBMC for the HTPC front end (assuming you don't mean to use this for TV as well, in which case you'll do better with MythTV) Both will play DVD ISO's from the HDD so thats golden. There are a bunch of iTunes media servers floating around - something like Firefly would be pretty easy to setup and can be administered over the web. Add in Samba for sharing the files out to your network and you're done.

I'd really recommend though (for noise if nothing else) not haveing the big rig with all the storage and processing under your TV - instead if at all possible find ~£180-200 and buy a little ION-based Nettop to use as a front end.

 

I'd second separating the storage and front-end machines - put the storage server somewhere out of the way and run a wired ethernet connection to the front-end machine.

If you use unRAID as your storage server, you can install Firefly on the unRAID machine so it becomes an iTunes server too.

 

I apologise for my incredibly lapse response.

Thanks for the great advise though chimaera and Flibblebot, unfortunately money always seems to be the issue but this is definitely something I can save up for and dream about! I just wish I understood this stuff properly! I'll be back with a project log at some point, I have case design ideas spewing from my ears, just a shame there aren't enough software ideas to fill my small toe on right foot!
Thanks though!

 

I like freenas better, I've never heard of this unraid....

 

...therefore, because you haven't heard of it, it isn't any good?

 

This is a great article, and I've had it saved in my bookmarks for about a year now until I was ready to build my HTPC. However, after a lot of thought and research, I'm not sure this is for me. The issue is the fact that I need to be running Windows 7 on my HTPC for a few reasons.
1. I want my movie server to be accessible from my wife's laptop running W7 so that she can back up family photos w/o having to connect an external drive.
2. I want it to be accessible to the two PS3's we have in the house so that we can browse and play movie files through them.
3. The price tag. In addition to the cost of the PC itself, there is the $70 for the UNRaid...then the suggested software package to browse the movies (Cinemar) $350...and the software to play them ~$60 - $100. When you're talking about shelling out more than $500 vs. a $10 donation for media browser seems like a no brainer to me. If only UNRaid ran in a W7 platform, I could have my cake and eat it too...