Help and advice on building a media server

[NickMate]

Ok, I'm building a home theatre in a few months and decided to go the HTPC route since it's worked out for me so many times. I know how to build a pc and all the software to go with it but I'm very unclear on how to build a media server.
I've converted a Blu-ray to mkv (retaining it's video/audio quality) and on average each film is about 30-45gb each. So I have over 300 Blu-rays and that will only increase as time goes on so I've settled on either 16 or 20tb to start with. How would I go about doing this. What components will I need, the max I will spend on a server is $1200, that's Australian dollars as well
I basically need to to what components, how to install them properly and how to set it up as a server.
Any help is good, as long as it's helpful

Thanks guys

[NickMate]

Cmon really, not one person can help? I just need some help building a server...

[laie_techie]

In essence, a Media Server is like any other computer server you would build - tons of RAM, HD, fast processor, fast network, etc. What sets a media server apart is the need for a BD drive and a server software which conforms to DLNA and / or UPnP (unless you want to actually play your media on the server and just have the video and audio routed through your receiver).

In order to get the kind of storage you're looking for, you will need to put several HDs together into a RAID. Research the various RAID levels to determine which is right for you 9including the capability to add more drives in the future).

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by laie_techie

In essence, a Media Server is like any other computer server you would build - tons of RAM, HD, fast processor, fast network, etc. What sets a media server apart is the need for a BD drive and a server software which conforms to DLNA and / or UPnP (unless you want to actually play your media on the server and just have the video and audio routed through your receiver).

In order to get the kind of storage you're looking for, you will need to put several HDs together into a RAID. Research the various RAID levels to determine which is right for you 9including the capability to add more drives in the future).

My media server is only an athlon 64 with 2.5GB of ram. If its just serving up files you dont need a lot of cpu power. I have 10x2TB drives in RAID6 on mine. Any computer that accesses the files uses XBMC and then im planning on buying those WD LIVE TV devices (or something to that nature) for each TV.

[laie_techie]

One reason I recommended a fast CPU and lots of RAM is because I was thinking the OP would rip BDs / convert them to MKV files on the server instead of having to transfer multi-gigabyte files over the network.

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by laie_techie

One reason I recommended a fast CPU and lots of RAM is because I was thinking the OP would rip BDs / convert them to MKV files on the server instead of having to transfer multi-gigabyte files over the network.

If he is just ripping it shouldnt be an issue, converting is a whole nother story though. Also if he has plans to stream this stuff across a network he better have a good network in place anyways

I do all of my converting or ripping on my primary desktop which is a hexcore I7, i didnt want to invest that much cpu power into the server, so the server just has enough hardware in it and nothing more.

[NickMate]

Hmmm sounds fairly simple when you guys lay it out. I will be ripping the Blurays on the server. Converting is another story. I'm wondering if I should just leave it being m2ts or mkv (any difference audio video wise?)
Once I have everything up and running I will install new network cables in the house, my router does support 100mbit.
In any case for now it will hooked up to just one room, but will there be issues if I play from two rooms ats the same time (the same or different movie) ?
Cheers for the help guys

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by nickmate

Hmmm sounds fairly simple when you guys lay it out. I will be ripping the Blurays on the server. Converting is another story. I'm wondering if I should just leave it being m2ts or mkv (any difference audio video wise?)
Once I have everything up and running I will install new network cables in the house, my router does support 100mbit.
In any case for now it will hooked up to just one room, but will there be issues if I play from two rooms ats the same time (the same or different movie) ?
Cheers for the help guys

if you leave them in the native m2ts format its a lot less work. Converting takes a long time even on a good cpu and if you have several hundred to do thats a massive project you can skip by just leaving them in m2ts.

shouldnt be any issues playing in more then 1 room at a time but 1 thing to keep in mind is that with 100Mb network you might run into bandwidth issues if you tried more than 2 at a time

[NickMate]

ok, chances are its only going to be playing one Blu-ray rip at a time, but it should be fine playing multiple DVDs and flac songs.
Ok so i got the jist of the whole Raid options and setup, are there any problems with running the server 24/7 and what is the best power supply to run this long and power all the HDDs?

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by nickmate

ok, chances are its only going to be playing one Blu-ray rip at a time, but it should be fine playing multiple DVDs and flac songs.
Ok so i got the jist of the whole Raid options and setup, are there any problems with running the server 24/7 and what is the best power supply to run this long and power all the HDDs?

On problem running the server 24/7 is that your electric bill might go up

one other thing to consider instead of running a traditional RAID is something called flexraid

http://www.flexraid.com/

There are a lot of good power supplies out there but i like Antec and Corsair my self (I have a corsair in my gaming machine and an Antec in my server) How big depends on how many drives you end up going with

[NickMate]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

On problem running the server 24/7 is that your electric bill might go up

one other thing to consider instead of running a traditional RAID is something called flexraid

http://www.flexraid.com/

There are a lot of good power supplies out there but i like Antec and Corsair my self (I have a corsair in my gaming machine and an Antec in my server) How big depends on how many drives you end up going with

hmm that would seem to be a problem perhaps ill just set up network tart up and leave it in hibernate mode when not in use...i have a Antec for my gaming pc and its great so ill just with them. thanx guys for all your help