Computers & Electronics

Building Streaming and Back-up System

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  • Jan 6th, 2011 3:09 pm
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Newbie
Oct 9, 2006
68 posts
13 upvotes
Winnipeg

Building Streaming and Back-up System

Need:
I want to build a system to stream movies, pictures and web content to our family room TV. Also want a network storage solution to back-up all our PC in the house.

Proposed Equipment:
Acer REVO AR3610 (Cost 347.00) - Intel Atom 330 Dual-Core 1.6Ghz, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 500GB, Nvidia ION Graphics with HDMI, HD Audio, eSATA, Wireless 802.11b/g/n, Gigabyte LAN, Card Reader, 6x USB 2.0, Wireless Keyboard & Mouse.
Netgear ReadyNAS™ (Cost 239.00)NV+ 4-Bay Gigabit Desktop Network Storage.
2x Western Digital (Cost 85.00x2) 2TB Caviar Green 5400rpm SATA II w/ 64MB Cache
Netgear WNDR3700 Wireless N Dual Band Gigabit Router (cost 100.00)
(ttl cost 856)

Software:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
XBMC (love this program – have been running for 4 years and it will play anything main reason we will not just be plugging in a PS3 and streaming from there)

Questions:
1. Any comments on this – what are the weaknesses?
2. How instant on will this be?
3. Can I use a Harmony Remote to control the XBMC/Acer Revo?
4. I plan on just Upnp to the file server from xbmc do I need to run a media server?
5. Will there be any issues with streaming Bluray (is it powerful enough)?

Thanks for any help.
4 replies
Sr. Member
Aug 13, 2006
981 posts
184 upvotes
Vancouver
How much data you got? I can achieve all of that with a PS3 (300), a good router (100) and a USB hard drive (depend on size but lets say $150 should get you 2tb). That'll get you to $550 over your $800+ setup.

I used to have a Mac Mini hooked to the TV but found the setup above to be a lot lower maintenance. I have a WRT610N router which has the uPnP media server built right in ( or use a DDwrt router with some optware)
Newbie
Oct 9, 2006
68 posts
13 upvotes
Winnipeg
All good points FX45 - But I question the longevity of the PS3 and content playability - over the past 5 years the xbmc has played anything I have thrown at it and I keep hearing from different people the ps3 can be a bit picky.

I have about a gig of data on different pc's in my house and I am looking at the 300 bucks premium as an investment that should last a few years and hold the growth that I expect with way more pics and movies being held on my network. Also like the NAS option as running torrent server:

http://www.readynas.com/?p=60

I am tempted though to go with the PS3 - still thinking.......
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 26, 2006
1579 posts
58 upvotes
ON
You may use:
- ps3 + ps3 mediaserver + playon (XBMC hopefully available soon now that the PS3 root keys are available).
- Netgear wndr3700/37av
- USB HD connected to the router
Sr. Member
Aug 13, 2006
981 posts
184 upvotes
Vancouver
doug_999 wrote: All good points FX45 - But I question the longevity of the PS3 and content playability - over the past 5 years the xbmc has played anything I have thrown at it and I keep hearing from different people the ps3 can be a bit picky.

I have about a gig of data on different pc's in my house and I am looking at the 300 bucks premium as an investment that should last a few years and hold the growth that I expect with way more pics and movies being held on my network. Also like the NAS option as running torrent server:

http://www.readynas.com/?p=60

I am tempted though to go with the PS3 - still thinking.......

I must admit I don't do ALOT of streaming movies (1-2x a month) but so far it's worked out alright using the PS3 option. But if you only have a GIG of data, you should really consider whether a NAS is worth the $$. A DD-WRT compatible router with a USB to plug in a hard drive, and then you can install an optware called Transmission to do the the torrenting. The NAS is obviously less setup work to do though, but then you're looking at usually $240 investment.

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