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Media server
My family's home network currently includes about a dozen devices - A couple of Mac's, several laptops, a couple Vista machines and a fileserver (I actually don't know what OS it uses - originally it was Linux, but I don't know if it still is). Our fileserver is a bit old at this point and running out of storage space, so my dad started looking into NAS devices. Then we started talking about a media server - since we have so many media files on our network, we would like to have the ability to play them on the media center (HD tv + surround sound speakers). Currently we're using my old laptop (getting more and more outdated by the minute, lol) which is a clunky and inefficient solution. It can't be left running, requires slightly complicated setup to use and really has no storage space of its own.
So I'm thinking about building a media server, preferably something that would be located in the living room (so it should be fairly quiet) and has a relatively simple interface for playing media files (ie, something that I don't have to be around to set up). Anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I'm looking around at several different articles and considering various options, so any input you guys have would be much appreciated.
So I'm thinking about building a media server, preferably something that would be located in the living room (so it should be fairly quiet) and has a relatively simple interface for playing media files (ie, something that I don't have to be around to set up). Anyone have any suggestions or ideas? I'm looking around at several different articles and considering various options, so any input you guys have would be much appreciated.