[Tanax]

Hello,

I'm new to these forums. Just trying to wrap my head around if XBMC is what I need to create the kind of system I want.
It looks amazing and the capabilities seems (almost) endless. I'm looking for advice if XBMC is what I need and how to connect everything to make it work.

So I'm putting together an HTPC that I want to be the main centre where I will have all media(videos, images, music, etc).
I will then have different display-devices across the house(for instance; a TV in my room and a projector in the living room) so I'll most likely need some way of streaming the media from the HTPC to the display-device that I want to use because running a cable across the entire house is really not an option for me.

As for remote controlling I was planning to use my iPad2 to be able to select whatever movie I want to view and from there select what display-device to stream it to(for instance, the projector).
Preferably I'd like to be able to stream different movies to different display-devices at the same time but that's not neccessary for a first build(unless it's an easy fix?).

I also want to be able to, with the remote iPad2, access a display-device and choose what to stream there(rather than having to select what media and THEN select the device to stream it to).

So basically I'll have 2 ways of initializing a stream to a display-device.
1. Select media(for instance a movie) -> Select device(for instance the projector)
2. Select device -> Select media

The second option is useful if I want to scroll through media so I don't have to select a device each time I want to stream a new type of media(for instance when browsing images).
So for the software part, will XBMC cover my needs?

As for hardware, I was looking into the Apple TV 2 as I've seen a lot of people talk about it. If I've understood everything correct, I will need 1 ATV2 per display-device? And how would I go about hooking everything up?
Let's just assume I have 1 display-device(while keeping in mind that I will want the possibility to have more). Hardware list would be:

HTPC
TV (HDTV)
Apple TV 2
iPad2

Sorry if thousands of topics have already been posted that are similar but when it comes to relatively large systems like these, there's really need for individual topics to cater the individual needs.
Anyways, cheers!

[Ned Scott]

Hello,

I'm new to these forums. Just trying to wrap my head around if XBMC is what I need to create the kind of system I want.
It looks amazing and the capabilities seems (almost) endless. I'm looking for advice if XBMC is what I need and how to connect everything to make it work.

So I'm putting together an HTPC that I want to be the main centre where I will have all media(videos, images, music, etc).
I will then have different display-devices across the house(for instance; a TV in my room and a projector in the living room) so I'll most likely need some way of streaming the media from the HTPC to the display-device that I want to use because running a cable across the entire house is really not an option for me.

As for remote controlling I was planning to use my iPad2 to be able to select whatever movie I want to view and from there select what display-device to stream it to(for instance, the projector).
Preferably I'd like to be able to stream different movies to different display-devices at the same time but that's not neccessary for a first build(unless it's an easy fix?).

I also want to be able to, with the remote iPad2, access a display-device and choose what to stream there(rather than having to select what media and THEN select the device to stream it to).

So basically I'll have 2 ways of initializing a stream to a display-device.
1. Select media(for instance a movie) -> Select device(for instance the projector)
2. Select device -> Select media

The second option is useful if I want to scroll through media so I don't have to select a device each time I want to stream a new type of media(for instance when browsing images).
So for the software part, will XBMC cover my needs?

As for hardware, I was looking into the Apple TV 2 as I've seen a lot of people talk about it. If I've understood everything correct, I will need 1 ATV2 per display-device? And how would I go about hooking everything up?
Let's just assume I have 1 display-device(while keeping in mind that I will want the possibility to have more). Hardware list would be:

HTPC
TV (HDTV)
Apple TV 2
iPad2

Sorry if thousands of topics have already been posted that are similar but when it comes to relatively large systems like these, there's really need for individual topics to cater the individual needs.
Anyways, cheers!

Basically your main server contains the video files themselves and syncs the databases with watched/resume tracking across devices.

On your iPad you would just select which device to connect with and then select your movie or whatever. There's a few really nice iOS remote apps out there, but they will all be able to do this.

You can't really select the movie first and then select XBMC. At least not with any setup I've seen. It's not that it is impossible, but no one has done it and it really doesn't matter which order this happens in. Since each device is running an independent copy of XBMC (though with a shared database) it's not like you can play on multiple screens and have them be synced (there are audio add-ons in XBMC that can do this, but not for video I believe).

You can still stop a movie or tv show on one device, go to another room and play that same movie or tv show and have it ask if you want to resume where you left off.

At $100 a pop, the ATV2 is a great choice for adding multiple XBMC boxes around the house. Even if you didn't actually use XBMC itself and just used Apple's AirPlay + some 3rd party transcoding app, it's a very effective way to wirelessly stream media on the cheap. Just know that XBMC on the ATV2/iOS is still under development and there are no stable versions of XBMC for it. Is it usable right now? very much so. But sometimes bugs pop up, or a change in a new version might break something and a fix might not be available right away. A stable version of XBMC for ATV2/iOS will come, just not tomorrow.

Plus if you jailbreak your iPad2 you can install a full copy of XBMC on it as well, allowing you to have the complete XBMC experience even away from home. Just copy the files you want to use off your server when you leave the house (for vacation, etc) and take it with you. No need to reencode video.

Personally, I would recommend something like an ATOM based desktop (you could go with a miniITX based motherboard for a really small setup) that has a good GPU to decode the video. Get one with lots of SATA ports for future HDD expansion. It can then have an installation of XBMC on it as well as being your file server, which sounds like what you wanted for your main HTPC. It would be small, power efficient (so you can leave it on all the time if you want), and sometimes even fanless for really quiet operation.

On the software side, XBMC and apps that compliment XBMC (like the ipad remote) will do all of this and more.

[Iceman72]

Personally I say get yourself an ATV2, jailbreak it and have fun. Although XBMC is not 100% stable. With all the goodies you can put on it to watch stuff. It almost doesnt matter. If something stops working for a bit you will still have tons of options to view many others things. My wife and I have decided that we will be getting ATV2 for every room. With XBMC on it, its just amazing. We no longer have cable tv or direct tv. Honestly there is no need. We dont even have a super fast connection. Which is amazing. I dont know how they do it, but I can barely stream a vid on youtube on my PC with out it stopping. When I watch something on XBMC it all flows like it should. These guys here at XBMC are AMAZING at what they do.

[Tanax]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I'll try answer everything.

Basically your main server contains the video files themselves and syncs the databases with watched/resume tracking across devices.

On your iPad you would just select which device to connect with and then select your movie or whatever. There's a few really nice iOS remote apps out there, but they will all be able to do this.

Wow, I thought it would be harder than that! Sounds awesome!

You can't really select the movie first and then select XBMC. At least not with any setup I've seen. It's not that it is impossible, but no one has done it and it really doesn't matter which order this happens in. Since each device is running an independent copy of XBMC (though with a shared database) it's not like you can play on multiple screens and have them be synced (there are audio add-ons in XBMC that can do this, but not for video I believe).

Hmm, alright. Well I suppose that will be awesome for me anyway, at least for a first setup

You can still stop a movie or tv show on one device, go to another room and play that same movie or tv show and have it ask if you want to resume where you left off.

Awesome feature!

At $100 a pop, the ATV2 is a great choice for adding multiple XBMC boxes around the house. Even if you didn't actually use XBMC itself and just used Apple's AirPlay + some 3rd party transcoding app, it's a very effective way to wirelessly stream media on the cheap. Just know that XBMC on the ATV2/iOS is still under development and there are no stable versions of XBMC for it. Is it usable right now? very much so. But sometimes bugs pop up, or a change in a new version might break something and a fix might not be available right away. A stable version of XBMC for ATV2/iOS will come, just not tomorrow.

That's alright. Are there any alternatives instead of an ATV2? I've read about these "SmartTV" that has built in support for browsers and stuff. Will I be able to use that and install XBMC? The SmartTV has WiFi so the streaming support is already there.

Plus if you jailbreak your iPad2 you can install a full copy of XBMC on it as well, allowing you to have the complete XBMC experience even away from home. Just copy the files you want to use off your server when you leave the house (for vacation, etc) and take it with you. No need to reencode video.

Unfortunately I'm not that big into jailbreaking and would rather keep my iPad2 "unjailed" XD The ATV2 I'll happily jailbreak though. All I need for the iPad2 is remote control. Got any examples of apps that support control of an ATV2 with XBMC?

Personally, I would recommend something like an ATOM based desktop (you could go with a miniITX based motherboard for a really small setup) that has a good GPU to decode the video. Get one with lots of SATA ports for future HDD expansion. It can then have an installation of XBMC on it as well as being your file server, which sounds like what you wanted for your main HTPC. It would be small, power efficient (so you can leave it on all the time if you want), and sometimes even fanless for really quiet operation.

I was thinking of a miniITX motherboard(haven't looked into what brand though) and then a separate GPU-card(like Nvidia GT -something).

The HTPC will be Windows-based but if I understood it correctly XBMC runs under Windows aswell? The reason I need Windows is because I want uTorrent so I can set up downloads aswell as being able to remote control the HTPC via the iPad aswell as being able to "login" to the HTPC from school to access school-documents, music, w.e.

On the software side, XBMC and apps that compliment XBMC (like the ipad remote) will do all of this and more.

Sounds incredably sweet

Personally I say get yourself an ATV2, jailbreak it and have fun. Although XBMC is not 100% stable. With all the goodies you can put on it to watch stuff. It almost doesnt matter. If something stops working for a bit you will still have tons of options to view many others things. My wife and I have decided that we will be getting ATV2 for every room. With XBMC on it, its just amazing. We no longer have cable tv or direct tv. Honestly there is no need. We dont even have a super fast connection. Which is amazing. I dont know how they do it, but I can barely stream a vid on youtube on my PC with out it stopping. When I watch something on XBMC it all flows like it should. These guys here at XBMC are AMAZING at what they do.

XBMC does indeed sounds amazing and it sounds like it's what I need to make everything work

Another question, I got another tip on another forum to set up a UPnP, I read about it here but I still don't really understand.. what is it? :O

[Iceman72]

When you get an Atv2 all u need to do is jailbreak it, which takes less than 5 mins. Then you install xbmc and the repositories you want. Nothing else is needed. I have done nothing else.

With my ipad2 I jail broke it as well and installed xbmc on it, but have not used it because I just done have a fast enough wifi. But it's there to use when I go on vacation some where.

I guarantee once you get an Atv2 and play with xbmc you will change your mind on jail breaking that ipad2.

This atv2 has saved me so much money it's sick. Not to mention I no longer download movies and shows. There really is no need to. For $99 and free shipping you just can't go wrong unless you are one of those that just gotta have some sort of computer doing it.

[fryed_1]

I think I know what you're looking for because I have something very similar.

While I'm not a fan of making my storage server the same as my main HTPC... I have a separate storage server that runs torrent, nzb, etc... so all my downloading is down directly from it. Storage server doesn't have to be anything beefy, just lots of space. I'm using an old dell poweredge 1600sc tower with GB ethernet and 2x 6-port sata cards. I use a pair of 32gb drives in raid1 for the OS and apps. Minus the cost of the 2tb drives (10 of them) I might have spent $200 on the entire machine plus add-on cards. Been running this for about 2yrs and simply adding more drives when space is needed.

My main HTPC is in an nmedia case, amd athlon 6000 with 2gb ram, 8gb ssd and nvidia 9800gt. I bought the case and everything else in it was spare parts I had sitting around from older computers I had since upgraded. It works great, runs XBMC Live and is fast, usually booting up within 45 seconds or so and ready to go.

I use 3 ATV devices in the bedrooms. I use the windows and mac apps for the laptops.

I have the ATV remotes upstairs, MCE remote downstairs and android and ipad/itouch apps installed.

My main controller is my ipad. For example, my toddlers are upstairs and scream down, "daddy we wanna watch cinderella!!!" I use the commander app on the ipad, hit options, bedroom 1, movies, cinderella, play and it instantly starts playing on the selected tv.

Every front end accesses the server using simple samba file shares. Easy and quick. SQL DB is setup on the storage server and the front-ends all use it so I only have to update a single front end and all of them reflect the changes.

[Tanax]

When you get an Atv2 all u need to do is jailbreak it, which takes less than 5 mins. Then you install xbmc and the repositories you want. Nothing else is needed. I have done nothing else.

With my ipad2 I jail broke it as well and installed xbmc on it, but have not used it because I just done have a fast enough wifi. But it's there to use when I go on vacation some where.

I guarantee once you get an Atv2 and play with xbmc you will change your mind on jail breaking that ipad2.

This atv2 has saved me so much money it's sick. Not to mention I no longer download movies and shows. There really is no need to. For $99 and free shipping you just can't go wrong unless you are one of those that just gotta have some sort of computer doing it.

Yeah, I'll have to google how to jailbreak it but I assume it would be rather easy once I get the ATV I have no use for XBMC on my iPad though, I only need it as a remote controller and don't need to be able to remotely view any content from when I'm away from home. So I'll hold off with jailbreaking the iPad until I really need it

Well I do need a computer as a HTPC so I have everything centralized but I'll still need a way to communicate between TV -> HTPC(with XBMC installed) and that's where ATV comes in

I think I know what you're looking for because I have something very similar.

While I'm not a fan of making my storage server the same as my main HTPC... I have a separate storage server that runs torrent, nzb, etc... so all my downloading is down directly from it. Storage server doesn't have to be anything beefy, just lots of space. I'm using an old dell poweredge 1600sc tower with GB ethernet and 2x 6-port sata cards. I use a pair of 32gb drives in raid1 for the OS and apps. Minus the cost of the 2tb drives (10 of them) I might have spent $200 on the entire machine plus add-on cards. Been running this for about 2yrs and simply adding more drives when space is needed.

My main HTPC is in an nmedia case, amd athlon 6000 with 2gb ram, 8gb ssd and nvidia 9800gt. I bought the case and everything else in it was spare parts I had sitting around from older computers I had since upgraded. It works great, runs XBMC Live and is fast, usually booting up within 45 seconds or so and ready to go.

I use 3 ATV devices in the bedrooms. I use the windows and mac apps for the laptops.

I have the ATV remotes upstairs, MCE remote downstairs and android and ipad/itouch apps installed.

My main controller is my ipad. For example, my toddlers are upstairs and scream down, "daddy we wanna watch cinderella!!!" I use the commander app on the ipad, hit options, bedroom 1, movies, cinderella, play and it instantly starts playing on the selected tv.

Every front end accesses the server using simple samba file shares. Easy and quick. SQL DB is setup on the storage server and the front-ends all use it so I only have to update a single front end and all of them reflect the changes.

Actually I was thinking of having my storage server as a separate computer -- like a NAS or something. I just didn't think it would make a difference as for the system I described, it would just make it more to explain, haha. But basically I'll have my HTPC set up with XBMC and act as a server. Each ATV connects to the HTPC which in turn fetches the storage from the NAS. So when I watch a movie from my TV the signal chain is as following: TV -> Apple TV device -> HTPC -> NAS -> Moviefile

I'm wondering about the drives, how many drives can you actually add on? I mean, eventually you will run out of SATA-ports, then what? I'll also probably use an SSD as boot-drive to speed up the boot-time but we'll see how much everything will cost since they are rather expensive.

Regarding your system, a couple of questions;
Windows and mac apps? What apps?
MCE remote? What's that?
Commander app?

Also, what's samba? That thing about update a single front end and everyone changes sounds really sweet! What kind of updates are you talking about? Software updates to the ATV? Or updates to the movies library -kind of stuff?
I've worked with PHP and MySQL for 5 years but that database stuff boggles my mind though since I'm not 100% sure how they communicate(with PHP it's just so much easier). Is it difficult?

[fryed_1]

But basically I'll have my HTPC set up with XBMC and act as a server. Each ATV connects to the HTPC which in turn fetches the storage from the NAS. So when I watch a movie from my TV the signal chain is as following: TV -> Apple TV device -> HTPC -> NAS -> Moviefile

That seems horribly complicated and inefficient (no offense). Your XBMC appliance should not have to relay information to others or act as a "server". You point it to your storage locations and it simply is the interface for viewing whatever you have stored.

Power management would have to be turned off. That means your main HTPC would need to be running 100% of the time for anything else to work. IMO, when I'm not watching the HTPC in the living room, it's turned off. I have WOL (wake-on lan) and wake on usb, so when I hit the power button on the USB it will turn on just like any other device (stereo, tv, etc...)

Ideally it will make use of your wired/wireless setup at home. Your storage server/NAS is located on a static address and simply shares directories. Each of your front ends, be it linux, windows, mac, atv, etc... points to the folders you shared to display that content on the end device (movies, videos, pictures, music, tv shows, etc...)

Your ATV devices or other XBMC appliances do not need a centralized XBMC "server". They just need to know where the data is on your network so they can display it.

I'm wondering about the drives, how many drives can you actually add on? I mean, eventually you will run out of SATA-ports, then what? I'll also probably use an SSD as boot-drive to speed up the boot-time but we'll see how much everything will cost since they are rather expensive.

If you build an inexpensive HTPC system and don't need it to function as anything else, you can use XBMC Live and it will boot in less than 30 seconds from hitting the power button on an 8Gb SSD (less than $50USD) and still have room to spare. I boot from an 8Gb SSD and installed a second 1Tb to host ROM's for games, which are still run under MAME emulators in Linux and accessed via XBMC. I only installed the second drive because I was having issues running larger ROM's over the wired connection. Hosting the ROM's locally seemed to fix this. I don't play the games on the other TV's, so this isn't an issue for me.

Regarding your system, a couple of questions;
Windows and mac apps? What apps?

I'm talking about the XBMC client apps. What you would run it on in full-screen if you were using Windows or OSX as a host.

MCE remote? What's that?

Standard el'cheapo $20 Windows MCE certified remote. Works great with XBMC Live out of the box.

Commander app?

Search iTunes store for this. I forget how much it was, but it was inexpensive... maybe $10... and is what I like to use for controlling all of my XBMC installations from one place.

Also, what's samba? That thing about update a single front end and everyone changes sounds really sweet! What kind of updates are you talking about? Software updates to the ATV? Or updates to the movies library -kind of stuff?
I've worked with PHP and MySQL for 5 years but that database stuff boggles my mind though since I'm not 100% sure how they communicate(with PHP it's just so much easier). Is it difficult?

Samba is simply a mechanism in Linux for file sharing so windows/linux/mac machines can easily see it. It's super easy to setup and get running in seconds and every machine on your network will instantly have access.

For example... when setting up other XBMC front ends, I simply copy config files because they are all pointed to the same place. IE:

\\media\Movies
\\media\TVShows
\\media\Music
\\media\Videos
\\media\Pictures

SQL is super simple. There's a howto on it somewhere in here. Basically you install mysql on your linux storage server (maybe windows, I haven't tried it), create the xbmc database, user and assign permissions. Then point your XBMC front ends to use it instead of local. You can even go as far as creating a samba share for thumbnails and all that if you want, though I haven't seen a need to do so. It allows all your XBMC front ends to share the same data, so when you watch a show on one TV it's marked watch everywhere. If I stop a program on the living room TV, turn everything off, then head to the bedroom I can resume the same show from there.

[fryed_1]

Well I do need a computer as a HTPC so I have everything centralized but I'll still need a way to communicate between TV -> HTPC(with XBMC installed) and that's where ATV comes in

No.... no not at all.

Your computer/HTPC will connect directly to your tv via DVI/VGA/HDMI.

Your ATV device will connect directly to your tv via component/dvi/vga/hdmi.


Here's how your setup would go for a couple examples:

Data path:

XBMC->wireless/wired->File shares

Physical path:

TV->ATV(2)->wireless/wired->Storage Server
TV->HTPC->wireless/wired->Storage Server
Laptop->wireless/wired->Storage Server

See? The ATV devices don't need an HTPC to run XBMC and display your content. They just need to know the location of your storage server. You could have 20 ATV devices without a single HTPC and everything would still work great.

[fryed_1]

I'm wondering about the drives, how many drives can you actually add on? I mean, eventually you will run out of SATA-ports, then what? I'll also probably use an SSD as boot-drive to speed up the boot-time but we'll see how much everything will cost since they are rather expensive.

Theoretically... uhhh... as many as you have power for. I can fit 3 more 64bit sata cards in this machine if I wanted. I use LVM for managing mine. I know it's not redundant. I have a 2Tb backup drive plugged in that archives my personal pictures and videos. If I lose 2Tb of music, movies or tv shows, I'm not really concerned about it as they're pretty easily replaceable.

Over the winter I'll probably build a new more power-efficient storage server. Still doesn't need to be anything crazy, so I'll likely go with a NOS Tyan mobo that will support a pair of Xeon 3.6 processors and 4Gb RAM. It will go in a full-tower case and get 3 3x5 drive bay converters, allowing for up to 15 drives. Sata ports will be handled by a Promise 16-port Sata controller. With current drives, it should give me somewhere in the neighborhood of 16-18Tb with the ability to expand by another 10 easily if I need to.

[Tanax]

That seems horribly complicated and inefficient (no offense). Your XBMC appliance should not have to relay information to others or act as a "server". You point it to your storage locations and it simply is the interface for viewing whatever you have stored.

Power management would have to be turned off. That means your main HTPC would need to be running 100% of the time for anything else to work. IMO, when I'm not watching the HTPC in the living room, it's turned off. I have WOL (wake-on lan) and wake on usb, so when I hit the power button on the USB it will turn on just like any other device (stereo, tv, etc...)

Ideally it will make use of your wired/wireless setup at home. Your storage server/NAS is located on a static address and simply shares directories. Each of your front ends, be it linux, windows, mac, atv, etc... points to the folders you shared to display that content on the end device (movies, videos, pictures, music, tv shows, etc...)

Your ATV devices or other XBMC appliances do not need a centralized XBMC "server". They just need to know where the data is on your network so they can display it.

If you build an inexpensive HTPC system and don't need it to function as anything else, you can use XBMC Live and it will boot in less than 30 seconds from hitting the power button on an 8Gb SSD (less than $50USD) and still have room to spare. I boot from an 8Gb SSD and installed a second 1Tb to host ROM's for games, which are still run under MAME emulators in Linux and accessed via XBMC. I only installed the second drive because I was having issues running larger ROM's over the wired connection. Hosting the ROM's locally seemed to fix this. I don't play the games on the other TV's, so this isn't an issue for me.

Then I'm confused.. why do you need an HTPC then? If all you need is the storage-device and the ATV? You said you had your files on a separate storage outside of the HTPC --- what do you use your HTPC for then if your ATV has XBMC and simply points to the locations on your storage?

Oh and no offense taken. This is exactly why I wanted to post here before actually buying anything

I'm talking about the XBMC client apps. What you would run it on in full-screen if you were using Windows or OSX as a host.

Standard el'cheapo $20 Windows MCE certified remote. Works great with XBMC Live out of the box.

Search iTunes store for this. I forget how much it was, but it was inexpensive... maybe $10... and is what I like to use for controlling all of my XBMC installations from one place.


Samba is simply a mechanism in Linux for file sharing so windows/linux/mac machines can easily see it. It's super easy to setup and get running in seconds and every machine on your network will instantly have access.

For example... when setting up other XBMC front ends, I simply copy config files because they are all pointed to the same place. IE:

\\media\Movies
\\media\TVShows
\\media\Music
\\media\Videos
\\media\Pictures

SQL is super simple. There's a howto on it somewhere in here. Basically you install mysql on your linux storage server (maybe windows, I haven't tried it), create the xbmc database, user and assign permissions. Then point your XBMC front ends to use it instead of local. You can even go as far as creating a samba share for thumbnails and all that if you want, though I haven't seen a need to do so. It allows all your XBMC front ends to share the same data, so when you watch a show on one TV it's marked watch everywhere. If I stop a program on the living room TV, turn everything off, then head to the bedroom I can resume the same show from there.

I see Thanks for replying to all the questions!
The SQL didn't seem that complicated from what I've done in the past so should be easy, I just need to look through the wiki to make sure I'm not missing everything. Obviously I'll probably post another topic about that when the time comes.

No.... no not at all.

Your computer/HTPC will connect directly to your tv via DVI/VGA/HDMI.

Your ATV device will connect directly to your tv via component/dvi/vga/hdmi.


Here's how your setup would go for a couple examples:

Data path:

XBMC->wireless/wired->File shares

Physical path:

TV->ATV(2)->wireless/wired->Storage Server
TV->HTPC->wireless/wired->Storage Server
Laptop->wireless/wired->Storage Server

See? The ATV devices don't need an HTPC to run XBMC and display your content. They just need to know the location of your storage server. You could have 20 ATV devices without a single HTPC and everything would still work great.

This is what confuses me. What do you need the HTPC for then?
I thought it worked like the TV -> ATV -> HTPC -> Storage because I thought the HTPC handled decoding and transcoding but obviously I was wrong. So again; What do you need the HTPC for(in your system as an example)?

Again, thanks for all the help guys!

[Tanax]

Theoretically... uhhh... as many as you have power for. I can fit 3 more 64bit sata cards in this machine if I wanted. I use LVM for managing mine. I know it's not redundant. I have a 2Tb backup drive plugged in that archives my personal pictures and videos. If I lose 2Tb of music, movies or tv shows, I'm not really concerned about it as they're pretty easily replaceable.

Over the winter I'll probably build a new more power-efficient storage server. Still doesn't need to be anything crazy, so I'll likely go with a NOS Tyan mobo that will support a pair of Xeon 3.6 processors and 4Gb RAM. It will go in a full-tower case and get 3 3x5 drive bay converters, allowing for up to 15 drives. Sata ports will be handled by a Promise 16-port Sata controller. With current drives, it should give me somewhere in the neighborhood of 16-18Tb with the ability to expand by another 10 easily if I need to.

Holy frack.
Sounds awesome though!

I'll have to look into SATA controllers. Thanks!

[fryed_1]

Then I'm confused.. why do you need an HTPC then? If all you need is the storage-device and the ATV? You said you had your files on a separate storage outside of the HTPC --- what do you use your HTPC for then if your ATV has XBMC and simply points to the locations on your storage?

couple reasons...

I had the spare hardware when I started. HTPC was the cheapest option for me 2-3 years ago when I started playing with XBMC and other distros.

I have an xarcade gamestick for Mame arcade games. There is an XBMC interface for it. It will not run on other devices (ATV, etc...) and my HTPC was powerful enough to run any MAME and other console game I wanted to throw at it without issue.


For the XBMC interface doing the basic functions such as playing movies, music, tv shows and all that, an HTPC is basically identical to other devices such as ATV and all that.

If you want simple and easy and aren't likely to tinker with things like emulators and other stuff and don't need your HTPC to play games or whatever on your main TV, then an ATV device will do you fine. So if your goal is to play your movies, tv shows, show pictures and all that and aren't worried about extending the capabilities beyond that of a very nice media player and front end, then an ATV device will do you fine for your main TV and all your other rooms as well. They will look nice, they are very quiet and easy to setup and maintain.

[fryed_1]

To put it simpler... HTPC, in my opinion, is just a name. AppleTV devices are just small computers in essence. A completely built computer designed for a media center is still a computer. Your laptop running OSX, Linux or Windows is still a computer.

So any of the above could be considered an HTPC.

[Tanax]

couple reasons...

I had the spare hardware when I started. HTPC was the cheapest option for me 2-3 years ago when I started playing with XBMC and other distros.

I have an xarcade gamestick for Mame arcade games. There is an XBMC interface for it. It will not run on other devices (ATV, etc...) and my HTPC was powerful enough to run any MAME and other console game I wanted to throw at it without issue.


For the XBMC interface doing the basic functions such as playing movies, music, tv shows and all that, an HTPC is basically identical to other devices such as ATV and all that.

If you want simple and easy and aren't likely to tinker with things like emulators and other stuff and don't need your HTPC to play games or whatever on your main TV, then an ATV device will do you fine. So if your goal is to play your movies, tv shows, show pictures and all that and aren't worried about extending the capabilities beyond that of a very nice media player and front end, then an ATV device will do you fine for your main TV and all your other rooms as well. They will look nice, they are very quiet and easy to setup and maintain.

To put it simpler... HTPC, in my opinion, is just a name. AppleTV devices are just small computers in essence. A completely built computer designed for a media center is still a computer. Your laptop running OSX, Linux or Windows is still a computer.

So any of the above could be considered an HTPC.

Right, thanks a lot!
Then I guess I can skip the HTPC then since I won't need the capability to run games on the TV, I only want to be able have the TV with a nice media player and select from different movies on my storage-device and also the possibility to have several different TV's be able to access the same storage-device.

Looks like I'll only need the ATV then.
Still need a NAS though but will probably want a dedicated computer(although .. smaller since it'll be on 24/7) so I can have uTorrent and all that on it aswell.

Regarding the database, would I put that on the storage-device then?

Also a practical question regarding your system; You said before you had TV -> HTPC -> Storage, I assume the TV is connected to the HTPC with a wire then? How would you go about connecting them wirelessly?