XBMC HTPC + server in one
#1
I'm looking to buy something that can perform as a HTPC as well as a file server in one.

After some digging the HP N54L Microserver seems to be a perfect fit for this.

However I am having trouble finding any reviews of it for XBMC use or transcoding on the fly using playon.tv (netflix).

Can anyone advise me on whether this would run fine or if any additional hardware would give it a boost to do this?
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#2
This thread;

Plex NL54 Experiences

Suggests that the CPU inside the N54L is fast enough to transcode for Plex on the fly, making it suitable for PlayOn also. However, you may want to triple check what you're trying to do... The N54L is slow and the GPU is weak. It's not a future proofed solution. You'd have a much more elegant solution with 2 boxes.

If you read these sorts of threads, conventional wisdom is to get multiple devices that do things well, rather than a swiss army knife that does everything poorly. You're just going to be frustrated quickly.

Get yourself an entry level 2-bay NAS for serving, usenet, torrenting, etc. Then get yourself a dedicated playback machine. Popular picks are Raspberry Pi for super budget, or Intel NUC. You won't end up spending significantly more than your HP server, but it will be much faster, and much more flexible.
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#3
Thanks for the advice.

Sounds like it will cope (just) but I would probably have trouble trying to do something intensive like transcoding + 1080p playback + XBMC gui. Hopefully it can cope with I'm not to fussed about 1080p as I tend to stay away from large files but hopefully it can do transcoding + 480/720 playback. If it struggles would a gpu upgrade help at all with XBMC gui/playback or transcoding?

I think long run I'll retire this to a pure nas or nas + transcoding with a standalone i3/5 based mini client. I've tried the android boxes and a friend has a Pi and they're just not for me long run and finding them frsutrating.

After looking it seems a good i3 client + 4 bay nas would cost £400+ where this would only be £115 that can be retired as a nas and boast a lot of storage but also hopefully cope better as a client and transcoder than a cheap box like Pi.
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