2015-08-25, 03:56
Similar to many of the other folks on this forum I work in IT. As such I know my way around a computer and have built quite a few. I’ve moved from physical disc media to digital lossless MKV Rips only for my movies, and FLAC for all my audio CD's.
Currently I use the WD Live TV + a external Seagate 3 TB USB drive. This works well for my single room, however I am running out of space on the current hard drive. Additionally if I want to stream these movies to another location I do not have that ability.
I’ve toyed around with the idea of a media server/HTPC for quite some time. I’m familiar with JRiver (from reading all the reviews out there), XBMC (now Kodi), and some of the other programs and devices.
I’ve decided to copy a buddy of mines build for a media server in some regards and differ in others. I am looking for comments on implementation but I think I have my self squared away. Here is my plan which has multiple stages.
Stage 1: Build HTPC
My goal with this computer is to 2 fold. I will put it in my main HT setup. That is where it will be utilized the most and since my house isnt wired for Cat 5e (see stage 2) it keeps me from dealing with buffering and wireless issues.
Hardware:
For parts, I plan to use a Micro ATX motherboard with 6 SATA 6 gigabyte per second connectors. A single SSD (leaning toward a Samsung 840) ~120 - 240 gig will be used for the OS, a set of 4 TB harddrives for my media to start with, and a internal 5.25 blu-ray player. I plan on using a 450 - 500 watt powersupply. All of this will be housed in a HTPC case.
I am going with a ASRock Micro ATX motherboard so I can later expand my storage using a PCI to SATA adapter. ASRock is a brand I'm familiar with as I have run their boards in the past as well as Asus. It was one of the cheaper boards out there by a bit of a margin, but I know their build quality is top notch. I looked at the board my buddy was running, but it didnt offer much other than a smaller form factor and dual gigabit connections. For the 40 dollar price difference I opted to go with a bigger board with more connectors. I am NOT planning on using RAID at the present time. It creates too many potential problems and headaches for me personally. Additionally the case can handle up to a ATX motherboard & 11 Hard drives so not using RAID allows me to utilize more storage in the unit, and the motherboard wont be cramped either.
I am copying my buddy in that I am likely buying his old Intel G3220 processor to start with. I dont see the need for something much faster initially as it can play 1080p rips with lossless audio well enough, and I dont forsee myself streaming to 2 locations at the same time often initially. If that becomes a issue, I can always upgrade the CPU as prices will continue to drop on the CPUs for this socket. There wont be any gaming on this machine so I plan to use its onboard graphics as well.
I am using 2 4 TB HGST drives for their reliability. It was either those drives or WD Red, and I am trusting my buddy and the BlackBlaze data on HGST drives to have my back. Each drive will be devoted to movies, one for kid movies, one for non kid movies.
I will be going with 8 gigs of memory to start with and maybe move to 16 gigs later on just to fill out the board. Because I'm going to be re-using a Sycthe Big Shrunken heatsink I will be going with low profile memory, likely Crucial Ballistic Sport memory as its less than 38mm tall which is IIRC what the clearance is for the heatsink...
The reason for the internal blu-ray drive is simple. I dont plan to rip EVERYTHING, and the ability to redbox something or get it from netflix dvd and just watch it is nice. Additionally because its behind a locked door, my 2 year old daughter Skye cant get into it without unlocking it. I plan to use my office computer upstairs to rip the movies I want to keep and transfer them down to the HTPC as they complete overnight. My office computer has more horsepower and I will also be keeping backups of the movies on external drives as a precaution.
I'm likely using a 450 - 500 watt powersupply from Corsair. I am probably going with a Modular version to help clean up the cables inside to eliminate the ones I dont need initially as its a small case to work in. I dont anticipate gaming, so I dont anticipate needing more wattage than that as all I am driving is the HDD's, a couple fans and the optical drive. I am open to thoughts on this if I am going to come up short.....
The case will be a Silverstone GD07b case because I wanted something that had room for a TON of storage. I either found cases that were awkwardly shaped (Fractal Design Node 304), or did not contain enough space for the hard drives I needed (Fractal Design Node 605, Silverstone Grandia GD04, GD05, etc). It seems that most people do what I would love to which is house their data/server in a alternate location (mostly in a ATX tower case) and use a media player to simply serve that data up. This is a possibility for me long term once I wire my house with Cat5e. I have my current office computer in its brother case the GD-08b which has 2 external 5.25 drive bays and front USB ports, and while that case would work, I want the locked door.
I also plan to re-use some Noctua 120mm fans I currently have. They will be undervolted to run at around 1000 RPM max and controlled via the motherboard software using some fan cable splitters so I can run multiple fans off the motherboard headers.
Software:
I will be running Windows 7 as the OS. For Media I will be utilizing Kodi. Kodi does offer a OpenELEC version that can run AS the OS, however it requires more work to get it to work with devices and I'm not sure if it will run PLEX or Logitech Media Server.
PLEX server on this machine will serve up compressed movies to my Roku in the bedroom where quality is secondary to ease of use. I forsee expanded need for a chromebox in the future in this location (so I can get 1080p), but presently simply having access to the digital rips will be enough since I dont currently. Additionally I just like that I can use this as a full on computer if needed in a pinch. I wont be loading much software other than these programs. Kodi will be loaded into the startup menu and should basically be what you see everytime you restart the computer with windows requiring extra work to get to.
Utilizing the latest release of XBMC/Kodi (Isengard) I will set up 2 profiles, one for Skye & Scarlett (who arrives in November), one for us parents. Each profile can have access to the same OR DIFFERENT data. So the kids will only be able to see the movies on the kid drives and the adults can watch movies from all drives. I have configured this on my office PC to verify it works. Additionally my Harmony One remote can control everything when I add a Windows Media Center remote and IR USB receiver. There is also a remote that lets you control playback via a iOS app which works quite well.
Playing around with the way Kodi looks, I've got it to show all the movies in tiles similar to the WD Live, but it is much more smooth when playing back, fast forwards better and overall has a cleaner look than my WD Live TV. There is a LOT more to this software that I will need to dive in a learn, but I am happy with what I can see right now after a couple hours playing around
You can configure Kodi to see and aggregate different media sources into one library as well, so should either of us fill up our 4 TB drive, I simply add another one and then add it as a source for the HTPC for whatever profile and away we go. Any movie added to that drive will show up in the corresponding library. At this junction I am not sure if I will move my ENTIRE media library to the HTPC and run the Squeezebox server off of it, or just have a copy of my music for access downstairs on the HTPC, or even mess with it at all.
For streaming with PLEX server I dont imagine multiple hard drives will create problems at my secondary viewing location for the Roku, but I will be consulting with my buddy on this and doing some reading.
Stage 2:
Wire the house with Cat 5e this fall when its cooler outside. I currently have 2 free Ethernet ports on my Uverse router. I plan to run one cable up through the attic and drop it into my office closet (on the top level as well) to a 8 port gigabit switch. This switch will then serve up wired access to each of the childrens bedrooms for their squeezebox radio's, or other devices in the future, as well as my office x 2 and leave expansion for more devices or even some security cameras in the future. I may have to upgrade to a larger switch at some point but thats years off.
The second empty port from my router will run up into the attic, through a hole in my sofit, outside the house (wrapped in conduit) around the side and then into my HT setup where I already have a switch in use.
This will then wire my entire house for Cat 5e and give me more than enough space to do what I want.
Here is a idea of what I plan using a alternate photo. Where it says HTPC in my office, thats just my normal office computer. The WD Live TV connection would be replaced with this HTPC.
Stage 3:
Once I have the house wired at this point I could pull the HTPC up into the office and in the HT run a chromebox or other piece of hardware with with Kodi on it to access all my movies. With a hardwired Cat 5e connection it shouldn’t be a problem to pull down that data. Then I will also have access to all my moves it in my loft (and all the bedrooms) which will eventually hold a large TV and a couch/viewing area.
I'd love thoughts since you guys are kinda the KODI experts. I cant afford to do the server + a chromebox (or I would do that from the start) hence why I'm going with the HTPC. I also would still want a horizontal case to store in my stereo rack when/if I move it eventually up to my loft area.
Thanks in advance!
Currently I use the WD Live TV + a external Seagate 3 TB USB drive. This works well for my single room, however I am running out of space on the current hard drive. Additionally if I want to stream these movies to another location I do not have that ability.
I’ve toyed around with the idea of a media server/HTPC for quite some time. I’m familiar with JRiver (from reading all the reviews out there), XBMC (now Kodi), and some of the other programs and devices.
I’ve decided to copy a buddy of mines build for a media server in some regards and differ in others. I am looking for comments on implementation but I think I have my self squared away. Here is my plan which has multiple stages.
Stage 1: Build HTPC
My goal with this computer is to 2 fold. I will put it in my main HT setup. That is where it will be utilized the most and since my house isnt wired for Cat 5e (see stage 2) it keeps me from dealing with buffering and wireless issues.
Hardware:
For parts, I plan to use a Micro ATX motherboard with 6 SATA 6 gigabyte per second connectors. A single SSD (leaning toward a Samsung 840) ~120 - 240 gig will be used for the OS, a set of 4 TB harddrives for my media to start with, and a internal 5.25 blu-ray player. I plan on using a 450 - 500 watt powersupply. All of this will be housed in a HTPC case.
I am going with a ASRock Micro ATX motherboard so I can later expand my storage using a PCI to SATA adapter. ASRock is a brand I'm familiar with as I have run their boards in the past as well as Asus. It was one of the cheaper boards out there by a bit of a margin, but I know their build quality is top notch. I looked at the board my buddy was running, but it didnt offer much other than a smaller form factor and dual gigabit connections. For the 40 dollar price difference I opted to go with a bigger board with more connectors. I am NOT planning on using RAID at the present time. It creates too many potential problems and headaches for me personally. Additionally the case can handle up to a ATX motherboard & 11 Hard drives so not using RAID allows me to utilize more storage in the unit, and the motherboard wont be cramped either.
I am copying my buddy in that I am likely buying his old Intel G3220 processor to start with. I dont see the need for something much faster initially as it can play 1080p rips with lossless audio well enough, and I dont forsee myself streaming to 2 locations at the same time often initially. If that becomes a issue, I can always upgrade the CPU as prices will continue to drop on the CPUs for this socket. There wont be any gaming on this machine so I plan to use its onboard graphics as well.
I am using 2 4 TB HGST drives for their reliability. It was either those drives or WD Red, and I am trusting my buddy and the BlackBlaze data on HGST drives to have my back. Each drive will be devoted to movies, one for kid movies, one for non kid movies.
I will be going with 8 gigs of memory to start with and maybe move to 16 gigs later on just to fill out the board. Because I'm going to be re-using a Sycthe Big Shrunken heatsink I will be going with low profile memory, likely Crucial Ballistic Sport memory as its less than 38mm tall which is IIRC what the clearance is for the heatsink...
The reason for the internal blu-ray drive is simple. I dont plan to rip EVERYTHING, and the ability to redbox something or get it from netflix dvd and just watch it is nice. Additionally because its behind a locked door, my 2 year old daughter Skye cant get into it without unlocking it. I plan to use my office computer upstairs to rip the movies I want to keep and transfer them down to the HTPC as they complete overnight. My office computer has more horsepower and I will also be keeping backups of the movies on external drives as a precaution.
I'm likely using a 450 - 500 watt powersupply from Corsair. I am probably going with a Modular version to help clean up the cables inside to eliminate the ones I dont need initially as its a small case to work in. I dont anticipate gaming, so I dont anticipate needing more wattage than that as all I am driving is the HDD's, a couple fans and the optical drive. I am open to thoughts on this if I am going to come up short.....
The case will be a Silverstone GD07b case because I wanted something that had room for a TON of storage. I either found cases that were awkwardly shaped (Fractal Design Node 304), or did not contain enough space for the hard drives I needed (Fractal Design Node 605, Silverstone Grandia GD04, GD05, etc). It seems that most people do what I would love to which is house their data/server in a alternate location (mostly in a ATX tower case) and use a media player to simply serve that data up. This is a possibility for me long term once I wire my house with Cat5e. I have my current office computer in its brother case the GD-08b which has 2 external 5.25 drive bays and front USB ports, and while that case would work, I want the locked door.
I also plan to re-use some Noctua 120mm fans I currently have. They will be undervolted to run at around 1000 RPM max and controlled via the motherboard software using some fan cable splitters so I can run multiple fans off the motherboard headers.
Software:
I will be running Windows 7 as the OS. For Media I will be utilizing Kodi. Kodi does offer a OpenELEC version that can run AS the OS, however it requires more work to get it to work with devices and I'm not sure if it will run PLEX or Logitech Media Server.
PLEX server on this machine will serve up compressed movies to my Roku in the bedroom where quality is secondary to ease of use. I forsee expanded need for a chromebox in the future in this location (so I can get 1080p), but presently simply having access to the digital rips will be enough since I dont currently. Additionally I just like that I can use this as a full on computer if needed in a pinch. I wont be loading much software other than these programs. Kodi will be loaded into the startup menu and should basically be what you see everytime you restart the computer with windows requiring extra work to get to.
Utilizing the latest release of XBMC/Kodi (Isengard) I will set up 2 profiles, one for Skye & Scarlett (who arrives in November), one for us parents. Each profile can have access to the same OR DIFFERENT data. So the kids will only be able to see the movies on the kid drives and the adults can watch movies from all drives. I have configured this on my office PC to verify it works. Additionally my Harmony One remote can control everything when I add a Windows Media Center remote and IR USB receiver. There is also a remote that lets you control playback via a iOS app which works quite well.
Playing around with the way Kodi looks, I've got it to show all the movies in tiles similar to the WD Live, but it is much more smooth when playing back, fast forwards better and overall has a cleaner look than my WD Live TV. There is a LOT more to this software that I will need to dive in a learn, but I am happy with what I can see right now after a couple hours playing around
You can configure Kodi to see and aggregate different media sources into one library as well, so should either of us fill up our 4 TB drive, I simply add another one and then add it as a source for the HTPC for whatever profile and away we go. Any movie added to that drive will show up in the corresponding library. At this junction I am not sure if I will move my ENTIRE media library to the HTPC and run the Squeezebox server off of it, or just have a copy of my music for access downstairs on the HTPC, or even mess with it at all.
For streaming with PLEX server I dont imagine multiple hard drives will create problems at my secondary viewing location for the Roku, but I will be consulting with my buddy on this and doing some reading.
Stage 2:
Wire the house with Cat 5e this fall when its cooler outside. I currently have 2 free Ethernet ports on my Uverse router. I plan to run one cable up through the attic and drop it into my office closet (on the top level as well) to a 8 port gigabit switch. This switch will then serve up wired access to each of the childrens bedrooms for their squeezebox radio's, or other devices in the future, as well as my office x 2 and leave expansion for more devices or even some security cameras in the future. I may have to upgrade to a larger switch at some point but thats years off.
The second empty port from my router will run up into the attic, through a hole in my sofit, outside the house (wrapped in conduit) around the side and then into my HT setup where I already have a switch in use.
This will then wire my entire house for Cat 5e and give me more than enough space to do what I want.
Here is a idea of what I plan using a alternate photo. Where it says HTPC in my office, thats just my normal office computer. The WD Live TV connection would be replaced with this HTPC.
Stage 3:
Once I have the house wired at this point I could pull the HTPC up into the office and in the HT run a chromebox or other piece of hardware with with Kodi on it to access all my movies. With a hardwired Cat 5e connection it shouldn’t be a problem to pull down that data. Then I will also have access to all my moves it in my loft (and all the bedrooms) which will eventually hold a large TV and a couch/viewing area.
I'd love thoughts since you guys are kinda the KODI experts. I cant afford to do the server + a chromebox (or I would do that from the start) hence why I'm going with the HTPC. I also would still want a horizontal case to store in my stereo rack when/if I move it eventually up to my loft area.
Thanks in advance!
