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Thanks, that was really helpful. I must have missed that page altogether. I was simply asking for opinions from others who have had actual experience with it, so that they can provide personal insight on it, rather than me just reading what the site says about it's own product. That way I can make a better decision for myself about which method to go with.
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Sorry if I came across a little snarky, I just want you to know what the options so you can weigh opinions.
I really think the way to go right now, if you have a dedicated machine for a server, is with Emby server. I prefer to run Ubuntu server (or any Linux server) but it also works well on a NAS (like QNAP or Synology). The nice thing about Emby if your clients are RPis is that the box Emby is on will do the heavy lifting where it comes to managing the database. If you host a mySQL database for Kodi on a server, each client will be doing the work of maintaining that database.
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nickr
Retired Team-Kodi Member
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All you need is a machine that serves files over smb or nfs. Any old desktop will do. Load it up with hard drives, install ubuntu, profit.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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After checking things out, and knowing my own technical limitations, I'm really drawn toward Emby. It has a beautiful UI (makes it easier for my wife to find things as she's not technically inclined at all), I saw you can see what devices are currently using the services (makes it nice to know what's going on from one spot), takes a lot of the work off of the Pi, and seems really easy to set up. Once I make sure I have a reliable machine I'm going to be trying it out, at least for a start.
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You could build your own host, as it's been said, with an old desktop and FreeNAS, unRAID or OMV.
Or you can just do it the easy way and buy a NAS. Plug some drives in it and go. No OS installation to mess around with, no linux commands to learn, extremely reliable, compact and power efficient.
If you're on a budget, look around on Kijiji. Even an older NAS will be fine for basic serving of files to a Kodi frontend.
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nickr
Retired Team-Kodi Member
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Yeah true, until you want it to do something else that involves software your nas os doesn't support, horses for courses.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
