[aptalca]

I am just wondering if there would be any interest in an "optional" XBMC backend server designed to run on a NAS/unraid box.

Meedio had a server application that ran in the backround, had a very basic gui, and it handled all updates to the database such as library, weather, etc.

What this supposed server app could do and what advantages it could have:

1) Very lightweight server application. Uses little resources (much less than xbmc) and can be run as a service on NAS/unraid. Basic gui.

2) Handle library updates

- replace use of a mysql server - when a media management software is used to create nfo's and download covers, etc. it can send a command to the server application. (I know it currently happens in xbmc, but it only works when xbmc is running. The problem is that I turn off my xbmc boxes when not in use, the server app would be always on since it would be running on NAS)

- xbmc can be put in client mode through settings and be pointed to the server. Then every time xbmc is started it could download the library updates/covers from the server app, that way everything would remain local to minimize lag

3) Transcoding media serving support

-Could be incorporated with mobile applications such as the android remote. It would be pretty awesome if the android remote asked you when you clicked on a movie if you wanted to play it on xbmc or on the mobile device. (Could be like Airplay)

-There could also be an api, so that other applications such as XBMC Web Control could play videos in the browser

(When I used to use an iPhone, I had this app called AirVideo. It had a lightweight server application that did the library population and transcoding, it worked really well.)

4) Handle Weather/RSS updates

-It could locally cache weather and RSS updates at preset intervals such as every 30 minutes during the day and every 2 hours at night. (I use weather plus and a lot of times when I scroll to weather, it shows a blank page while it is scraping and then the values show up 5 seconds later. If they were cached locally on the server, the lag would only be a split second)

5) The server could keep track of which xbmc boxes are currently on and connected so a seamless AirPlay-like feature could be implemented in the remote applications


I am sure there could be many other uses for the server as well, that's all I could think of.

Let me know what you think and if you have any other ideas about other functionality, chip in.

Thanks