Mac Mini media server

abunakhuda · May 13, 2013

Hi

Wondering if anyone can help me I work at a college and I have been told they want to get rid of all the DVD players and Video players, and to replace them we are to going use a Mac mini as media server.

Now the problem I got I want certain users to access the media, and the users are on a network. We have both MACs and PC with windows 7.

Has anyone got this working ?

Thank you in advance

opinio · May 13, 2013

abunakhuda said:
Hi

Wondering if anyone can help me I work at a college and I have been told they want to get rid of all the DVD players and Video players, and to replace them we are to going use a Mac mini as media server.

Now the problem I got I want certain users to access the media, and the users are on a network. We have both MACs and PC with windows 7.

Has anyone got this working ?

Thank you in advance

I am not sure what you mean by 'access the media'.

I can access my Macs through my network through windows explorer on a PC so I have access to the files on the mac. Having said that i am not on windows server or a domain (assuming a college would be). Also iTunes in windows can share the iTunes on my mac. But for what you want you seriously need to do some beta testing first to confirm the setup will suit your 'access' requirements.

I think the main thing you need to sort out is the network sharing protocols and access rights. From my days with OSX Server this can be done on the Server App but I am not up on the current version of Mountain Lion Server to know if and how this works.

You might get more hits on your query if you post in a network or server or windows forum room.

You should also set an example of how and what you want to access. I.e are you accessing through a software app or simply accessing raw files through windows explorer or finder.

abunakhuda · May 14, 2013

Thanks for the information, urm yeah we do use windows servers for the users and i want the users to access the raw data. raw data meaning .avi or .mp4 files.

Dadioh · May 14, 2013

abunakhuda said:
Thanks for the information, urm yeah we do use windows servers for the users and i want the users to access the raw data. raw data meaning .avi or .mp4 files.

Check out Plex. You run Plex Media Server on the Mini and then the PC's, Macs, iPad, iPhones just run the Plex media player and they have access to everything. Plex transcodes the video on the fly to the proper size for your viewing device.

Also Plex will scrub your files and find matches automatically and add Metadata for all your content. Much nicer than looking at a list of files. You can sort by genre, actors, ratings, etc....

I run a 2011 i5 Mini as my Plex server and multiple people can stream at the same time. Love it.

abunakhuda · May 15, 2013

Dadioh said:
Check out Plex. You run Plex Media Server on the Mini and then the PC's, Macs, iPad, iPhones just run the Plex media player and they have access to everything. Plex transcodes the video on the fly to the proper size for your viewing device.

Also Plex will scrub your files and find matches automatically and add Metadata for all your content. Much nicer than looking at a list of files. You can sort by genre, actors, ratings, etc....

I run a 2011 i5 Mini as my Plex server and multiple people can stream at the same time. Love it.

cheers for the information

opinio · May 15, 2013

Plex is good for what you said (Macs PC etc) but I am not sure if it will work in a windows server environment where control of file access is established by Windows Server, workstation logins etc.

Plex and XMBC have their own 'connection system' that runs independently of the authorities run in the server environment. The OP needs access control of the media files.

I am not saying it won't work, but Plex etc is designed more for the home multimedia setup.

Even if you could put a restriction on accessing a media file in plex, it will not be tied in the the access controls in windows server.

abunakhuda · May 16, 2013

opinio said:
Plex is good for what you said (Macs PC etc) but I am not sure if it will work in a windows server environment where control of file access is established by Windows Server, workstation logins etc.

Plex and XMBC have their own 'connection system' that runs independently of the authorities run in the server environment. The OP needs access control of the media files.

I am not saying it won't work, but Plex etc is designed more for the home multimedia setup.

Even if you could put a restriction on accessing a media file in plex, it will not be tied in the the access controls in windows server.

Yeah I will have try it out before doing anything. Thanks

old-wiz · May 16, 2013

so they want to get rid of all the dvd players and replace them with a mini media server? And how are people going to legally get their movies onto the media server? A college should know better than to open themselves to lawsuits.

I personally think you should be allowed to rip your own DVDs for your own use, but this sounds like the college is getting involved.

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