Home media server

[will waters]

Hi

I am intending on making or buying a home media server, i would like a mac-mini however i don't think it can afford one, i was considering making one and running linux on it as a friend is (he is very PC though and i don't think he uses iTunes) has anyone got any advice?

Thanks Will

 

[bt22]

Will,

I recently built my own quad core i7 Window's PC to replace another aging Window's PC. I decided to convert the old PC into an iTunes server for my Apple TV and other "I" devices. Both of my Window's computers are running Window's 7 and I just remote into my iTunes Server using either a Window's computer or my Macbook Pro, Microsoft offers a free Remote download.. The server is headless with no keyboard. To be an iTunes server does not require a very powerful machine at all, I think my old computer has a Pentium D processor. I really like having my iTunes library always available. I wanted to use the Mac Mini, but couldn't justify the $600-$700 price tag. I would prefer to use some type of Apple device, but this solution is working perfectly for me so far. Once this computer dies I may choose to go the Apple route.

 

[njsa04playa]

Will,

I recently built my own quad core i7 Window's PC to replace another aging Window's PC. I decided to convert the old PC into an iTunes server for my Apple TV and other "I" devices. Both of my Window's computers are running Window's 7 and I just remote into my iTunes Server using either a Window's computer or my Macbook Pro, Microsoft offers a free Remote download.. The server is headless with no keyboard. To be an iTunes server does not require a very powerful machine at all, I think my old computer has a Pentium D processor. I really like having my iTunes library always available. I wanted to use the Mac Mini, but couldn't justify the $600-$700 price tag. I would prefer to use some type of Apple device, but this solution is working perfectly for me so far. Once this computer dies I may choose to go the Apple route.

how did u set this up?

 

[treestar]

Hi

I am intending on making or buying a home media server, i would like a mac-mini however i don't think it can afford one, i was considering making one and running linux on it as a friend is (he is very PC though and i don't think he uses iTunes) has anyone got any advice?

Thanks Will

You could afford a used mac mini.

 

[velocityg4]

I would use an OS like FreeNAS to run your server. Then you can build your own NAS. For an OS you could also Openfiler or even Ubuntu if you also wanted it to be a desktop.

For parts I would get an Intel Atom board for the low power usage. Preferably with four SATA ports and RAID 5. If you need a lot of storage say if you are going to make it a movie server as well then I you could load it up with drives and boot it off a USB thumb drive. To further help power efficiency I would get a 80+ certified PSU or better.

If you don't need so much storage you could do RAID 1 on two laptop hard drives to further boost power efficiency. In any case I would keep the OS on a thumb drive just so it doesn't eat up the data drives performance.

If you really want to go hard core you could add hot swap bays for when a drive fails.

Here is a beast of an Atom board, Jetway JNF99FL-525-LF. Not sure if their are drivers for FreeNAS, Openfiler or Ubuntu. This FSP PSU is an 80+ certified ITX PSU.