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media server for mac?

S

spick

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 17, 2007
51
0
I have a little dilemma about a project I'm thinking about and seek advice from those that has a media server for their macs.

For my current setup, I got a mac mini with 3 1GB usb drives connected to the mini, but the cluster of wires and stack of different external drives is not a beauty to look at. So comes my conclusion of getting a media server, but I have no idea how its going to work. I'm thinking of getting one of those HP media server or building my own based off Ubuntu or XP.

So for those who have a media server, I kind want to know how the compatibility work between mac and other brand servers. How does streaming works because I plan on using Boxee, IE the user interface?
 
spick said:
I have a little dilemma about a project I'm thinking about and seek advice from those that has a media server for their macs.

For my current setup, I got a mac mini with 3 1GB usb drives connected to the mini, but the cluster of wires and stack of different external drives is not a beauty to look at. So comes my conclusion of getting a media server, but I have no idea how its going to work. I'm thinking of getting one of those HP media server or building my own based off Ubuntu or XP.

So for those who have a media server, I kind want to know how the compatibility work between mac and other brand servers. How does streaming works because I plan on using Boxee, IE the user interface?
Click to expand...

Couldn't you just get a cheap mini (that would be hooked up to your current HDs) to use as the media server with a large iTunes Library that you stream to the other computers in front row?

Edit: And by cheap I mean one of those $399 refurbished GMA 950 minis
 
Yeah the server will most likely have XP or Windows Server OS. You install the drives inside it, share them and then dump all your media in there (movies, music, photos, etc).

Then just stream it using Boxee, or XBMC.

I built myself a mini server that I use for Bitorrents and storage.
 
Why not just connect a nice external hard drive to the mini and use that? 3 1GB seems a little... redneck, though I think that's the first time I refered to that when talking about electronics :p
 
That's the thing, if I use the mini as the server then I'll have a bunch of external drives connected to the mini and it's a big mess. The back of my TV stand is like a jungle and I want to clean it up as much as possible. Since large external drives cost the same as getting a media server plus with server I can add more drives if needed so no point in getting a large external drive.
 
HP MediaSmart 485

I have to say I love it. I have three PC's and three Macs (and two appletvs) at home and everything works great. My wife does not need to worry about backups on any of the machines and I stream everything from the HP server to my appletvs'. The new update allows me to access my entire movie library and pictures and music from my iphone. It is awesome.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859105420

Wait for it to go on sale again and drop some WD green HD's in there and you are set.

I have 5TB's in mine and it works great.
 
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