Home media PC

[Gracin]

I'm kicking around the idea of building a PC to house all of my pictures, music, movies, and so on that I can access throughout my house via my home wireless. What I'm wanting to do is start ripping my large collection of dvds and blu-rays to said pc, so a large amount of storage is needed. Outside of being the pc that the movies get ripped to, it will serve no other purpose than storing them to be streamed throughout my house to my xbox one, blu-ray player, smart-tv, etc.

Budget: Not sure atm.
Resolution:
Games / Settings Desired
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc)? This pc is strictly for ripping and streaming.
Country? United States
Parts that can be reused? None
Do you need an OS? Yes
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)? No


Thanks.

[Vash The Stampede]

If you don't plan to directly watch movies on it, then maybe what you need is a NAS?

[Djinni]

Depending on how large this collection is / is likely to be in the future a dedicated nas like a Buffalo or a WD NAS should do.
If you want to get a little more creative and have room for more expansion / growth, you may want to look at building a cheap m-atx build with a tonne of storage and use something like FreeNAS or ubuntu with plex.

[Gracin]

You'll have to excuse me, I'm definitely not amazingly adept at tech, so some of that is over my head a bit. If I understand correctly, a NAS is basically an independant storage device that I move all my media to? If that's correct, I would first rip everything onto my current pc, and then move it to the NAS?

[Djinni]

Yes,
The NAS is then just presented as another drive you can access over the network.
Although most of them do now have a basic CPU and a nominal amount of RAM, some even have a graphics chip. They are no where near powerful enough to do much more than display web pages and enable basic media playback (for those that support them)

Most of them now will have a basic lightweight webserver for you to be able to manage various configuration options on it, but it essentially boils down to a dumb Network Attached Storage box allowing you to connect between 1 and 6 (typical) HDD's to your home network. The most common drive arrangement is a 2 bay/drive NAS, with more expensive variants ranging up to 6 bays. I haven't ever found one that supported 8 for a SOHO application so if you need to attach 7 or more drives to your network you are looking at enterprise grade NAS solutions or using multiple NAS boxes.

Long story short, a NAS allows you to have another Hard Drive attached directly to your network, you can then MAP it in windows explorer (windows) and use it as you would any other drive. Various other media consumers (xbox, playstation, set top box) may also be able to connect to the NAS and use that to get and store data to/from.

[Vash The Stampede]

A cheap external hard drive connected to the network is a NAS. This is a NAS, but don't expect to do anything much other than store data on your local network. Nothing like Plex and etc. This NAS loaded with FreeNas is just a PC that is focused on data storage but could do other things like Plex.

A HTPC works like a NAS but with the intention that you also plan to use the PC as well. NAS is something you throw in a closet somewhere and use it for storage.

[Kagthul]

There is a CRAPLOAD of misinformation about what a dedicated NAS is and what they are capable of. From what you're describing, you could easily do with a good, affordable 4-bay NAS and not have to waste money on a media PC (ill get to that later).

While Duke is *technically* correct that a NAS, at its base definition, is just a hard drive connected to the network - that's not what you're going to find when you buy or look for anything actually sold as a NAS. You COULD just buy a cheap HDD encolsure and plug it into your router and have "network attatched storage" but a real NAS box - one sold as an all-in-one NAS solution - will have QUITE a bit more in the feature department.

I just recently bought a new NAS for my house, after using my Media Center computer as a ghetto-NAS by attaching a lot of external storage to it and sharing said storage on the network... i really didnt think i would get a lot of use out of dedicated NAS and holy crap was i wrong.

This is the NAS i bought:

https://www.qnap.com/i/useng/product...II=156&event=2

It runs its own OS, has a mid-range ARM CPU, and can be configured to be a media server for several kinds of devices (Apple TV, iTunes, PLEX, all sorts of stuff); has a built in torrent client (so you can download things directly to the NAS), and supports 4 4TB drives (and if i just read the patch notes for the update i just got right, now supports 6TB drives) for massive amounts of storage.

It is fast - dual Gigabit Ethernet ports - and has USB 2 and USB 3 ports that allow you to more storage to the NAS with external drives (or just put a thumb drive in and get data directly off the NAS without having to route it through a computer).

It will also transcode video offline for viewing in various formats (including streaming).

The transcoding features lets you watch movies from your NAS (as long as its connected to the internet) from a device even across the country via streaming.

It also has a suite of Apps for both Android and iOS that let you access the files on the NAS from anywhere in the country, watch Video you've transcoded (streaming or will move them to the device), access your iTunes library, etc.

ANd that's the "cheap" option from QNAP - i got it for ~200$ at Micro Center.

The slightly higher end model, the TS-451, has a full up 2.4Ghz Celeron with up to 8GB of RAM, will transcode video ON THE FLY while you're streaming it, can play video directly to your TV at 1080p and 7.1 surround with an HDMI out, and can be expanded up to 16 bays with a daisy-chain encolsure if you really need it. It is a slight but more expensive though (frequently available in 390-425$ range)

Honestly, for what you want to do, it sounds like you could do with the TS-431 that i have. Yes, you will first have to rip video files on your main PC and move them to the NAS, but once there, it can re-encode them to whatever format you need, stream them to devices (including Google Chromecast), and is accessible from anywhere you have internet and a phone, tablet, or computer.

Now.. if you also want to actually be able to use this media computer as a REAL Media Center - then build a dedicated media center or get a used MacMini (which makes a great media center) - and add a lot of storage. But if all you want is to be able to access your files on whatever machine you happen to be on, and lots of capacity - a NAS will do you just fine.

[Deleted]

Unless you find a sweet deal/sale NAS ready boxes aint worth their money. You pay 250-300 upwards for empty boxes. Which means you have to buy the hdd's separately. With the same money you can build a small pc which much more cpu power and alot more ram. Just to give you an example, with wifi and ssd for o/s.

(you can make cheaper setup too, but this is what i would go for with itx and 6 drive slots). The hard drives cost half the budget and that is something you would have to buy with the NAS boxes anyway.

The only downside you could say is that you would have to setup the thing yourself instead of being plug and play which in most cases NAS needs some configuration as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($154.00 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($154.00 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $666.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-13 09:56 EDT-0400

[Vash The Stampede]

ANd that's the "cheap" option from QNAP - i got it for ~200$ at Micro Center.

The slightly higher end model, the TS-451, has a full up 2.4Ghz Celeron with up to 8GB of RAM, will transcode video ON THE FLY while you're streaming it, can play video directly to your TV at 1080p and 7.1 surround with an HDMI out, and can be expanded up to 16 bays with a daisy-chain encolsure if you really need it. It is a slight but more expensive though (frequently available in 390-425$ range)

That NAS is neat and clean but I wouldn't call it cheap. As Kostattoo already said it's a empty box. Given that your setup is plug and play ready to go, which for someone who's new to Linux and networking might want.

Also the specs of that QNAP device are slower than a Raspberry Pi 2 for which I'm very interested in getting myself. But the Raspberry Pi 2 is only $35. Add some external USB drives and probably going to need a power USB Hub and you've got a better setup. Throw in a Gigabit adapter in there as well for good measure, which are cheap.

Now.. if you also want to actually be able to use this media computer as a REAL Media Center - then build a dedicated media center or get a used MacMini (which makes a great media center) - and add a lot of storage. But if all you want is to be able to access your files on whatever machine you happen to be on, and lots of capacity - a NAS will do you just fine.

Really? MacMini for HTPC needs? Guess that depends on your needs, but I would definitely install Linux over Mac OS X.

[Kagthul]

Really? MacMini for HTPC needs? Guess that depends on your needs, but I would definitely install Linux over Mac OS X.

up to a full quad-core i7 (Sandy/Ivy Bridge), 16GB of RAM, 5 USB 3 ports, Thunderbolt, HDMI out, SPDIF In/OUT, 2 internal drive bays, Built in Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 4. And oh yeah.. its the size of about 4 CD cases stacked on each other... for the whole thing. No big power brick, nothin. You can literally strap it to the back of your TV with a command strip and not even see it.

Choice of OS is up to you, but OSX does just fine. VLC works better on OSX than it does on either Linux or Windows, IMO, and everything else you need is also available, including stuff like PLEX.

But if you hate OSX.. Linux will work fine on it. Its more tha hardware that makes it attractive because its absolutely tiny and can still be an extremely powerful machine. (and you can grab the COre i5 based Mini's for ~200-300 used easily, the "server" model with the i7 (which is what im using as my 'daily driver' and typing this on) goes for a little more but you really dont need it for a Media Center - hell the Mini i have currently working as my Media Center is an even older Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz because that model still had a DVD drive built in and it works great).

Now.. the brand brand new Mini's that Apple is currently selling - stay away from those. For whatever reason they gutted them and put in wimpy Core-M based CPUs on the most recent revision. But any of the older Mini's are great.

That NAS is neat and clean but I wouldn't call it cheap. As Kostattoo already said it's a empty box. Given that your setup is plug and play ready to go, which for someone who's new to Linux and networking might want.

The higher end model is not cheap, no, but its substantially more powerful than necssary for most people. The TX-431 that i have was plenty cheap. 200$ for the enclosure and i grabbed a 4TB drive for it on sale for 99$ (which Microcenter puts up frequently).

Also the specs of that QNAP device are slower than a Raspberry Pi 2 for which I'm very interested in getting myself. But the Raspberry Pi 2 is only $35.

A Raspberry Pi 2 that doesn't have a case, power supply, onboard memory space, all of which a consumer has to supply. While it may be great for a hobbyist like you, the point you're missing is that you're not the average or even above average consumer. The NAS is literally plug and play. Take it out of the box, plug in an Enternet cable and the power, plug in a drive, turn on, done.

Add some external USB drives and probably going to need a power USB Hub and you've got a better setup. Throw in a Gigabit adapter in there as well for good measure, which are cheap.

And you're still missing half the features - like offline encode, availability anywhere in the world, hot-swappability on the drives, the ability to intelligently resize the drives as a single partition, remove a drive, and have it put the data back, etc.

Cheaper, perhaps, and overcomable with enough know how, but again, you have to remember that people who are as knowledgeable about that kind of stuff are NOT the norm or even the above-the-norm. We're outliers. And there's a LOT to be said for "i took it out of the box and it worked without all this other stress".

- - - Updated - - -

Unless you find a sweet deal/sale NAS ready boxes aint worth their money. You pay 250-300 upwards for empty boxes. Which means you have to buy the hdd's separately. With the same money you can build a small pc which much more cpu power and alot more ram. Just to give you an example, with wifi and ssd for o/s.

(you can make cheaper setup too, but this is what i would go for with itx and 6 drive slots). The hard drives cost half the budget and that is something you would have to buy with the NAS boxes anyway.

The only downside you could say is that you would have to setup the thing yourself instead of being plug and play which in most cases NAS needs some configuration as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 3.2GHz Dual-Core Processor ($64.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair Force LS 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($154.00 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital Red 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive ($154.00 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 380W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $666.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-13 09:56 EDT-0400

So... literally twice what i paid for my TX-431 with a 4TB drive in it. And if i'd added a second 4TB drive, it would have been 400$.

Again, go back and read the post. I said quite clearly that if he was going to be making use of said box as an actual media center he should build a real media center. And a Pentium-G for a Media Center? Hope you dont want to do any ripping, encoding, transcoding, etc. That thing is a terrible hot mess for that kind of work, particularly given that a lot of media instruction sets were deliberately removed.

If you read the OP, though, he doesnt need that. Hes not going to be plugging it into his living room TV and using it as a media center - he was describing using it only as a basic NAS - at which point - get a basic NAS. It has more features geared towards what he's going to be doing.

Otherwise, you just overspent by hundreds on "more power" that is absolutely useless for the task at hand, uses far more power, and is 5x the size taking up space in the living room/wherever it is - and requires specialized software to do what the QNAP or a Synology box would do out of the box.

[Vash The Stampede]

up to a full quad-core i7 (Sandy/Ivy Bridge), 16GB of RAM, 5 USB 3 ports, Thunderbolt, HDMI out, SPDIF In/OUT, 2 internal drive bays, Built in Wireless-AC and Bluetooth 4. And oh yeah.. its the size of about 4 CD cases stacked on each other... for the whole thing. No big power brick, nothin. You can literally strap it to the back of your TV with a command strip and not even see it.

Size is kinda irrelevant cause you'll be needing to use external drives anyway. One internal 2.5" bay and a pciE SSD slot does not a storage make. I would get the Core i5 model for $500 but you'll need to do a lot to make it a NAS. As a HTPC it would be perfect but as a NAS it's a bit high priced and low in space.

Choice of OS is up to you, but OSX does just fine. VLC works better on OSX than it does on either Linux or Windows, IMO, and everything else you need is also available, including stuff like PLEX.

Linux for the FreeNAS distro. Though you can do this with any distro and Plex is available on Linux. I've used VLC on every OS and it works the same, as in terrible. I use Windows with MediaPortal instead of Plex. If only plex allowed me to stream ATSC TV or just cable TV from my capture card. Things that MediaPortal can do.

A Raspberry Pi 2 that doesn't have a case, power supply, onboard memory space, all of which a consumer has to supply. While it may be great for a hobbyist like you, the point you're missing is that you're not the average or even above average consumer. The NAS is literally plug and play. Take it out of the box, plug in an Enternet cable and the power, plug in a drive, turn on, done.

The one good reason to go with QNAP is that it requires less thinking.

And you're still missing half the features - like offline encode, availability anywhere in the world, hot-swappability on the drives, the ability to intelligently resize the drives as a single partition, remove a drive, and have it put the data back, etc.

You do realize that the Raspberry Pi 2 primarily uses Linux? Not sure what offline transcoding is but MythTV, MediaPortal, Plex do transcoding. My MediaPortal setup can take a very large 2GB video and send it to a device with limited bandwidth by reducing the video quality and therefore bandwidth needed. Hot-swappability is nothing new and resizing drives is something linux is king of. Good chances QNAP uses Linux for this reason.

So... literally twice what i paid for my TX-431 with a 4TB drive in it. And if i'd added a second 4TB drive, it would have been 400$.

It's also 1000x more powerful. The TS-451 is $450 and has a 2.41 GHz Intel Celeron D Processor 360 with 1GB of ram. That's pretty sad.

And a Pentium-G for a Media Center? Hope you dont want to do any ripping, encoding, transcoding, etc. That thing is a terrible hot mess for that kind of work, particularly given that a lot of media instruction sets were deliberately removed.

How is the Pentium-G worse than a Celeron? Especially a Celeron with 1GB of memory only?