I was wondering if you guys can help me out. I want to set up a storage server in my HOME network with my 750GB drives which I will RAID. I plan to store HD videos I edit and create on this network server. I want to be able to stream my HD videos to my PS3 and my PC without playback problems such as lag.

Do you guys know what the minimum hardware requirements for this server I plan to build if its even possible? Is there any specific O/S that I should use since I am just storing and streaming videos? I have read about using UBUNTU and F.. (forgot the name) but I have no experience with linux O/S, can windows storage server 200x be an alternative and work? I have also seen something called UNRAID if that can be an alternative. The hardware is my main priority though.

I'd really appreciate it if you guys can help me out. Thx.

MM

Ubuntu and Fedora are the 2 Linux OS's you are thinking about. Those are both user friendly OS's, as far as Linux goes. If you are wanting to you it as a media server you should consider MythBuntu or Mythdora, which is just the 2 mentioned OS's with MythTV pre-installed and -configured. As far as specs go, I've seen people run P3's with no issues. To eliminate lag for streaming, you'll want to use Gigabit LAN speeds. Although, if you want to do video editing, etc., then you might want to use slightly better hardware.

I am actually not planning to do editing over the server. I am just planning to put finished products on that server. I'll take a look at the MythBuntu and Mythodora but it seems to me they seem like HTPC O/S or am I wrong.

From what I got you are saying a P3 and Gigabit Ethernet I should be able to have HD playback stream smoothly. Do you have any idea how much those gigabit switches cost compared to the megabit switches?

Well, not a Pentium3 per se, but I just meant that I've seen that done, so anything P4 or newer will work great! Gigabit switch: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6833124025 Megabit Switch: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6833156183 . I'm positive that you can find a cheaper Gigabit switch if you look (that was the first one on the list that I linked). If you are streaming HD videos though, it will be worth the extra ~$30. As for the CPU, even just a very cheap Core2Duo such as http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115052 or even a cheaper model would work wondrfully. MythBuntu and MythDora are just Ubuntu/Fedora (respectively) with MythTV pre-installed and -configured. MythTV is kinda of like, TiVo I guess, check it out here: http://www.mythtv.org/ www.mythbuntu.org/ www.mythdora.com/

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for the help. I am gonna check out the gigabit switches since they seem to give me the best solution. I may do some testing with the current spare hardware I have and see if I have any problems otherwise I may have to upgrade the processor and others as you mentioned.

I am looking more into the MythTV and linux stuff. As far as MythTV linux O/S are concerned are they gonna work well with connecting with XP, Vista, and my PS3?

Really appreciate the help again.

Usually the only issues with communicating with different OS's are with the other OS's not Linux . I am personally planning on having mine hooked up with my PC (Vista) and PS3.

hehe =p. Thanks for all the info. Gonna be playing with the O/S's n stuff. Looks like we are doing the same thing w/ connecting w/ Vista and PS3 =p.

Sweet! Keep us updated =). I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

I just tried installing the Linux O/S's but for some reason I cannot install them for some reason. I guess I am just so conformed with windows lol. I put XP SP3 and w/ a P4@1.8GHz HT (motherboard limiting this need to change) and IDE drives in place just for testing. My PS3 streams 1080p smoothly but my Vista doesn't. That may be because of my filters on my videos. I only tried sample sizes so I will try large size files and see if it still streams nicely. The server doesn't even have a gigabit NIC. If I get that I dont' think I will have any problems since I found out I have a gigabit switch =p. Now all I have to see afterwards is to re-prep and re-do the system for futures uses.

Thanks for the all the help.

[quotemsg=1832676,9,339568]The server doesn't even have a gigabit NIC. If I get that I dont' think I will have any problems since I found out I have a gigabit switch =p.[quotemsg]

Just because you are capable of running Gigabit, doesn't mean you are. If your router > switch > pc speeds are as follows 1000mb/s>1000mb/s>100mb/s, then you can only run 100mb/s. Get a cheap Gigabit NIC, they're about $15-$30.