Small Windows 7 Movie Server

Hello DanielSiegel;

What will be the clients on the network? Usually they would be the machines handling the HD content for the viewer. Any type of client that can't do that for itself?
Any wireless streaming?

A movie server that will not encode or decode actual HD video content can use very lightweight hardware. Even ION2 GPU is not required.

Well, the movie servers/players are effectively the clients. They access content off the Web or from local NAS drives (generally GB Ethernet, possibly 100Mb in some cases), and play it on various TVs throughout my house (via video and audio switchers in a central location with the servers/players). I currently have larger PCs playing that role, but would like to begin using smaller, cheaper ones (preferably 2RU or less).

I have read some reviews that indicated choppy playback on various mini PCs (eg, streaming from Netflix, Hulu, Blu-Rays, etc), and dont know anymore where the bottlenecks really are (CPU, Graphics chip, memory, network, etc).

I'm having trouble with understanding this. You want this 'server' to also be a client?
What happens when two people want to watch a movie on different TVs?

My use of the term "server" was misleading. I actually have multiple (2 or 3 generally) clients/players (just PCs accessing content off the Web or local NAS drives). I locate them centrally to avoid having decoders and amps in every room. I do use another PC as a real server to control all of the equipment (with SW control from laptops, iPhones, iPads, etc over the network).

So, can anyone recommend a mini-PC (ie, height under 3.5") powerful enough to be a "movie player" for 1080p content off a NAS drive?