# Media Server for 2015



## showcattleguy (Jun 30, 2011)

Hello 
I am a complete novice trying to build a movie server to store my ever growing collection of BDs. My wife and i have decided to go this direction now that we have little hands roaming the house (already destroyed one disc at 9mos). I have found a 4U rackmount case with 15 internal 3.5" spaces and i would like to use Unraid. Beyond that i am confused beyond belief as to which components I need to make this item functional. I need it to handle BD rips in MKV (i think) and be able to handle 3 simultaneous streams. Most content will be directed to the theater room over wired LAN the other two will be wireless. Any and all suggestions are welcome and if more information is needed (probably) i will try to find it out.


----------



## prerich (Mar 26, 2008)

showcattleguy said:


> Hello
> I am a complete novice trying to build a movie server to store my ever growing collection of BDs. My wife and i have decided to go this direction now that we have little hands roaming the house (already destroyed one disc at 9mos). I have found a 4U rackmount case with 15 internal 3.5" spaces and i would like to use Unraid. Beyond that i am confused beyond belief as to which components I need to make this item functional. I need it to handle BD rips in MKV (i think) and be able to handle 3 simultaneous streams. Most content will be directed to the theater room over wired LAN the other two will be wireless. Any and all suggestions are welcome and if more information is needed (probably) i will try to find it out.


The potential problem that I see - with lossless video - is bandwidth over wireless at home. Wireless ISP bandwidth (at least with mine) is very limited and you will encounter stuttering, drop outs, and freezing. I'd go with totally wired solutions unless you have larger than normal wireless bandwidth capabilities.


----------



## blazinup n tx (Jan 1, 2010)

If you're wired to the theater than it will stream nicely, the other two may lose some quality. If I were you, I would get the model# off the unit and do some research. Obviously you will need hard drives. What I think you have is a NAS. I doubt it has a bluray drive or processing capability. Look at it as a container, how do you put something in it or take it out is the question... It may require a computer... If you are wanting to build a computer go to PC parts picker and it will guide you or you can buy a complete desktop. If you're rack mounting than you can get a case that will allow you to put the computer in there as well as the unit that you already have.


----------



## showcattleguy (Jun 30, 2011)

I can hardwire everything without problem. I guess that is why drop ceilings were created. My original question was pertaining to what pieces of hardware someone would choose to make an Unraid server. I do not have anything and am starting from square zero. Thank you for the suggestion of pc picker i will have to try it out. I am getting very hung up on which components work well together and different socket types and number of sata ports etc. I just want to run 15 6tb drives with however many i need for pairity in Unraid to 3 different clients in a 4U rackmount configuration. I have talked to people at both Fry's and Tiger Direct and everybody looks at me as though i grew a third eye sooooooo...
Any Ideas?


----------



## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

showcattleguy said:


> I can hardwire everything without problem. I guess that is why drop ceilings were created. My original question was pertaining to what pieces of hardware someone would choose to make an Unraid server. I do not have anything and am starting from square zero. Thank you for the suggestion of pc picker i will have to try it out. I am getting very hung up on which components work well together and different socket types and number of sata ports etc. I just want to run 15 6tb drives with however many i need for pairity in Unraid to 3 different clients in a 4U rackmount configuration. I have talked to people at both Fry's and Tiger Direct and everybody looks at me as though i grew a third eye sooooooo...
> Any Ideas?


Have you looked at their Website? They have a compatibility listed I believe also in their Wiki as to what you need.

I made mine with a i7 processor so I can run Plex on the NAS (decided not to do that as it was too difficult to get working). Instead I just use the NAS to only store my media. I use i3NUCs for media servers in each location... All of which are hardwired with a Gigabit Switch. I have no problems at all streaming multiple streams at the same time. :T


----------



## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

IF your truly lost is all this, I would HIGHLY recommend a SYNOLOGY Network Storage unit...Among many other features they run PLEX movie/music software AND you can rip your BD collection to them as you go along ...
And they offer HUGE amounts of storage /ours has 12 TB.... This unit will save you the entire journey of buying parts and peicing together a HTPC .... If you are a novice I do not recommend HTPC's as they are very difficult to setup if you dont know exactly what your doing...

After your synology unit is up and running in literally less than 1 hr , you can start ripping movies to it with a PC and DVD FAB software over your network- then use a ROKU unit at each TV location to run PLEX and your there / and PLEX can be setup for remote viewers as well / your 3 clients .....:bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_6?url=search-alias%3Delectronics&field-keywords=synology&sprefix=synolo%2Caps%2C444


----------

