How mush can be "outsourced" to my network? (1 Viewer)

[mr viggo]

Hello everyone,

I'm planning on getting myself a file/media server and stream all the media to my HTPC. I know that this can be done with mp3s and movie files but I'm just curious of how mush I can put in the server.

-Can I put the DVD-rom in the server and stream films from a DVD disc?
-Possible to have a TV-card in there to, stream that as well?

 

[stoked]

Everything can be streamed.

 

[mikildemion]

You can setup your DVD drive as a share on your file server. It will act just like any other shared directory/drive. You may see some studdering though, since optical drives are slower reading than hard drives. You will need a wired network for the best play back, so I wouldn't suggest wireless connections.

For your TV, TV Server 3 can be used as a server and stream out live TV or recorded TV to clients.

But all in all, what your wanting can be done, your network and CPU speed (on server) will be your greatest limitations to over come.

 

[moab]

I have a central server sharing DVDs in ISO and file format, and the TV signal.
I have 2 clients currently: 1 is upstairs on the server PC + 1 (client only) downstairs in living room.
I have not tried sharing a DVD but I am sure that would work as the ISO works fine.
Works ok for the techy but not ready for the wife yet.

 

[BobMysterios]

FWIW:

I ran an 802.11g network connection from second floor to basement of an old sturdy house. I got no more than 50% signal quality and aside from the router having the occasional issue (which I replaced) MP worked great wirelessly.

I have moved away from that for a few reasons, but it did work. I do have 2 observations/warnings though.

1. If you put your machine in stand by make sure to let enough time for wireless to reconnect before starting MP.
2. If you start MP and you're shares aren't available, make sure in TV Series you have "keep info for files that aren't present" checked.

If you're wondering I wanted a backup but didn't want to bother with various RAID levels at this time. So i got a 1TB drive and put it into the MP box. I then use a few scripts to sync the important stuff I want backed up between my main PC and the MP box. This is done over wireless early in the morning using robocopy.