Hardware / streaming question

[palindrome85]

Hi there!

I stumbled upon this site while looking up info on how to built a linux based media server/center.
Even though the guide has given me some great info on where to start and what to use I still have some questions I hope you guys can help me with.


What I basically want to built is a device that:

- contains all my media (video,music, pictures) and other usefull data
- is able to stream video and audio directly to my TV in the living room using a direct HDMI connection
- is able to stream media to my TV in the bedroom
- is powerful enough to stream HD/Blue ray rips without glitching or delay while watching
- has an usenet client so I can download stuff directly to the HD of the device

I also have an HD PVR for digital and HD TV but my cable provider made it impossible to acces any recorded media so I'll just have to accept that

Now what I'm a little confused about is that in this guide and other guides I've found online people use a second device like an xbox or PS3 to stream media to the TV, is this necessary? If I theoretically would buy the hardware mentioned in the guide wouldn't it be powerfull enough to stream it directly?
And what would I need to be able to watch media on my second TV in the bedroom?

I would also like to mention that I have some experience with Ubuntu so (if necessary) don't spare me nerdy stuff

[Ian]

Hi palindrome85 and welcome to the forum.

OK, you might not realise it but you’re crossing an important boundary here! That of a media server verses a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC). The latter you generally connect directly to your TV. Think of your TV as acting like a giant computer monitor for your HTPC. My site focuses mainly on the former, a headless media server. You generally tuck this away in a cupboard/closet or wherever and have it far away from your TVs with an ethernet cable running between the two locations. My site doesn’t describe how to build a HTPC so if that’s what you’re hoping to do then my site will be of little help I’m afraid.

The reason people use an xbox/PS3/whatever is to act as the front-end to their media server. If you’re familiar with a client-server environment then this is what I’m showing you how to achieve on my site. The streamer/PS3/xbox is the client and the server is, well, the server.

As you’ve already, probably inadvertently, realised a HTPC is great until you want to use it on more than one TV at the same time. It’s not impossible to achieve but is not the ideal solution for more than 1 TV.

I could go on for ages about why a headless server and dedicated client is superior to a HTPC solution but those debates can get very heated so I’ll save my fingers, plus you may already have a view on which route is best.

In summary you can achieve everything you're looking to do with a media server except you would not connect the server to your TV via HDMI. Instead you'd use Ethernet cable (or maybe wireless) and a streamer/xbox/PS3.

Does this help clarify things at all?

Ian.

[thinmintaddict]

I'd agree with Ian.
When I started building my server I had the same intention, using it as an always-on box that would server media to everything in the house, and in addition run an htpc on top to serve my computer. Here is the issues I ran into:
a. it was going to cause a lot of unneccessary energy usage to be running a full os for the couple hours a day that I would actually be running the "htpc" part of the software.
b. anything with enough disks to hold all my media was going to be a little noisier than I wanted to have right next to my TV.

so here's the run-down: yes, it's possible for you to set something up with something like Mythbuntu or LinuxMCE as the OS and install all the packages necessary to give it the server functionality you want OR install ubuntu server with the packages you want and then install kde or gnome with mythTV to service your TV, but as you can get a serviceable streamer like one of netgears for between 80 - 150 bucks, the benefits really outweight the minimal increase in cost to build a server and have a separate streamer.

[palindrome85]

Thanks for clarifying this, I was indeed confusing a HTPC with a media server.
Since I also have an Xbox which I rarely use the whole media server thing makes even more sense.

I'm about to upgrade my own PC so I'll have some spare hardware to use for a media server as well.
Thanks again!