Help on building the correct straming server

[torcator]

Hey guys,

I have a desktop at home that would like to transform into a local streaming server.
The current configuration is this:

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128405
Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I5750 http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215
G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231480
SAPPHIRE 100289L Radeon HD 5670 (Redwood) 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102869
BIOSTAR VA5553NHG1 Radeon HD 5550 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814141127
SAMSUNG 830 Series F-MZ-7PC064DAM 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147502
6x Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
SILVERSTONE Silver Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body Lascala Series LC20-S ATX Media Center / HTPC Case http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163066


The main purposes of this computer is to storage and stream movies locally.
I'm a fanatic of independent and foreign movies, so usually when I travel I buy the blurays, rip, and storage on the computer.
So the computer need to have the capability of stream HD files through a local network and may be at the same time ripping a bluray. Well, to be fair I will rip only 10% of the time.

The other thing is the storage. This is being an issue, since the movies usually are really heavy (arround 16-20 gb), so I was thinking on buying an external solution, may be a storage tower with 6 or 8 drives in Raid 5. I had some issues on the past where hd have failed, and since the drives are pretty cheap on this days may be this could be a affordable solution.

So, the other issue here is, what box do you recommend me to get the streaming to my TV. I really don't know the difference between apple tv, google tv, Roku, etc. I mean witch one fit my needs.

My questions are:
* What OS do you recommend?
* Should I have to add or change some hardware?
* What storage configuration should I use?
* What box for the tv do you recommend?

thanks in advance for all your time,

 

[jcoultas98]

Your hardware looks good. Because i don't have a ton of knowledge outside of WMC, i can really only speak on a few topics.
1. Raid 5 is smart. I currently run 5x1TB Samsung drives, and have lost 1 drive in 18 months with no data loss. From my experience... spend the money for a dedicated raid card. Also, make 110% you don't let the drives run chkdsk. You can easily toast the entire array. I currently let mine run 24/7, but if you want the PC to sleep, make sure you sleep the entire computer, and turn off all power saving features of the individual drives. If you get a case large enough (such as any of the antec nine hundred, eleven hundred, or twelve hundred) , you don't need external. They come with enough bays to cover everything.
2. You only need 1 Video card.

 

[torcator]

I agree on the card...
I could use that PCIE slot for the raid card, that's a cool idea.

I don't have a big case, but I could get one.

BTW I'm new on raid cards, can I have a couple of HD connected to the mother and others to the raid card?

 

[jcoultas98]

You want to connect any HDDs assigned to your RAID array to your cards. You can connect additional HDDs to the motherboard's SATA ports. There are many options for RAID cards, I use a HighPoint 8 port. No specific need for a hardware card unless you have a drastically underpowered processor.

http/highpoint-tech.com/

 

[torcator]

so tonight I'll do more research and probably will come back with some questions... THX btw.

but now I have to decide what box to buy, do you happen to have any idea?

 

[jcoultas98]

I use Windows Media Center, and have two XBox 360s as extenders. The main reason i do this, is because i use a cable card tuner (which WMC directly supports). Unmodified, WMC doesn't do well with burned/ripped DVDs, so i can't recommend that route. I know a lot of people love BOXEE units, they play a ton of formats. Also, you can check out WD streaming units, they seem to do very well with lots of formats. ROKU aren't too bad, but they don't stream much other than web content. Basically, do your research on the format you intend to use, and be sure to locate a client unit that supports the format. I also have had mixed results with WIFI. I ended up hard wiring a 1gb connection to each xbox. The signal is far more stable.

best of luck!

/cheers

 

[torcator]

O was thinking on using a wired network.
about the format usually I keep my files in mkv, with 1920x1080 and usually 20 to 30 gb size.

I've used the logitech revue and I'd like it, but I'm not sure if this is the best solution... Also do you know if I can use a PS3? this could be a nice solution too.

 

[torcator]

???