Need a solution for cheap home network

Clipsey · 13 Feb 2010 at 18:06

First of all let me state that I have no clue when it comes to this

However, this is what the forums are for right?

The problem - not enough space!
The solution......?

Here is some more detail. I have a HTPC setup with a nice looking case etc, it has 3 x 1tb drives and are all full, I now have a couple of external h/d's totaling 1.5tbs and they are full.
The idea was to just buy another case so I could squeeze in a couple more h/d's, but this is just a short solution as they would quickly fill up.

The idea: Can I simply build a cheap storage pc tower that is energy efficient and can be left in a spare room, then connect through cat-5 via the router to the HTCP and stream the movies/music/everything across with no delay?
Is it as simply as selecting which drive you want to look at on the other PC - or is it a lot more involved than that?
I briefly looked into doing a NAS server ( I think) but seemed really expensive?

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

SpiderX · 13 Feb 2010 at 20:29

never built one myself but i there is freenas or openfiler

Xez · 13 Feb 2010 at 21:23

The way you've said will work, obviously fast hard drives a decent router or switch with Gigabit speeds along with both computers should minimise delays. You'll notice it but I wouldn't say you'd be bothered as it'd be quite small.

If you have some money to spend it'd probably be an idea to raid the drives. You'd have to add more storage because of this though.Not too clued up on Raid so i'm sure some of the more experienced will give better facts and opinions

PhillyDee · 13 Feb 2010 at 21:34

Have a look into a Windows Home Server system. This seems ideal for what you want.

You build the PC yourself. Stick in as many drives as you like and windows does the rest. It pools all your drives into one volume. You can even back up PC's, remote access via the internet easily, duplicate only the directories you want, minimising the risk of loss of data if a hard drive dies.
I use it and it runs rock solid. You would have course need a board capable of either lots of drives, or add on cards. No need for expensive raid cards when you have WHS. Perfect for home use. I would couple it with a pair of Intel PRO/1000 network cards. I get around 75Mb/s sustained going through my gigabit switch. There is a lengthy thread in the windows forum about WHS.

mnc fear · 14 Feb 2010 at 21:35

I have Home Server and its great- keeps the missus off my back about photos and my daughter watches kids movies on it

Pretty much leaves me to get on with time to myself on my own machine without getting pestered

accod · 15 Feb 2010 at 11:30

Home Server will do it for you easily with minimum fuss, just remember that you can do it for free if you're willing to spend a bit of time on it. Openfiler as already mentioned is a popular choice http://www.openfiler.com.

Clipsey · 15 Feb 2010 at 13:56

So the home server seems the way to go then. Just wanted to clarify that it would work before diving in to it. I presume there are 'specialist' parts, or at least ones that are more suited for a home server machine? i.e a mobo that can hold more than 6 sata drives?

bigredshark · 15 Feb 2010 at 14:14

Clipsey said:
So the home server seems the way to go then. Just wanted to clarify that it would work before diving in to it. I presume there are 'specialist' parts, or at least ones that are more suited for a home server machine? i.e a mobo that can hold more than 6 sata drives?

Not specially made for home server that I know off, most home server licenses are sold with home server boxes (HP make a few nice ones). The build your own home server market is still pretty small so there are no specialist parts, just find the best you can really...