Help with Samba Music Server
 

Hello, my name is John and I have 72.46GB of music that I am sick of storing on my main computer!

Here is my idea:
A simple box with basic cheap computer parts (256mb RAM, Intel P3 1GHZ processor, 200GB HD, etc.) without any monitor, keyboard, or mouse. It will store all of my music and I want to Wi-Fi it to some decent surround sound system with the music being launched via remote desktop (RealVNC?). It will be hardwired to my 802.11n Belkin access point (20mhz + 100Mbit/sec). I also want to be able to upload music I download to this box as well, so that is where I am curious as to how to go about setting up a simple file server (secure of course!)

My Questions:
A) Hardware? Sound decent, it will be used for nothing but music.
B) Distro? I am a Slackware user, but what would be good for this concept?
C) Sound card? Surround sound system (wireless?)
D) How to set it up as an actual music server?
E) Any suggestions/ideas?

All feedback is appreciated!

Thank you in advanced!
-John

Your hardware looks fine. Slackware will work well. You will need to setup nfs or samba for file sharing. The sharing will allow you to mount the music system on your main systems file system.

I planned on using Samba. What sound equipment has WiFi PC Surround Sound Speakers? That is what I also need!

Thank you though!

Why need extra sound equipment? See if you can pack your hardware into a small case, make sure you've got a decent sound card in there and just get a PC 6.1 surround system hooked up to it or something. Set up LIRC and get yourself a remote and use MPD to play the music. That way, with a client such as ncmpc, you can connect from any PC on the network and control it as if you were using that computer :)

How much will this run me?

I am not sure if 'bumping' is against these forum rules, but I renamed the subject for more clarity, I really need some advice!

Uhhh, huh?

How much will it cost?

How should I know? You'll need to establish what you want and hunt around your local shops for the best price.

Please use a subject that says something about your problem. When you start a thread, I take it as a given that you're looking for help/advice.