I currently have a Linux server with several terabytes of music and video. I have most of my CD and DVD library on the server. The music is in several formats including mp3, wma, wav, flac and others. The video is in avi, mpg, mov as well as iso images of my DVDs.

I currently have an Apache web server that I can use to find the various files but the links will just download the files. Some files are much too large to download before use such as a DVD iso. Others are in a format that will not play on my client device, such as a smart phone.

I would like to build a server that will stream content, audio or video, on demand to any device, desktop, laptop, netbook, or smart phone.

I would like to be able to use a browser at work, in my hotel, or on my smart phone. I want to be able to create a link on a web page that will begin the streaming of the content. If the link is for an audio file then that one audio file will play. If it is for a play list then every song in the list will play. If the link is to a video file the video plays. Some of my DVDs are for thinks like "South Park". I would like to be able to have a link for Season 1 Episode 2. This would be on disc 1 along with episodes 1 and 3 but I would like the link to play only episode 2.

I thought that I might be able to use VLC on the server side to stream the audio and video. However, there is much to streaming and VLC that I do not understand.

Can someone point me to a "How To" where this has already been done?
Or maybe a tutorial that explains some of the streaming technologies?
Maybe some HTML that shows how I can create the type of link I am looking for?

I found this link on google, it seems relevant to what you're looking for. Several options there, take a look.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/using-y...server-part-2/