64-bit file server with HTPC capabilities
 

Hi all,

I'm very new to linux and would like to build a 64-bit file server to backup my pc and laptop, I would also like it to have HTPC capabilities because it will be stored in my "man cave", where me and mates seem to hang out a fair bit.

I've never built an AMD system before and would like this build to be AMD.

This is what I've come up with so far:

64-bit system:

Case: Thermaltake V3 with 450W PSU
CPU: Athlon II x2 255 3.1GHz
Mobo: ASRock 880GXH-USB3
HDD: WD Green 500Gb for OS, 2x Samsung EcoGreen 2Tb for storage (one will be kept off site)
Memory: 1x Corsair CMV4GX3M1A1333C9 4Gb DDR3
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-B123A (Blu-ray player/DVD burner)
Wifi: TP-Link TL-WN851N
Tuner: Leadtek Winfast PxDVR 3200H PCIe
Graphics: On board
Sound: On board

I'm not sure about all this being compatible with linux, like the tuner, but I have read that you can get this working.

I'm on a pretty tight budget so I can't upgrade to higher end components, but would like suggestions on components where I could save a few $$ or if any of these components are overkill.

Thanks for looking,
Cheers.

Might look at video4linux and other places like xbmc and mythtv. It is mandatory to find one either supported by the OEM or from open sources before you buy it. Everything else ought to work fine. Might even do with a bit less PSU if you are trying to save power.

Silicondust may be a choice too. Seems it is supported for almost any OS out there.


http://git.linuxtv.org/media_tree.gi...6f6ff7;hb=HEAD

http://www.avermedia.com/avertv/Pres...il.aspx?Id=271

Mythbuntu is the distribution for you. It is a media server and you can add frontend everywhere in your house/cave to connect to it. The server can also act as a frontend too. It's really cool, you can manage your media, use an iPod as a remote (or an IR remote), record program, pause live TV, go back a few second to see a goal again or something like that. You can record a program after you watched it. It have around a thousand feature, but is very hard to configure and setup to work perfectly.

XMBC, on the other hand, is simple and have a much more attractive interface than the "simple" mythTV interface. But it lack a lot of HTPC features and does not use a server. It can work as a MythTV frontend, but you can't use much of myth features and still have to do the hard backend configuration. It does give you the nicer interface, but this kind of combinaisons does not worth the config time it take to make it work.

About the file server, use Samba if you have Windows PC or NFS if you have only mac/Linux hardware. NFS is faster, but less secure. Inside a firewall, it is fine.

If you can live with digital input(only) and 720p the HDHomerun is a much easier solution. It connects over ethernet and is supported by viturally all the mainstream video (vlc, mythtv, etc).

500Gb for the OS is massively overkill. Even Centos (RHEL clone) will fit in under 30GB(full install). If you are after the speed, you MAY want to consider one of the solid state drives(twice the speed, low power, no heat).

You can also use NFS with windows. M$ did a very good implementaion (which they give out for free). Would be really surpised if it is less secure than samba.

It's secured using ACL, almost nothing else.

Pretty sure the Silicondust homerun can be up to 1080i if broadcast in that form. I used to use a asus tuner but it stunk on a fringe area.

I now use the silicon dust. It has almost as good tuning strength as HDTV's. Only one channel is marginal. It was on sale at newegg for $49 last week too. It has native drivers and support for the big OS's. It seems to change channels as fast as any tuner does but some people report it takes a few seconds.

Thanks very much for your help guys, I cam across an old desktop today:

Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz
512MB Memory
DVD-ROM Drive
160GB HDD
Intel Motherboard DL 865G

So I will build this as a dedicated file server and build a seperate HTPC
Cheers.

Bump the ram up and that would work for both.