View Full Version : WHS (Windows Home Server) + XBMC = Fun
NotShorty
2008-02-22, 08:04
Does anyone else use Windows Home Server as (among lots of other things) a way to play your media library over your LAN to your tv(s)?
I do and I'm looking for others in this very small demographic to share tips and ideas... but right now I'm too tired to elaborate.
Post any thoughts if you're interested.
Thanks,
NS
Can you confirm whether or not WHS works OK with XBMC? I've been considering getting this for a while but I was concerned that it may not work well with XBMC.
68rustang
2008-02-28, 21:42
I am working on setting up my WHS now. I have been transferring all my media files from the desktop to the new WHS box. I really don't forsee any issues. If anything the WHS should be a more stable platform for sharing media.
NotShorty
2008-02-29, 05:00
Hey, long story short, WHS ended up not being a good solution for me. I got a free copy of Windows Server 2003 through the DreamSpark program, and it's working really well. If you're a student in one of the participating countries, you can get it for free too:
https://downloads.channel8.msdn.com/Default.aspx
NotShorty
2008-02-29, 05:08
BTW, WHS worked just fine for serving to XBMC, but WHS itself was causing me issues (although I think it was entirely because of the older hardware I installed it on, possibly because of my excessive use of utorrent on it).
I'd like to encourage others to check WHS out though. I think it's a fantastic product with tons of desirable features (especially web interface), and I will probably be a WHS owner in a few years. Server 2003 being free for me will keep me happy for now.
BTW, WHS worked just fine for serving to XBMC, but WHS itself was causing me issues (although I think it was entirely because of the older hardware I installed it on, possibly because of my excessive use of utorrent on it).
I'd like to encourage others to check WHS out though. I think it's a fantastic product with tons of desirable features (especially web interface), and I will probably be a WHS owner in a few years. Server 2003 being free for me will keep me happy for now.
WHS was also found to be corrupting or losing data for some users, if I recall correctly. I don't remember the specifics, but I'd be wary of it until you can confirm that it's safe to use again.
I've been using freenas without problems for a long time now.
I seriously doubt I'd ever consider using WHS but I'm still a little interested in how they compare.
troutbum
2008-03-10, 06:48
I had a WHS server, and I guess it did some things OK. It is really easy to set up and run so it has that going for it. But the upload speeds are severely throttled by the DE. DE doesn't kick in until you have multiple HDDs.
I was seeing upload speeds of < 3MBps. It was fast enough to stream to XBMC without problems, but if you are regularly throwing 4-8GB iso's to your media server 3MBps is a PITA. To give you an idea of how slow that is I am using the exact same hardware and network and I am seeing 40-50MBps on my linux server. The final straw for me was when the WHS started creating problems with avi files, to the point where I could not play them on XBMC. So I switched to Linux.
Linux can do everything WHS can do and then a bunch, much faster, much more stable. I can also run LinuXBMC on the server for HD content. Need I also mention that linux is free and doesn't have any of the WPA activation headaches...The only downside is it isn't as easy to set up and manage. It is not rocket science though and anyone who is pulling their xbox apart to add a modchip and then installing xbmc should be able to figure it out.
Gamester17
2008-03-10, 13:57
I personally recommend FreeNAS, it is free, runs on cheap hardware and is very easy to install/configure/maintain.
PS! Feel free to update the NAS (Network Attached Storage) (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=NAS) wiki article.
:grin:
CrazyIvan
2008-03-11, 23:47
Another one to checkout is unRaid (http://www.lime-technology.com/). Working great here.
I use unRaid as well. Its great!
cousinsp
2008-11-04, 12:06
I run Windows Home Server and XBMC on an XBOX on the same network at home, and it's the perfect solution for me. I've ripped all the kids DVDs to the server, and archived them in a cupboard. I'm no longer finding them all over the lounge. As it took so long to put them all on the server, I've enabled folder duplication, which puts the files on more than one hard disk, in case of a disk failure. On top of that, the printer is plugged into the Home Server to be used by any PC in the house. All the PCs are also backed up automatically to the server on a regular basis. If I lose a hard drive on a PC, i can just plug in a new drive, boot off the rescue CD, and leave it to rebuild back to the last back up. Add access to my home files via the internet, and what more could you want? The XBOX seems to play streamed video from the Home Server much better than from a DVD.
I'm wondering if running the Windows version of XBMC on the Home Server would be a possibility. That would be cool, and presumably enable HD content.:grin:
I run WHS! works great! as stated it backs up all my PC's and even looks after the AV needs to as well as all the remote features and the stuff cousinsp mentioned. the folder duplication is great! And Orb software is genius!! (still playing with that)
I've never had any problems steaming from it ether... its fast and reliable. Gigabit everywhere bar Xbox of course... I store files as AVI, VOB, ISO, RAR.. everything and it all plays fine. make sure you install Power Pack 1 thou as there was a file coruption problem with early releases.
If your using a torrent client on it use a sperate drive and dont pool it... then get all the downloads on that prior to moving them to your share folders...
I have both of the mentioned items. I love xbmc, and really like WHS.
I know that this home server was really developed for an idiot to setup a server in their house, but I am no idiot. At least a majority of the time I am not. I love not having to tinker with my home setup constantly, whenever an issue arises, or something new is out. Streaming its great, but will definitely be dependent on your network infrastructure.
I have currently setup SABnzbd for downloading media on my WHS, which I can control from anywhere I have access to the internet.
I went the easy route and bought a HP MediaSmart Server, but now that the price of WHS has dropped I would definetely recommend a custom built rig.
For great information regardging WHS please check out the following links...
http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/
http://www.mediasmartserver.net/
http://blogs.technet.com/homeserver/
The price of WHS has recently dropped 30%...the article about the price change is available here... http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2008/10/31/microsoft-drop-windows-home-server-price-by-30/
-Adam
I have heard good things about unraid but is there any big difference beteween that and free raid?
worth the 69$ over free?
ultrabrutal
2008-11-09, 11:10
I have the MediaSmart with 4 * 1000 GB and upgraded to 2 GB RAM. I can copy movies to the server in 3-4 minutes and they stream perfectly. My other NASes (Synology and DNS) could take up to 30 minutes to copy a movie to them.
The WHS now also handles my mail, backups and more
I've been using WHS for nearly a year now, and while it had a shaky start, most bugs have been patched and it now works extremely well (with xbmc or otherwise). The corruption bug was inexcusable (to the poster above, that's why utorrent gave you problems) and the duplication service (demigrator) caused really poor performance at first, but that was all fixed with the "PowerPack 1" service pack. Today I generally get 30MB/s writes, even to duplicated shares, and that's using Vista (other OSes are even faster).
Sure it costs money, and there are plenty of other solutions that would serve files via SMB or NFS for free, but that sort of sells WHS short. It's not as cool as ZFS, but the WHS storage pool is in some ways more useful for a home file server. You don't have to allocate drives to pools or worry about matching drive sizes for to do something like raidz. Also, since the storage pool just uses normal ntfs partitions, you can easily retreive your data should anything go wrong.
The backup service for XP and Vista PCs is extremely good - light on resources single instance storage of files that are duplicated on multiple PCs in the home, braindead easy to set up. The https access to your files and RDP over https to your home network is also pretty slick.
Random question, for price im either debating doing a raid of 4tb drives inside a htpc case and have it all in one or is it better to do it in a separate box with free raid or unraid?
Random question, for price im either debating doing a raid of 4tb drives inside a htpc case and have it all in one or is it better to do it in a separate box with free raid or unraid?
Would you want a RAID whiiiiiring away under your TV ??? noisey and hot!
I'd go with a server in a spare room or attic space and stream to a small/quiet htpc in the lounge area personally... :nod:
Would you want a RAID whiiiiiring away under your TV ??? noisey and hot!
I'd go with a server in a spare room or attic space and stream to a small/quiet htpc in the lounge area personally... :nod:
Probably a pretty good call!
I guess that opens up my options for htpc cases (one i was looking at had 8 bays :P)
Next question is unraid worth it or just use freeraid?
For those who have WHS
Does WHS get connected to XBMC as SMB or UPnP?
Thanks
For those who have WHS
Does WHS get connected to XBMC as SMB or UPnP?
Thanks
SMB. It's simpler and more flexible.
mpm222
thank you for the info
I stumbled upon this thread and thought i would throw my hat in the ring so to speak;
I bought one of those media smart servers to store all my videos and music on because it looked very cool and i got a great deal on it from work. after playing with it, i loved it, but it did not support x64 operating systems as clients, which is what i was running on all other pc's except one. not a big deal since i dont need automatic backup or anti-virus monitoring.
With xbox 360 it worked swimmingly for audio, video not so much due to limited codecs. the breaking point for me was my xbox. i use xbmc for EVERYTHING! and when i set up the network share, xbmc was able to see it, but when trying to connect it asked for a password. i tried no password, and i tried creating an account, no dice. my other major issue was that it seemed to be very slow when running utorrent in the background whether it was inactive or not. I returned it and fixed up a duron 2100 in a server case with 4 hard drives totaling just shy of 1.5tb
I really hate how much space it takes up in the closet, and the media server would take up so much less. it was quite a while ago that i played around with it, but do you know if they fixed the xbmc issues somehow?I dont think i could live in a house that didnt stream all my media to any TV i have (as long as theres an xbox under it lol)
I have nothing in the closet with it except the 2 printers and network cable, i dont even use a kb/mouse or monitor, i just remote it.
What im basically looking for is a way to make it take up less space and not look like an eyesore, while still keeping me productive media and torrent-wise. will the media server satisfy that now or am i still clinging to an impossible dream?
sorry for the long post, you guys just seem to have good opinions and knowledge of the WHS situation.
Any server based machine will ask for a user/password to connect to it... ??? I just set up an account user:xbox - pass:xbox1, when you add the source you just add the username and password to the source adding window in xbmc your browsing from... never had any problems... mines built around an old P4 3.2Ghz 2Gb RAM machine that used to be my desktop, spent a bit of time setting it up and it flys... currently its supporting 6 HDD's which total roughly 2.6TB. It runns alot more than just a torrent app too.
I put mine in the loft/attic to as its not only cooler up there I cant hear it ether...
The first thing you want to do is update your copy of WHS with the Power Pack 1 update, which fixed a ton on stuff, including adding support for Vista x64 (not XP x64, but there isn't a particuarly good reason to use that OS). It also fixed a nasty data corruption bug and significantly improved performance all around.
Regarding the utorrent slowness, PP1 should help out performance, but you should consider creating a directory on your D: drive (just a normal folder not one in the WHS storage pool) to house incomplete torrents. uTorrent can be configured to move completed torrents to a different folder, so you can still have them moved to a managed folder, but this way you avoid excessive work for the demigrator service that is repsonsible for folder duplication and moving files around within the storage pool.
Finally, how are you creating the user and shares in WHS? You need to create user with a password in the WHS Console and grant that user permission to the folder with your media in the console. This is just a friendlier version of the process you would normally go through to share a folder via SMB in Windows. After you do that, verify that you can reach that share from the PC you're going to run XBMC in the OS. On Windows for example you could type \\<servername>\<sharename> into the address bar in explorer (Ubuntu and OS X can both read SMB shares too). If that works, you should be able to add it to the sources list in xbmc.
verify that you can reach that share from the PC you're going to run XBMC in the OS
when you say this, are you meaning you're running xbmc from a computer? i am using a couple xbox 1's to stream video to my tv.
I had the same problem with sharing media from vista, thats why my current custom server has XP (used to have 2000, which is the best OS ever, but it didnt support the software raids i needed).
If you people are saying you have no problem using the hp's mediasmart server with xbox1 and they now support vistax64, i should see no reason to build a new server, when i can purchase something smaller and more convenient for a bit more.
Just out of curiousity, are there any hard drive diagnostics you would recommend running on them? obviously you cannot boot from a eurosoft pc diagnostic disk, so you would have to use some in-OS diags. and i would prefer to know. and a follow-up question, if you have a failing hard drive, is it easy enough to replace with a new one in terms of copying the information? since they are all by default in a raid 0.
I know most of these questions belong on a MSS or WHS forum, but just thought you guys would know
I have been using WHS for about a month now and I love it. Like everyone said it does an amazing and simple job of protecting your media and backing up any home networked computers.
I was hoping to get some help or ideas for streaming video from a remote location using an Xbox (Home = Server ~ Away = Xbox). I have been using the FTP Manager with WHS and connecting that way, but I find it is way too choppy with video playback. Photos and Music work great though.
Can I do something with WHS to make this work (or is it limited with it's UL speeds) or should I switch to Ubuntu Server or FreeNAS?
BTW it is a custom built box... Athalon XP 2500+, 1gig ram, 4TB Storage and Gigabit.
I have been using WHS for about a month now and I love it. Like everyone said it does an amazing and simple job of protecting your media and backing up any home networked computers.
I was hoping to get some help or ideas for streaming video from a remote location using an Xbox (Home = Server ~ Away = Xbox). I have been using the FTP Manager with WHS and connecting that way, but I find it is way too choppy with video playback. Photos and Music work great though.
Can I do something with WHS to make this work (or is it limited with it's UL speeds) or should I switch to Ubuntu Server or FreeNAS?
BTW it is a custom built box... Athalon XP 2500+, 1gig ram, 4TB Storage and Gigabit.
Unless you have a pretty good internet connection, you're going to be limited by upload speed. Even a low quality TV rip off p2p is 350mb for a 44 minute show, do the math and it comes out to almost 1.1mbps. To make things worse, video bitrate may vary throughout the file, meaning some sections may double or triple that (though caching on the xbmc side would help with this). In most areas of the US the fastest consumer net connections have 384 or 512kbps of upload speed, though there are certainly exceptions (anywhere with fios or docsis 3.0 cable). Test your bandwidth (google speakeasy speedtest).
Unless you have a pretty good internet connection, you're going to be limited by upload speed. Even a low quality TV rip off p2p is 350mb for a 44 minute show, do the math and it comes out to almost 1.1mbps. To make things worse, video bitrate may vary throughout the file, meaning some sections may double or triple that (though caching on the xbmc side would help with this). In most areas of the US the fastest consumer net connections have 384 or 512kbps of upload speed, though there are certainly exceptions (anywhere with fios or docsis 3.0 cable). Test your bandwidth (google speakeasy speedtest).
Thank you for that website.. I ran the test and this is what I am getting
(9516kbps Download and 972kbps Upload). I read a couple posts saying that WHS can be a little slow with UL (not sure if this is true) so I thought that maybe a different software would improve the stream.
Would you recommend another way of streaming instead of FTP?
WHS is just as fast as a single drive shared via SMB on any other machine, provided it isn't moving data around in the background, which only really happens if you copy a bunch of data to a duplicated folder. Considering the bitrates we're talking about, that's irrelevant.
Your best bet would be some kind of transcoding media server that would re-encode your media dynamically based on the amount of bandwidth available. Maybe TVersity does this, I'm not sure.
Can I ask has anyone tried to run the Windows version of XBMC actually on WHS?
I have my WHS in my cellar along with satellite receivers, etc and could easily run a HDMI cable from my WHS to my TV so was thinking of trying it but if someone has already I'd be keen to understand how it went
Thanks
Can I ask has anyone tried to run the Windows version of XBMC actually on WHS?
I have my WHS in my cellar along with satellite receivers, etc and could easily run a HDMI cable from my WHS to my TV so was thinking of trying it but if someone has already I'd be keen to understand how it went
Thanks
I've never tried it, but there's no reason it shouldn't work. You'll need a graphics card and drivers that support opengl 2, which I only mention because the average whs box has a pretty basic grahics chip.
Why would you want a server whiiiiiiiiirrrrrrring away while trying to watch a movie?
My WHS has 6 HDD's in it, its not a quiet box..... I had it in my loft at my old house and since moving to my new place its running in the garage!
Because if you read my message correctly mine is in the cellar in my comms rack so not near my TV! :grin:
Out of interest are you running pre-built WHS's? looks like my server didnt like the house move - I thought the HDD had taken a clump so rebuilt it but its looking more and more like the mainboard is on the way out :(
If your not using HP type machines can anyone recomend a board? I had a Gigabyte board about 18months old in there but like many boards its not got proper drivers for 2K3/WHS I used the XP ones, but if possible I'd like a board with a bit more driver support....
If your not using HP type machines can anyone recomend a board? I had a Gigabyte board about 18months old in there but like many boards its not got proper drivers for 2K3/WHS I used the XP ones, but if possible I'd like a board with a bit more driver support....
XP drivers are for all intents and purposes Server 03 drivers. Same driver model, the only potential problems would stem from poorly written installers - device manager should always work.
XP drivers are for all intents and purposes Server 03 drivers. Same driver model, the only potential problems would stem from poorly written installers - device manager should always work.
Hi mpw222 - thanks for your reply - yep I realize the drivers are very similar as 2K3 as you say is pretty much the same as XP under the bonnet - but my mainboard is reporting hardware failure in the event log and as it stores all my movies, music and pictures (and a HEAP more stuff) I've got no choice but to change it - I was just hoping for a board with a little more 2K3-centric roots perhaps an entry level Intel server board.
But I'll go with desktop components again if I cant find a suitable contender. :grin: if anyone has a board in mind I'd appreciate a pointer - ATX, on-board VGA and a liberal wipe of SATA interfaces would be great 775, preferably on Intel chipset....
Batemann
2009-05-28, 13:50
Can I ask has anyone tried to run the Windows version of XBMC actually on WHS?
I have my WHS in my cellar along with satellite receivers, etc and could easily run a HDMI cable from my WHS to my TV so was thinking of trying it but if someone has already I'd be keen to understand how it went
Thanks
I have no experience with WHS, I run 2003 Server at home. Personally I think you should let WHS, or any other server-type, do it's job: "serving", and not divide resources between backend- and frontend-services. I think you're better off performance-wise with placing a good XP/Vista/W7-machine right next to your WHS server and connect that to your tv.
A matter of opinion. Nothing more.
struisje
2009-05-28, 14:11
I recently purchased my WHS with 2*1000 Gb drives.
It's supereasy to set up and get going
The only problem I had was with remote access. Nothing to do with WHS though.
My ISP blocks ports 80 and 443 so I can't reach the server from outside my LAN.
I had to forward the ports in the router configuration to get access and by doing that I'm actually violating my contract with my ISP because I'm not allowed to run a server at home.
Off course there is a solution for everything but I was a little surprised this isn't mentioned on the microsoft website or anywhere else, even when there are a lot ISP's blocking these ports.
I think many people buy a WHS in the first place because they can access their documents and media from anywhere in the world. Many will be dissapointed to find out they can not. (at least not out of the box, you have to be a more advanced user to set it up correctly)
I recently purchased my WHS with 2*1000 Gb drives.
It's supereasy to set up and get going
The only problem I had was with remote access. Nothing to do with WHS though.
My ISP blocks ports 80 and 443 so I can't reach the server from outside my LAN.
I had to forward the ports in the router configuration to get access and by doing that I'm actually violating my contract with my ISP because I'm not allowed to run a server at home.
Off course there is a solution for everything but I was a little surprised this isn't mentioned on the microsoft website or anywhere else, even when there are a lot ISP's blocking these ports.
I think many people buy a WHS in the first place because they can access their documents and media from anywhere in the world. Many will be dissapointed to find out they can not. (at least not out of the box, you have to be a more advanced user to set it up correctly)
Or use Logmein! :;):
I recently purchased my WHS with 2*1000 Gb drives.
It's supereasy to set up and get going
The only problem I had was with remote access. Nothing to do with WHS though.
My ISP blocks ports 80 and 443 so I can't reach the server from outside my LAN.
I had to forward the ports in the router configuration to get access and by doing that I'm actually violating my contract with my ISP because I'm not allowed to run a server at home.
Off course there is a solution for everything but I was a little surprised this isn't mentioned on the microsoft website or anywhere else, even when there are a lot ISP's blocking these ports.
I think many people buy a WHS in the first place because they can access their documents and media from anywhere in the world. Many will be dissapointed to find out they can not. (at least not out of the box, you have to be a more advanced user to set it up correctly)
While many ISPs do block servers on 80 or 443, if it started working for you after manually forwarding the ports, it means you don't have uPNP configured correctly on your router and has nothing to do with the ISP.
I have no experience with WHS, I run 2003 Server at home. Personally I think you should let WHS, or any other server-type, do it's job: "serving", and not divide resources between backend- and frontend-services. I think you're better off performance-wise with placing a good XP/Vista/W7-machine right next to your WHS server and connect that to your tv.
A matter of opinion. Nothing more.
This is actually even more true in the case of WHS. The drive extender and migrator services re-distribute your files across multiple drives on a regular basis. Depending on your hardware, this can take a noticeable amount of resources while it's happening, which could impact playback. The more frequently you add data to the WHS, the more often it will re-organize it.
If you want to try to make it work anyway, make sure you have up to date graphics drivers and use SMB to access the files stored on the WHS/XBMC PC (e.g. \\localhost\TV).
struisje
2009-05-28, 17:50
While many ISPs do block servers on 80 or 443, if it started working for you after manually forwarding the ports, it means you don't have uPNP configured correctly on your router and has nothing to do with the ISP.
I meant I forwarded port 4125 to my WHS as my ISP only blocks ports under 1000
venealis
2009-05-28, 18:04
i use WHS streaming to windows based XBMC, everything works great for me. I stream everything from the server Pics, movies, home videos and music. Everything is set up as a windows shared SMB// works great for me.
I'm toying with this idea too..
I come from the IT business and I'll totally agree with: Servers do their job.. frontend is another part... so I'd say - server for serving data, backup, and if needed download clients...
but on the other hand, I've running a pc 24/7.. this pc is in idle most of the time.. and if I want to do anything else I've to boot another pc... and if I want to surf the net while watching a movie I start i third...
On the one hand it is right this way.. but in times of "green IT", client virtualisation, load balancing... It's definitly not!
Additionally I've to start from scratch! I'll move in a few months.. leaving my WHS where i live now... at my parents. I'll need a new PC for my mediacenter, because now I've one with crappy sound, no hdmi output, very big.. and not a case i'll set up at the living room..
So there are three (ok at least one of them is shit) solutions:
1) WHS and XBMC on the same machine in the same os.. see what happens.. I think this won't do well.. (whs and graphics?? not really :sniffle:)
2) WHS on my present Mediacenter.. xbmc on a new mediacenter.. nobodys interessted in crappy sound, and a ugly case when speaking from a server.
Contra: 2 Pcs.. wait to boot for xbmc, twice the power consumption,.. :no:
3) WHS and XBMC on the same machine.. but in different OS? This is where Virtualisation comes to play.. I know whs doesn't do very well on a Virtual Server, even a mediacenter (especially xbmc) will have troubles with virtual server...
So what should i do? ??? Anybody tried xbmc on a virtual machine? Anybody's running his Home Server in a virtual machine?
I to use Windows Home Server with sabnzbd+ and utorrent addins accessible from anywhere i am due to my mobile phone and terminal server could not live without it now :) probably the only thing microsoft made a half hearted attempt and and sort of succeeded!
You definitely don't want to run xbmc in a vm, I doubt that would even work because of graphics issues. Even if it did, there would be a major performance hit.
You probably don't want to run whs in a vm either, especially if you don't give your hypervisor direct access to your hard drives.
If you really want to consolidate things, just use XP display drivers. The driver model for graphics drivers in xp and server 03 (including whs) is identical, and performance should be similar with the caveat that Whs services do create some overhead.
that xbmc won't work well in a vm was clear..
... but what about this Setup:
1st Disk (120gb sata): Windows7, XBMC, VirtualServer (and the whs machine??)
2nd Disk (1TB sata): Whole Disk for The Virtual WHS Machine (i think this should work great..I mean.. it's win2k3 - and built for virtualisation,... more or less)
3rd Disk (1,5TB sata): Whole disk as a virtual disk for the windows home server
So the server has (in the first step) 2 Disks only for himself.. should be enough for duplicating and backup. Why needs the whs direct acess to the disks? (whole physical disk to 1 virtual disk... partitioning is done by the whs itself.. - should be almost the same?)
Dhaire1982
2009-07-30, 19:00
Hi, I am running a HTPC with the new Zotac Ion N330 and XBMC live install and I set it up to stream from my WHS box for all media. When I go to stream movies both in converted MP4s and VOB files the motion is choppy it speeds up and slows down and the Audio does not work. I am wondering if anyone has had the same problems and if so what they have done to remedy them.
Hi, I am running a HTPC with the new Zotac Ion N330 and XBMC live install and I set it up to stream from my WHS box for all media. When I go to stream movies both in converted MP4s and VOB files the motion is choppy it speeds up and slows down and the Audio does not work. I am wondering if anyone has had the same problems and if so what they have done to remedy them.
Try making a local copy of one of the files and see whether the choppy motion goes away.
And a random tip for WHS users (probably not your issue) - WHS runs chkdsk on all installed drives at 12AM every night. If you're streaming high bitrate files, this will almost always cause problems. The only way to avoid this is change the timezone so that your WHS runs the check at a time when you're never watching media on it.
NotShorty
2009-07-31, 18:57
Personally I think you should let WHS, or any other server-type, do it's job: "serving", and not divide resources between backend- and frontend-services.
Agree. My ideal setup would include an XBMC Live extender (VDPAU FTW ;) ) for quick boot times and flawless m2ts playback. No HTPC case; mine's getting mounted on the wall behind my tv :D
Haven't been to this thread in a while, nice to see that it's full of great advice! You all may have inspired me to put WHS on my server that's currently collecting dust.
BTW, I use and love ClamWin (http://www.clamwin.com/) free antivirus. It works fine on WHS AFAIK.
HP has a free MediaSmart app (www.hp.com/go/istream) for the iPhone, but it has mixed reviews on the App Store.
If you built your own (non-HP) WHS, you can get an app for jailbroken iPhones (http://forum.wegotserved.com/index.php?showtopic=8882) on cydia, (and eventually for free on the App Store).
OK, time to force myself to be productive... right after I get media flagging in Aeon working right ;)
NS
I was using XBMC on WHS a while ago. Main problem is to find graphic card with solid drivers for Windows 2003. Otherwise, I did not have any problem at all.
Cheers, P.
clock2113
2009-08-01, 01:18
Considering between FreeNAS, whs, or unraid here...
-I have an Asus Striker Extreme mobo, 2 GB RAM, sitting around, so all I'd need is a case/CPU
-I have lots of HDs of different sizes - 1500 (x2), 1000, 750 (x3), 500 (x2), 320...
-I don't want a full 1:1 backup where I need two drives for each thing, but I do want some parity type protection... I don't understand how it works, but I know with unRaid at least you only one extra HD (as big as the biggest) for all backup...
NotShorty
2009-08-01, 01:46
Considering between FreeNAS, whs, or unraid here...
Try Windows Home Server Free for 120 days (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/eval.mspx).
http://www.wegotserved.com/
Not familiar with FreeNAS or unraid...
Piketfence
2009-10-16, 03:00
I have been using WHS for quite sometime now. It has not failed me. My hardware config is:
Acer WindPC with onboard Atom processor
2- 1TB western digital green hard drives
Thats it. It's no frills and I use it for nothing other than pushing files from it to my Xbox running a hard mod Xecuter 3 chip with XBMC. And the occasional log in to stream music through the built in web server when on vacation or on business. It is VERY solid.
I chose the WindPC for it's low power consumption while idle AND while running full throttle. It is a match made in heaven.
Btw. If you have an iPhone I highly suggest the XBMC app from Collect3 (I think). No need for extra remotes right?
+1 for WHS, I did try freenas for bit,I really like the full webgui control. I got a little messed up with file permissions
I've been using WHS little over a month now, really easy to setup, + i can use Utorrent..I have it running on a atom board, 1.2TB of storage, 2gb mem, an old tower. Quite solid
-I have lots of HDs of different sizes - 1500 (x2), 1000, 750 (x3), 500 (x2), 320...
WHS will also pool these to one large storage area - then just check the files you want to duplicate and leave the ones you dont... it really is a top bit of software
clock2113
2009-10-27, 02:07
I want to do the following:
1) Mismatch drive sizes - I have a bunch ranging from 1.5 TB to 300 GB
2) Parity protection - like unRaid does... devote one drive to safety, no more
3) Lots of drives - 9 or 10 (external USB drive support would be great!!!!!)
4) stick drives together... right now I have like 5 movie directories on 5 different drives; I want to jumble them together so that I can have 5 HD's, all showing up as /movies
5) Keep data intact, so that if I pull a HD out of the server, all the movies on it are still readable by another computer
Which out of FreeNAS, unRaid, and WHS can do all of those?
I want to do the following:
1) Mismatch drive sizes - I have a bunch ranging from 1.5 TB to 300 GB
2) Parity protection - like unRaid does... devote one drive to safety, no more
3) Lots of drives - 9 or 10 (external USB drive support would be great!!!!!)
4) stick drives together... right now I have like 5 movie directories on 5 different drives; I want to jumble them together so that I can have 5 HD's, all showing up as /movies
5) Keep data intact, so that if I pull a HD out of the server, all the movies on it are still readable by another computer
Which out of FreeNAS, unRaid, and WHS can do all of those?
unRaid can. You have to pay for it though.
clock2113
2009-10-27, 23:12
So unRaid and WHS both can, but not FreeNAS? What's it missing?
I want to do the following:
1) Mismatch drive sizes - I have a bunch ranging from 1.5 TB to 300 GB
2) Parity protection - like unRaid does... devote one drive to safety, no more
3) Lots of drives - 9 or 10 (external USB drive support would be great!!!!!)
4) stick drives together... right now I have like 5 movie directories on 5 different drives; I want to jumble them together so that I can have 5 HD's, all showing up as /movies
5) Keep data intact, so that if I pull a HD out of the server, all the movies on it are still readable by another computer
Which out of FreeNAS, unRaid, and WHS can do all of those?
So unRaid and WHS both can, but not FreeNAS? What's it missing?
WHS cannot do parity protection, can it?
As far as I know, WHS only duplicates selected files/dirs across multiple disks.
unRAID is quite unique with that type of parity protection.
Nope - I squiz read it a bit quick... WHS doesnt like RAID - You can hook up an external drive and configure that as a backup for the server as well as coping it across multiple disks... it will pool your drives as well so you wont have the multiple folder problem for your movies....
slicemaster
2009-11-09, 07:01
I personally recommend FreeNAS, it is free, runs on cheap hardware and is very easy to install/configure/maintain.
PS! Feel free to update the NAS (Network Attached Storage) (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=NAS) wiki article.
:grin:
I second FreeNAS! It is great, simply bullet proof, it supports basically all the hardware out there, old or new, cheap or expensive, low end or ultra high end! I've been running mine on a socket 939 Athlon64 rig with a 12 channel Areca PCIe raid controller and it can handle anything i throw at it.