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53 Comments
- peeonks, on 10/11/2007, -3/+29For the price this setup would cost, I'll stick with my modded xbox. Cool though.
- theShiba, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17That's a LOT of work just to watch porn.
- hollywoodphony, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12Am I alone in thinking that this kid represents everything wrong with Digg and the internet as a whole?
- keithmcbride, on 10/11/2007, -3/+13agree 100%
- LycoLoco, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9Seriously. This guy spent too much money on his setup. Here's what I've essentially got
$300: 1.3 ghz Celeron running Ubuntu with SMB sharing
$100: 400 gig hard drive
$100: Soft-modded xbox running XBMC with Component cables (which can also do Optical out if your receiver supports that)
$40: WRT compatible router
$0: uTorrent
----------------
$540 for a setup which I've been using for two years and absolutely love. With XBMC getting better and better every week with continuous SVN updates, you really can't go wrong (unless you're a fiend for 720p content).
As always, you can save a ton of money by not using any one brand (in this case Apple), so why do what's unnecessary just to play brand loyalty? - lpmiller, on 10/11/2007, -8/+15Follow the crowd? Of those that use the computer system not used by most people? I don't think you understand what the word "crowd" means.
- danielwsmithee, on 10/11/2007, -0/+6You can do essentially the same thing for a lot cheaper then this setup without using the Xserve Raid. Yeah pretty cool though. Do the same thing with a Mac Mini or your existing iMac and some firewire drives. Whatever you have around.
- adam84a, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5@iamlost456
I'm sure you could build other OS X based solutions for less, this is a tad bit excessive compared to the needs of an average user. - mochaman, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6This setup is great if you have a company, but here is what I would do for home:
Mac Mini $706 80GB HD2GB RAM (off eBay)
Miglia TVMAX HDTV $356 includes El Gato EyeTV
Airport Extreme $179 Wireless hub
Drobo 1TB Storage $750 ( this unit can scale up to 2 TB )
Logitech Z5500 Speaker System $350
Harmony 890 Universal Remote $250
Total $2591
Assuming that you have TV and Cable or Satellite service. - mrsteve007, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4From wikipedia about WHS 'RAID' (it doesn't need a raid controller)
Windows Home Server Drive Extender is a file-based replication system that provides three key capabilities:[8]
* Multi-disk redundancy so that if any given disk fails, data is not lost
* Arbitrary storage expansion by supporting any type of hard disk drive (Serial ATA, USB, FireWire etc.) in any mixture and capacity
* A single folder namespace (no drive letters)
So it does offer data redundancy, but doesn't follow former conventions = sorta raid. - echinda, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3It was expensive, but mostly because of the huge RAID setup. From the guy's posts:
"XServe RAID $5500 purchased ex-Demo from Apple Australia (2007)
MDD G4 Current value about $600 or so, purchased new around 2001
PowerBook G4 Current value about $300, purchased new in 2001
Mac Minis (2x Core Duo, 1x Core Solo) Purchased in 2006 in firesales, approx $600 each"
He didn't add in the Elgato gear, cabling and whatnot, but call that another $1500 for a total of $9100 (or $3600 pre-RAID). - CalgaryTechGuy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@mrsteve007
A "built in raid-like feature" isn't truly a raid now is it? - ericdano, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5Um, yeah, if you have like $20K to plunk down.
I'll stick to my 2 terrabyte NAS that is on my network. - CalgaryTechGuy, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3@mrsteve,
He could have just enabled the software RAID in OSX and had mirroring or striping for free, but I believe he was using RAID 5. I would say that it is a little different. - beef623, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6Heh, I'll fight hard before putting a mac on my network (or even in my building). How about a linux-based iTunes server for a lot cheaper?
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Apple_ITunes_Server - supermanred, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I personally just keep 2 external usb drives hooked up to my Apple Airport wireless N router so anywhere I am in the house or around the block with my macbook, I have secure connection to my media drives and my music / video library. It would be otherwise tough to get a terabyte of storage on my macbook to watch videos and listen to music while I work on my car in the garage.
- ralphwillgoss, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2+1 digg for the well written article, great content and links
- 5wallace, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Fantastically in depth, well thought out article. This takes bits and pieces that are all over the net and places them in one easy to read (yet lengthy) article. Cheers. Now, where did I put that spare $30k?
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2He used Omnigraffle (OS X) to do the diagrams BTW.
- scmiles, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2MOD Chip in my XBOX running LINUX with external swappable hard-drives, attached to network, with media on SCSI SAN, Can play every video and audio format, been running it for about 6 years.
- iamlost456, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6"Um, yeah, if you have like $20K to plunk down." - ericdano
So true, I'm pretty sure you could build a similar setup using Linux/Windows combo for a whole lot less! - echinda, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Wow - 4.4 Tbs of RAID storage for less than $2,000! You're right, the system you describe has the same capabilities for way less money!
[/ sarcasm] - kazamx, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I stream Xvid or DivX movies encoded to around 700mb with no problems. I have a PC with about 1TB of storage hardwired into a wireless router. My laptop streams movies and music. My TV gets the content via an XBMC.
Total spent to get it all set up
£300 on HD
Already had a PC, laptop and Xbox. Nothing else needed - Erkan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Tell me more about your XBOX running Linux!
You run dual harddrives on it? - cywei99, on 02/12/2008, -0/+1nice and informative article. Thanks for sharing!
http://www.mindpowerspecialreport.com/
http://www.myselfhypnosis.net/ - Balk2K, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1That would be in AUD though, knock 20% off for USD. Still pretty exxy though
- mikehill33, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I dugg it, but still like my setup better.
Media Center 2005, 500GB of media on a network share.
iTunes always running, come home with work laptop and it leeches right onto the home share.
All this crap was cool, but overkill.
Nice diagramming though! - ajchavar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1ditto, i currently use a 200GB external ($88 on newegg) but hope to upgrade to a 1TB raid setup before the end of summer (i do photography and travel a lot so being able to backup my stuff from anywhere i can get internet is a big deal for me)
- nufoto, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Awesome setup! Excellent Article! I loved the fact he re purposed the old hardware. nice work now where can I find a cheap used Xserve Raid? and the security cameras is a nice addition!
- Balk2K, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1And that's an original Xbox, not the 360, right, LycoLoco?
That guy has a pretty sweet setup though. No wonder why he has all the security cameras with all that gear lying around. He can even afford Canon prosumer security cameras! ;) - theShiba, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@danielwsmithee
Yeah... the Xserve is kind of a pricey way of doing this. There are definitely way better ways do to this without using such an expensive server. - macboyrules, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2"Actually install 5, 1tb Hitachi deskstar 7k1000 drives ($399 each) into the MS home server and you would have 5TB of redundancy for $2,000"
5 * $399 = $1,995
So you can get a nice, reliable MSHS box that will hold 5 disks for $5? Even at $2,000 for hardware, you are no where near the speed and reliabilty of a dedicated RAID box like the Xserve RAID. I'm not saying that you need that kind of power for home theater, but at least compare Apple's to Apple's (no pun intended) - sickswaystop, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2well done, this article covers just about everything, only thing left is recording TV via internet and storing locally.
- astrogoth, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I bought an Apple TV a month or so ago and it streams everything but HD movies really well. For HD, I have to "Sync" the movies to the Apple TV unit before watching them or else it will hang every few seconds. That said, my Apple TV is all the way across the house and on a different floor than the Airport Express I dedicated to it, so I probably could have gotten better results using a closer AP.
It worked well enough that I bought another Apple TV for the bedroom, and they both can stream SD movies at the same time. - KibibyteBrain, on 10/11/2007, -6/+6A friend of mine has a home stereo system set up entirely of tube-based equipment with hand made antique cases. He is so stupid. Digital stuff works so much better. His preferences and tastes that may prefer such equipment for aesthetics or something are useless. He's just following the crowd.
- inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I'm working on setting up a server using a G4 400mhz 512 of ram and two 120gb drives. One drive will hold all my iTunes bought movies and one will hold my music and backups. It will also work as a print server for my iBook and my girlfriends Dell laptop.
One question: does anyone have experience with streaming movies across a Wifi G netowrk? - kodek, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1The Harmony remote is amazing. I have one and now even my mom can use our setup (inc. modded xbox w/xbmc)
- jamesatfish, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0edit- pic of setup added to original article.
- ajchavar, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1the WD mybook can go up to 1.5TB i believe for about $100 cheaper (though i could be wrong on the price by just a bit, and it may do up to 2TB, but also, i could be wrong), and it can do wireless if you connect the gigabit ethernet to your router. . .
- jamesatfish, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0article's OP here - thanks to all for the comments! (both good and bad...)
To answer some of the particular queries, I've updated the article with more detailed costings (all in Aussie dollars) and will post a pic or two of the setup for those who haven't seen an XServe RAID sitting in a re-commissioned linen cupboard before.
Hope the article was an interesting read anyway. - blackfog, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3what a boring way to spend $20k.
- mattylees, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3Wow, great work mate :D got some great ideas now!
- taforever, on 10/11/2007, -7/+5pics or it didnt happen
- jull1234, on 10/11/2007, -8/+5"Apple-based - I'm a Mac zealot and will fight hard before installing a non Apple product"
Pretty much sums up why I hate (nay.. find distasteful) 'apple people'. Its like a damn cult.
Pretty cool setup, however. - iamlost456, on 10/11/2007, -6/+2Umm, okay. Alot of mac fans are people who don't know alot about computers and simply do it cause "They don't have viruses", which is a lie, and other stupid things fed to them from the media and commercials. And he is following the crowd as alot of people who buy mac stuff bought a mac cause there iPod was cool and they think that a Mac must be pretty sweet too!
- mrsteve007, on 10/11/2007, -4/+0echinda -
Actually install 5, 1tb Hitachi deskstar 7k1000 drives ($399 each) into the MS home server and you would have 5TB of redundancy for $2,000. Or spend 10 times as much and have less space like this guy.
/no sarcasm - mrsteve007, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2This is easy:
-Windows home server
-Xbox 360
-Windows mobile device
total cost= less than $2,000
With it you can watch movies or listen to music from anywhere. The home server will stream content over the internet, and has a built in raid-like feature. Plus it'll back up all of the other computers around the house without duplication of files. Plus have a super easy to configure to use interface. Silly mac-fans wasting money. - evilevil, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2seems contradictory...
Ultimate + iTunes + Media Server
his solution is to actually LET PEOPLE CONNECT TO THE ITUNES STORE TO PURCHASE MUSIC THROUGH ITUNES - wow what a great media server, how clever and original
***** tool - TheSeraph, on 10/11/2007, -13/+8As soon as I found that part in the article, I quickly hit the back button.
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