Media center / HTPC advice needed - storage

[pheonixsingh]

Hi

Right ok guys, need a bit of help on this one

Ive got a HTPC media center setup in the living room, it can play anything thrown at it up to 1080p, at the moment it runs films etc locally from the hard drive.

Ive also got another media center running films locally, its not that powerful as plays only up to 720p x264

Now ive got a external hardrive at the moment and switching between the two, but its getting tedious and i need a decent storage solution


Ive got another main pc that I use for surfing and a bit of work etc not much else, what im basically looking to do is to set some sort of media sharing thing up.

Im not too hot on storage techniques, but what i basically need is something that will allow my 2 HTPc's to recieve media and play them back, now im not too sure if I should just set up a pc to share everything over a network or get those NAS things, im not really too sure how they work and if il get anything decent that wont blow a hole in my pocket!

at the moment Ive not got them networked, but if i had to run a wire or get a wireless card it would be possible.

if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.

[Goldberg]

Just let the machines see each other over the network. This way you will be able to access the data from each machine (if you share particular drives/folders) and if you have a decent wired/wireless connection it should not be a problem sharing between the two.

What Operating systems are they using. If it is Vista or XP Pro this will not be a problem. Just 'right click' and share the desired folders/drives on each machine and then 'map a network drive' on the other which should then see the folders/drives in the network area.

I am been a bit vague I know but I will see if I can dig out a guide. Even if you add a NAS box to your network you would have to do the above anyway. If both machines are on 24/7 then go with my solution.

On my setup I have a HTPC (dual core atom based, does 720p but so does my TV until I upgrade). I have two USB HD's attached with one for music, the other for Movies/TV shows. I can then see them from any other machine (or netbooks lol) in the house or the 360.

I even use this method to share the DVD drive on the HTPC to be used on my Netbook when installing some older apps.

Look for some simple guides like this one:

http://www.cnet.com.au/share-files-a...-240055565.htm

*EDIT*

1 thing to consider, I have found from time to time that you need to set up passwords on the machines in order for this to work. It will ask you for a username & Password even if no password is set up. Entering nothing will not work.... There are windows registry tweaks you can do to automatically log into a machine when you boot it up if this is inconvenient.

[pheonixsingh]

that sounds pretty good mate and cheap lol
is a normal router ok for the HD content? or do i need to go for gigabit?

[Goldberg]

Wired or wireless?

Wireless, make sure you get a good wireless 'n' router and make sure the PC's are compatible.
If it is wired then if it is gigabit Ethernet you will have no issues at all with 1080p but not always essential. If you have a router now on 100mb connection just try it. HD is normally 50-80mb p/s to play back so some will struggle as you will not always achieve the top... but again just give it a whirl.

[pheonixsingh]

I will be running a wired connection to the main htpc soon, and the secondary will be wireless.

looks like im going to get a new router as I think the one sky provided probably wont cut it?

[Goldberg]

Probably not for full HD no. Just make sure it is a 802.11n router. Some of them have boosters etc... and the other machine will need to have a 802.11n dongle to go with it. Look on the gadget show website, they reviewed some this week.

OR you could get yourself some good powerline adapters, but that all depends on the cable in your house...


http://fwd.five.tv/search?q=router&commit=Search

[pheonixsingh]

*EDIT*

1 thing to consider, I have found from time to time that you need to set up passwords on the machines in order for this to work. It will ask you for a username & Password even if no password is set up. Entering nothing will not work.... There are windows registry tweaks you can do to automatically log into a machine when you boot it up if this is inconvenient.

Thanks for the advice mate, have you got info on how to do this tweak? I remember sharing drives before and it being a pain in the ass asking for user&pass when i didnt even set them up

[Goldberg]

I will try and dig it out tomorrow mate