[ivseenbetter]

Currently I have a windows 7 htpc running xbmc to my living room TV. All media resides on that htpc. It also runs playon, sickbeard, sabnzbd, and couch potato. Having everything on one box works great...although I do have to reboot every once in awhile when something hiccups. But now I want to add xbmc to multiple rooms. I was thinking I could just add htpc systems where I need them and run SMB back to my original htpc to access my library. I imagine this option would work.

However, I wonder if there are any benefits to completely seperating the storage from the xbmc box completely? Perhaps an unraid server for storage and then let all htpc systems reach into it for content? What are the pros and cons for either option?

[Ned Scott]

My setup is normally the main HTPC with HDDs sharing to the extras. If the main HTPC is on all the time then it shouldn't make any difference, in theory.

[ivseenbetter]

That's what I'm thinking too. Not sure if there is a good reason to have just an unraid server when my htpc box can serve both roles. Maybe there are good reasons for a separate server from the htpc and I just need help seeing those reasons.

[Ned Scott]

The only one I can see is power savings. You can sleep the HTPC and have a little RAID box run all the time, or just wake on lan when needed. Or if you were really taxing the HTPC and needed to off-load the file sharing functions to get more power out of the HTPC.