2008-10-27, 13:16
Hi all,
I've been reading up on this for a week and my eyes are bleeding. Time for me to put some questions to people more experienced than I.
I am in the process of building a media storage server. The server would be running some flavour of Linux (probably Ubuntu), running software raid 6 (if it isn't too taxing on the CPU - raid 5 if it is). The intent is that the server will run 24/7, run various lightweight server apps like bittorrent, will have a TV tuner to record and play OTA HD and SD TV and run something like MythTV to serve a couple of TVs.
It is probably going to be sitting in the living room and would probably be quieter than the Xbox that I am using as a HTPC now so I figured that I may as well have the server double as a HD HTPC as the Xbox can't do h264 and other HD stuff.
If I did make the server double as a HTPC, I'd probably be running XBMC for Linux to handle things (wifey likes the familiar). That would be the extent of its duties. No 3d power required at all.
I have no preference for AMD or Intel. The decision would probably be made by motherboard features and cost... although the E8400 seems to get a good wrap for XBMC playing 1080 stuff.
I am practically Linux ignorant. I did a chunk of system programming on Unix at Uni, but that was nearly 10 years ago. No idea how quickly I'll pick it up.
My build would probably look something like (only existing parts are set in stone):
Case: NZXT Whisper
PSU: Corsair HX620 (existing)
RAM: 4gb Kingston DDR2 800 HyperX (existing)
HDDs: an IDE OS drive and a bunch of SATAII 750gb for raid (existing)
Mobo: Something like the GA-EP45-DS5 (10 SATA ports and multi PCIe are nice considering it's a server - but integrated graphics might be nice? Would prefer a board with optical SPDIF out)
CPU: E8400?
Graphics: ? XBMC can't harness hardware acceleration, should I bother? Are there integrated graphics worth looking at? HDMI output would be nice too. I have a 6600gt or 8800gt I could use. I'd like to have a single HDMI connection to TV that takes the sound as well (is that possible in Linux/XBMC?) so that's a consideration as well.
Sound card: Onboard would suffice unless the above precludes it. The DS5 has the Realtek ALC889A which supports Dolby Home Theatre (Does anyone know if this is supported by Linux/XBMC?)
So:
1. Is there any other hardware I would need to add to make it an XBMC HTPC?
2. What motherboard/CPU/Graphics cards would you suggest given my constraints? Particularly, would the CPU overhead of running Linux raid 6 impact playback of 1080 stuff on an E8400? Would an E8500 make enough difference to matter?
3. Does anyone know if the GA-EP45-DS5 has any known Linux/XBMC issues?
4. Any suggestions on a TV card that will work in Linux, work with MythTV/SageTV and doesn't cost a million dollars? Remember it only needs to grab OTA channels, no cable or anything.
5. I have a crappy IR receiver (sigmatel?) that I bought years ago, and we have a HP branded remoted that came with my wife's XP MCE laptop. Would those work in XBMC?
Large first post, I know. All opinions appreciated.
Kris
I've been reading up on this for a week and my eyes are bleeding. Time for me to put some questions to people more experienced than I.
I am in the process of building a media storage server. The server would be running some flavour of Linux (probably Ubuntu), running software raid 6 (if it isn't too taxing on the CPU - raid 5 if it is). The intent is that the server will run 24/7, run various lightweight server apps like bittorrent, will have a TV tuner to record and play OTA HD and SD TV and run something like MythTV to serve a couple of TVs.
It is probably going to be sitting in the living room and would probably be quieter than the Xbox that I am using as a HTPC now so I figured that I may as well have the server double as a HD HTPC as the Xbox can't do h264 and other HD stuff.
If I did make the server double as a HTPC, I'd probably be running XBMC for Linux to handle things (wifey likes the familiar). That would be the extent of its duties. No 3d power required at all.
I have no preference for AMD or Intel. The decision would probably be made by motherboard features and cost... although the E8400 seems to get a good wrap for XBMC playing 1080 stuff.
I am practically Linux ignorant. I did a chunk of system programming on Unix at Uni, but that was nearly 10 years ago. No idea how quickly I'll pick it up.
My build would probably look something like (only existing parts are set in stone):
Case: NZXT Whisper
PSU: Corsair HX620 (existing)
RAM: 4gb Kingston DDR2 800 HyperX (existing)
HDDs: an IDE OS drive and a bunch of SATAII 750gb for raid (existing)
Mobo: Something like the GA-EP45-DS5 (10 SATA ports and multi PCIe are nice considering it's a server - but integrated graphics might be nice? Would prefer a board with optical SPDIF out)
CPU: E8400?
Graphics: ? XBMC can't harness hardware acceleration, should I bother? Are there integrated graphics worth looking at? HDMI output would be nice too. I have a 6600gt or 8800gt I could use. I'd like to have a single HDMI connection to TV that takes the sound as well (is that possible in Linux/XBMC?) so that's a consideration as well.
Sound card: Onboard would suffice unless the above precludes it. The DS5 has the Realtek ALC889A which supports Dolby Home Theatre (Does anyone know if this is supported by Linux/XBMC?)
So:
1. Is there any other hardware I would need to add to make it an XBMC HTPC?
2. What motherboard/CPU/Graphics cards would you suggest given my constraints? Particularly, would the CPU overhead of running Linux raid 6 impact playback of 1080 stuff on an E8400? Would an E8500 make enough difference to matter?
3. Does anyone know if the GA-EP45-DS5 has any known Linux/XBMC issues?
4. Any suggestions on a TV card that will work in Linux, work with MythTV/SageTV and doesn't cost a million dollars? Remember it only needs to grab OTA channels, no cable or anything.
5. I have a crappy IR receiver (sigmatel?) that I bought years ago, and we have a HP branded remoted that came with my wife's XP MCE laptop. Would those work in XBMC?
Large first post, I know. All opinions appreciated.
Kris