2011-02-08, 07:20
Hi everyone I have a lot to learn but am interested in getting myself a good htpc/nas setup. I understand there are detailed guides and I need to do some research myself, so these are just general "is this a good general idea/is this possible" type of a thread.
I have moderate (albeit outdated) experience putting together computers and networks. Used to build my own boxes back in the overclocking days of 2.4c, prescotts, etc.
However, recently I have been using laptops exclusively, and simply external hard drives for backup/storage usage.
I am interested in setting up a NAS box, an HTPC front end (initially i considered wdtv but wanted to use xbmc and more options so decided on a nettop type box). I will need to get a decent receiver (something like a denon avr 1911 or avr 591) at some point.
1. NAS. I understand the merits of using an old tower stuffed full of drives in a RAID array but I do not have any of these 'parts' left over and dont want a power/noise hog as it will be in my living room wired into my router/tv/cable etc.
I have basically decided on a synology 4 bay setup. I am having trouble deciding between a ds410 and a ds411j. The ds410 (approx $500 no drives) has a weaker processor, but 512 mb ram and may soon be replaced by a newer processor ds411 model. The ds411j ($375 no drives) has a slighly better processor but only 128 ram, no esata and no wake on lan.
Both will do what I want, the question is how good will they do it lol. They have an excellent linux based dashboard system which lets me run sbnzb+/sickbeard as well as a transmission port for torrents. I will be using the NAS exclusively for: storage/backup purposes, streaming high def video/music to my front end, heavy use with usenet, and occasional torrent use (letting them seed).
The question I have here is can the cheaper model successfully stream 1080p to my tv and run newsgroup download / extract /repair at the same time? Also, is the performance of the extract/repair on the cheaper model abysmally slow? Synology's forums are a bit slow...
I plan on initially using two 2 TB drives and adding another two as funds permit.
2. HTPC - I am looking at a nettop box. I would prefer not to go the route of microatx at this point in time.
I am looking primarily at the zotac mag (no o/s) and a acer aspire revo model with w7hp. Either one would be wired directly cat5/6 to my router (dir 655) like the NAS.
a) Since this is simply a mini pc, I assume the htpc frontend will essentially use the tv as the monitor, correct?
b) I have limited experience with linux/ubuntu but if I go the zotac route, I think I will at least try it out - I will only really want to use the htpc for maybe basic internet browsing and xbmc/maybe some boxee use.
c) I have never really personally setup/used vpn but I would like to be able to do this for my htpc to control from my laptop. I assume that is something that is pretty easy and feasible?
d) I have read mixed reviews about stuttering/etc with hulu/youtube streaming to the tv. Not sure whats up here but figure I can always use xbmc plugins/boxee for this.
e) I know the audio comes from the file itself but I sure hope either one of these systems provides good (up to 5.1) in dts, pass through all that stuff, to a future good receiver and speakers.
Most of my video will be local files or rips i have of movies, etc or through usenet.
I understand if I am not really posting a lot of questions per se, but I would like some feedback on my thought process and any suggestions you all might have. I am looking forward to stop watching movies on my alienware m11xr2 lol
I have moderate (albeit outdated) experience putting together computers and networks. Used to build my own boxes back in the overclocking days of 2.4c, prescotts, etc.
However, recently I have been using laptops exclusively, and simply external hard drives for backup/storage usage.
I am interested in setting up a NAS box, an HTPC front end (initially i considered wdtv but wanted to use xbmc and more options so decided on a nettop type box). I will need to get a decent receiver (something like a denon avr 1911 or avr 591) at some point.
1. NAS. I understand the merits of using an old tower stuffed full of drives in a RAID array but I do not have any of these 'parts' left over and dont want a power/noise hog as it will be in my living room wired into my router/tv/cable etc.
I have basically decided on a synology 4 bay setup. I am having trouble deciding between a ds410 and a ds411j. The ds410 (approx $500 no drives) has a weaker processor, but 512 mb ram and may soon be replaced by a newer processor ds411 model. The ds411j ($375 no drives) has a slighly better processor but only 128 ram, no esata and no wake on lan.
Both will do what I want, the question is how good will they do it lol. They have an excellent linux based dashboard system which lets me run sbnzb+/sickbeard as well as a transmission port for torrents. I will be using the NAS exclusively for: storage/backup purposes, streaming high def video/music to my front end, heavy use with usenet, and occasional torrent use (letting them seed).
The question I have here is can the cheaper model successfully stream 1080p to my tv and run newsgroup download / extract /repair at the same time? Also, is the performance of the extract/repair on the cheaper model abysmally slow? Synology's forums are a bit slow...
I plan on initially using two 2 TB drives and adding another two as funds permit.
2. HTPC - I am looking at a nettop box. I would prefer not to go the route of microatx at this point in time.
I am looking primarily at the zotac mag (no o/s) and a acer aspire revo model with w7hp. Either one would be wired directly cat5/6 to my router (dir 655) like the NAS.
a) Since this is simply a mini pc, I assume the htpc frontend will essentially use the tv as the monitor, correct?
b) I have limited experience with linux/ubuntu but if I go the zotac route, I think I will at least try it out - I will only really want to use the htpc for maybe basic internet browsing and xbmc/maybe some boxee use.
c) I have never really personally setup/used vpn but I would like to be able to do this for my htpc to control from my laptop. I assume that is something that is pretty easy and feasible?
d) I have read mixed reviews about stuttering/etc with hulu/youtube streaming to the tv. Not sure whats up here but figure I can always use xbmc plugins/boxee for this.
e) I know the audio comes from the file itself but I sure hope either one of these systems provides good (up to 5.1) in dts, pass through all that stuff, to a future good receiver and speakers.
Most of my video will be local files or rips i have of movies, etc or through usenet.
I understand if I am not really posting a lot of questions per se, but I would like some feedback on my thought process and any suggestions you all might have. I am looking forward to stop watching movies on my alienware m11xr2 lol
