NASLite Network Attached Storage

I know this is off subject from the technology itself but I would be interested to know more about how people are streaming DVD's and music to/from PC's will data stored on the NAS.

I would like to set up a windows media center PC in the near future but need to store all data on the nas rather than locally. I have been currently using Nero to copy DVD's to images on the nas then mounting the image using neros image drive, Im sure there must be betters way then this - only nero does not like all DVDs.

I have not started considering music files yet - so any imput would be appriciated.

Regards,

Jason

there are two ways in which i get my ripped dvds to the server.
1. directly to the NASlite+ server : which takes around 45mins per dvd.
2. directly to the internal HDD on my pc : takes about 23mins per dvd .
---- the only catch to the ripping directly to the internal HDD is that u still have to spend time copying those dvd files to the server

i use dvdShrink to rip my dvds, which does a pretty good job. it doenst do all the dvds but a majority of them.

i am currently in the process of building a Media center pc, which will be connected to a projector in the living room. it will in turn access all the dvds, mpeg movies, and music files from the NASlite server.

i suggest building a media center pc that is just about powerful enough to play streamed uncompressed dvd files from the NASlite+ server. it doesnt have to be super powerful. Albeit on the other hand, if you want ur media center pc to burn the dvds off the server, then i do suggest at least a pc running at 512mb RAM and 1GHz processor speed.

ummmm........if you plan on ripping A LOT of dvds onto the NASlite+ server, i suggest 1tb of HDD space.

what esle....

oh streaming the actual files....

if u already have a network setup, then streaming the files would be a breeeze!
just connect your server to a free port on your router or switch; then u can simply map the drives of the NASlite+ server to the media center pc, or any of the other pcs on ur network. it's just as simple going into "My Computer" and opening up you " c:/ " drive.

oh and about the music files, it's really the same deal as streaming the dvds, just have program that can read the format of music that you have, and presto!

if you have any specific questions, dont hesitate to ask.

I rip my dvd's using dvd decrypter to my local drive then dvd2one to compress them and I output them to the NASlite, At the moment I only store a few movies, the plan is to get all of them backed up to the NASbox but I'll need some serious storage for that

There are various programs available for playing movies streamed from a NAS, I use Power DVD and I have a trial version of Elcard Mpeg4 player because it will play High Def movies. Also Windows Media Player 10 does a good job for both Movies and music. And winamp is rated very highly by the real music buffs. If you want a free customisable all in one package, try Xlobby, not sure how I stand on links so I suggest a search on google.

My HTPC has an MSI motherboard with an XP3000+ Athlon chip 1gb RAM and a ATI 9600 pro card, the motherboard has an optical out sound port which connects to my amp and my graphics card connects to the Plasma screen via VGA. My network is gigabit and other than struggling a little with the high def stuff a whole other story see the relevant posts!!! the system works really well.

There's loads of info available for HTPC's but look at ideas other than Windows Media centre. There's better stuff available for the various requirments and the PC can be left running windows xp which is a lot less fussy about which hardware you install .

Go for it you won't be disapointed.

Here's something you may want to look into. It's the MediaREADY 5000. I'm following a few threads on other sites to see what others think about it. It can be found at http://www.vwbinc.com.

My understanding is it will map drives with no problems, so hook this thing up to a 1TB NAS box and WOW!!!

Here's an easy way to do this with MS MCE 2005... I use DVDecrypter and DVD Shrink to get VIDEO_TS folders that are <4GB (since I'm still using the floppy version of NASLITE). I then copy the DVD Folder to the NAS Server.

On the MCE 2005 system, I have a plugin called MyMovies (google it - I don't have the link available here). This allows me to create a database of the DVDs on the NAS server, and if I point the database entry to the right DVD folder, MyMovies will play the movie directly in MCE.

If you want to use DVD image files (.iso) and have Daemon Tools installed on your MCE, MyMovies will mount the .iso as a DVD and play the movie as well...

Hope this helps!

Jim

I have got a setup similar to what you are planning... My goal has been to be as thrifty as possible so most of the hardware is hardware that I have scrabbleed up or at least got cheap.

I have the media pc set up for the past 12 months and got it to a place where I am happy with it... I wont bother going through the full setup but (happy to if you want more info) here is the overview of the PC's

Media PC
Compaq p 800, 384mb ram, 1x20gb HDD (OS), 1 x 80gb HDD, 1x120gbHDD, generic 128mb video card, sb live 5.1 sound card, 100mb on board network card, Leadteak TV card, streamzap remote, IR keyboard with built in gamepad like mouse, BenQ projector

Software
WinXP Pro, Meedio http://www.meedio.com, power DVD, various utilities

obvious question: why meedio? First reason $$. Meedio is cheaper than Win WCE and I do not have to have "certified" hardware to run it on. EG the leadteck tv card is only software encoding so not supported by MCE.

Why not Linux? Fraid I am a windows boy, windows support for a job so much more confortable with windows.

where is the NAS? Good question... I have just set it up over the past month so still going the hardware collection as the PC (AMD 700) only has 20gb hdd. But I am currently using the nas to backup my photos and home movies to.

Streaming from the Nas? I have tested this currently with excellent results. MP3's are certainly not an issue. DVD video ripped with DVD shrink is not an issue, flawless playback. MPG (Dvd quality home movie) I played 2 videos back to 2 PC's (media pc and office pc) at the same time with no stuttering or skips.

With the new version I copied a 7gb capture from my raw video camera. As a comparision DVD quality id 4GB per hour, raw video uses 12gb per hour. I streamed this to my pc... there was a bit of stuttering at the start but this was reduced to almost nil after about 10 sec.

Things to do
• Get the disks from the media PC into the NAS
• Upgrade the media PC - although it runs fine there are a couple of times when backgroud tasks cause the video playback to have a very small stutter. I notice it but no one else would and it is a little noisy
• Get a hardware encoding TV card
• Get a second meedio PC for the TV in the family room
• MORE DISK!

And the big test... what does my wife think Ok lets be honest at first she though it was a huge waste of time and she did not want a PC in the lounge, now she is quite happy with it and in fact with meedio my older kids (6 year old twin girls) can even work it themselves to get their own music

So my advice would be to check out meedio as an option for the htpc but certainly worth it

I have since ver 1.3 been able to copy my high def movies onto the NASbox but I have been really struggling to play them back over the network smoothly WMP10, Power DVD, Windvd tried em all, data transfer rates seems good I'm running a gigabit network so I was looking for help and stumbled across a post on the high def forum recommending a player called VLC media player, well I've tried everyone elses so I downloaded it and it works like a dream and it's free, plays every format I could throw at it, high def TS movies, the WM ones plus the usual ripped dvd files, very basic interface but all the settings I needed were there and I want it for playing the movies not looking pretty and play them it does

There is a lot of info on there website http://www.videolan.org (hope it's ok to post links Tony, please edit out if not) They have other programs and OS versions including a streaming server version, now Tony how about incorporating that into vers 2.0 NASlitemedia edition

All I can say is that this is the smoothest player yet for playing video off my network I can recommend it.

I use DVDx to rip the DVD to a normal mpeg file and then put it onto the NAS.

I can then view the files using normal media players, I use Media Player Classic.

I can view these files on my tv using my Hauppage MVP box