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    Media Server Idea

    Anyone around here have experience with media servers?

    I've got a bit of free time on my hands right now and I am in the process of ripping my collection of DVDs and compiling them and using Plex media server to keep the database straight and to play them back using Chromecast in my house.

    Currently I am doing this off my MacBook Pro, but what I ultimately want to do now, I think; is to use a macmini that I have lying around to do my file serving and then possibly getting another older (2009 intel) macmini running some form of Linux and MythTV to capture and record live TV through the use of an HD HomeRun. Using the macmini's are so that I don't eat up a ton of power or space.

    The questions I have floating around in my head are:

    Can I configure mythTV to record TV, flag the commercials, convert into MP4 and then send the file automatically to a folder on my server running OSX? (I've kinda sworn off windows, and I already own the hardware so, yeah)
    The reason why I want to do this is to avoid using the same system to do the recording and streaming to chromecast.

    What's the best way to backup my drives?
    Right now the plan for the file server is to use high capacity (2 TB or so) external hard drives with a small (120 GB or so) SSD in the macmini to run the OS from.

    How much storage space would I need on the MythTV/Linux box?
    I'm assuming not too much if I am able to process the video directly to the server I could probably get away with a small SSD running the OS and .5-1TB for temp storage of the files.

    Edit:
    Made this sweet diagram...
    Last edited by The G-Man; 03-09-2015, 01:44 PM.
    Gary A.K.A. Carter
    [sig killed by photobucket]

    #2
    I have no experience with MythTV or anything with Macs (aside from crashing the entire graphics lab at my college before I dropped the class... )

    However, I use Everyday Auto Backup for my own computer. I have it set to back up my work files to my 2tb external drive every night at 3am. My computer is always running, so it works very well. It's simple and easy to use, and it's not resource-intensive.
    Of course, I typed all that out, THEN decided to check to see if it's Windows-only... and it seems that it is I guess my input is useless!
    It might give you something to search for in terms of a backup program, though. Perhaps someone has one for your computer that is comparable.






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      #3
      Originally posted by deevergote View Post
      I have no experience with MythTV or anything with Macs (aside from crashing the entire graphics lab at my college before I dropped the class... )

      However, I use Everyday Auto Backup for my own computer. I have it set to back up my work files to my 2tb external drive every night at 3am. My computer is always running, so it works very well. It's simple and easy to use, and it's not resource-intensive.
      Of course, I typed all that out, THEN decided to check to see if it's Windows-only... and it seems that it is I guess my input is useless!
      It might give you something to search for in terms of a backup program, though. Perhaps someone has one for your computer that is comparable.
      No problem Mike, I suppose a 3rd party program would be the best way to go for that, and now that I think of it, there are probably a lot out there to choose from.
      Gary A.K.A. Carter
      [sig killed by photobucket]

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        #4
        consider XBMC (now Kodi)

        For a server, consider unraid: http://lime-technology.com/

        I'm running XBMC on a media computer that reads from my unraid server. I've got 3x5 hdd bays and only have 3 filled with 4tb drives. That gives me 8tb plus parody for backups. Next upgrade step is to buy the full unraid, buy 2 PCIE SATA cards and then buy the drives. I have 15 hdd bays so if I filled them with 4tb drives I'd have 56tb of storage. Fill them with 8tb drives = 112tb, etc.
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          #5
          Likely more reliable for your setup, as well. Windows programs are often iffy due to the countless combinations of hardware.

          How do you plan on controlling the display on your TV? I currently have my primary computer functioning as a ghetto media server. Basically, I just have an HDMI cable running through my basement, up into my living room (computer is in the dining room, on the other end of the house.) When I set the TV to run on that HDMI input, it pops on as a third monitor. I then have to return to my computer to reroute the sound to the TV, and fire up whatever video I want to watch. I then use a bluetooth keyboard with a touchpad attached (very useful device) to work the computer from my couch.
          It's nice once I get it going, but it's a fairly cumbersome setup. I'd love to find a way to streamline it.






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            #6
            Originally posted by Pandemic View Post
            consider XBMC (now Kodi)

            For a server, consider unraid: http://lime-technology.com/

            I'm running XBMC on a media computer that reads from my unraid server. I've got 3x5 hdd bays and only have 3 filled with 4tb drives. That gives me 8tb plus parody for backups. Next upgrade step is to buy the full unraid, buy 2 PCIE SATA cards and then buy the drives. I have 15 hdd bays so if I filled them with 4tb drives I'd have 56tb of storage. Fill them with 8tb drives = 112tb, etc.
            unraid actually looks pretty nice. Especially since I'm not sure if I even have a valid OSX license right now... the MacMini in question has been running Win7 since it was given to me in 2010.

            Originally posted by deevergote View Post
            Likely more reliable for your setup, as well. Windows programs are often iffy due to the countless combinations of hardware.

            How do you plan on controlling the display on your TV? I currently have my primary computer functioning as a ghetto media server. Basically, I just have an HDMI cable running through my basement, up into my living room (computer is in the dining room, on the other end of the house.) When I set the TV to run on that HDMI input, it pops on as a third monitor. I then have to return to my computer to reroute the sound to the TV, and fire up whatever video I want to watch. I then use a bluetooth keyboard with a touchpad attached (very useful device) to work the computer from my couch.
            It's nice once I get it going, but it's a fairly cumbersome setup. I'd love to find a way to streamline it.
            The display on my TV will be handled by chromecast. With the chromecast dongle I can use the Plex app on my phone or tablet to search for the media and initiate the playback to the chromecast of my choosing. It works for everything except Amazon prime video (I guess I need a fire stick for that).

            Honestly Mike, you might also want to look into Plex and Chromecast yourself.

            Chromecast only costs $35 and the beauty of it is that when you are casting from somewhere like Netflix or Youtube it does not use resources from the device you used to initiate the cast, ie your phone, tablet, or computer it simply pulls the media from the internet via wifi directly to the dongle.

            In the case of Plex you can either initiate the cast from your computer (free) or download an app to your phone $5 one time purchase. When you do this it streams the media to your chromecast from whatever the source is.
            Gary A.K.A. Carter
            [sig killed by photobucket]

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              #7
              Clients I know who have been around a while were using SageTV (now bought by google) and recording shows to their NAS. XBMC is great too and more up to date. But I would consider a NAS for storage, maybe a 7-8 bay that will get you 12TB+ (mind you this will cost you $3K +)

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                #8
                Originally posted by Raf99 View Post
                Clients I know who have been around a while were using SageTV (now bought by google) and recording shows to their NAS. XBMC is great too and more up to date. But I would consider a NAS for storage, maybe a 7-8 bay that will get you 12TB+ (mind you this will cost you $3K +)
                A quick search says that SageTV is obsolete.

                Also, why get a standalone NAS? I feel like I would have less control of the data in that config. And it seems more cumbersome due to needing something with an OS to run Plex media server.
                Last edited by The G-Man; 03-09-2015, 04:31 PM.
                Gary A.K.A. Carter
                [sig killed by photobucket]

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                  #9
                  Looking further into unRAID it seems that unRAID can do most everything I am looking for except for the recording of live TV.

                  Plex can be installed on unRAID and that would work just fine for me.
                  Gary A.K.A. Carter
                  [sig killed by photobucket]

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                    #10
                    I have 4 hd homerun primes. They are great! I did a lot of research on what media center to use and found that windows media center is the only one (certified) that will let you record/edit flagged content. It depends on who your cable provider is, as some are more lenient than others. Surprisingly Comcast doesn't flag much, but other providers may make it difficult or impossible to say record an NFL game. I've read of instances where the recording would stop repeatedly, so be sure to check if your cable co will play nicely.

                    Last I checked, Plex doesn't work with disc isos, so if you have a disc where you want to keep menus, then kodi may be the better way to go. I always remove menus, but there are a few discs where the menus are nice to have.

                    Enjoy!

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                      #11
                      Silicon dust posted on their fb page that their hd homerun prime will on woot.com tonight at midnight. I got 2 from there for less than $100 ea. *edit* Oooh $89 bucks, grab one already if you don't have it yet!
                      Last edited by Prez808; 03-11-2015, 03:16 AM.

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Raf99 View Post
                        Clients I know who have been around a while were using SageTV (now bought by google) and recording shows to their NAS. XBMC is great too and more up to date. But I would consider a NAS for storage, maybe a 7-8 bay that will get you 12TB+ (mind you this will cost you $3K +)
                        Get ready to pay $$$ for a 7-8 bay NAS

                        I use unraid as a storage platform. I don't use the PVR feature of xbmc but I know it's there. Then you can just record to the unraid server.
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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Pandemic View Post
                          Get ready to pay $$$ for a 7-8 bay NAS

                          I use unraid as a storage platform. I don't use the PVR feature of xbmc but I know it's there. Then you can just record to the unraid server.
                          Yeah I think I might do that. I just found an old laptop that I bought in 2010 that would be perfect... battery doesn't hold a charge anymore and has built in keyboard and mouse for setup/diagnostics.

                          Already has 4GB of ram in it, get a few external drives and setup the unRAID system on it.
                          Gary A.K.A. Carter
                          [sig killed by photobucket]

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                            #14
                            All of my TVs have something that connects via wifi to my network (be it Roku, Xbox, laptop).
                            I run a media server from my main desktop which has all of my movies and whatnot. Each device also has Netflix which I use regularly.
                            Would be even easier with a Smart TV with wifi.

                            Never tried any of the programs mentioned, likely because I am a diehard Windows enthusiast.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Prez808 View Post
                              I have 4 hd homerun primes. They are great! I did a lot of research on what media center to use and found that windows media center is the only one (certified) that will let you record/edit flagged content. It depends on who your cable provider is, as some are more lenient than others. Surprisingly Comcast doesn't flag much, but other providers may make it difficult or impossible to say record an NFL game. I've read of instances where the recording would stop repeatedly, so be sure to check if your cable co will play nicely.

                              Last I checked, Plex doesn't work with disc isos, so if you have a disc where you want to keep menus, then kodi may be the better way to go. I always remove menus, but there are a few discs where the menus are nice to have.

                              Enjoy!
                              Why do you have so many HD Homeruns? You recording like 20 shows?
                              Gary A.K.A. Carter
                              [sig killed by photobucket]

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