Movie server

[danthegeek]

Well I want to make a movie server for my home that can be accessed by all of my other computers. The networking part is not my issue but deciding on a good hardware configuration is. I have an old pc (ok,really old) that I THOUGHT I could use but I get consistent choppyness when accessing/playing the movies.

SPECS:
Intel celeron 366mhz
194 mb ram
hard drive 13gb (lol, yes just for testing)
lynksis ethernet card
Windows 98
blablabla

So, my question is, do you think it is the old hard drive, processor, ethernet card, or 98. (lol, sorry)
:think:

some more info: I will be streaming this videos directly from the hard drive of this system (file sharing) with powerdvd(dvd playing program). I was wondering how difficult it would be to use linux instead of 98. I have no experience whatsoever with linux (:? ) and it may be a good time to learn lol. I really just want to tern this thing into a simple file server but stream the files to my remote pc. (will linux let me use some 250 gb hard drives?)

[nil8]

You're dancing around a topic that isn't allowed on this forum.
Let's say you're sharing home videos.

98 won't work. Linux will, but you have to learn to use Samba.
That PC can run XP/2k.
That machine is rather old and probably won't stand the rigors of streaming video over lan. My playback isn't streamed, but a modern video crawls on 700mhz.
I doubt if you can get good playback without heavy tweaking or specific work that isn't really worth the effort.

[danthegeek]

I never said they were copyrighted movies, just movies, ;)

I did try inserting a dvd into the dvd-rom and it played fine streamed to my laptop. However when I access the videos through the hard drive I get the lag. It is an old hard drive 13gb (i think 5400 rpm. very small cache)

[.Maleficus.]

I know nothing about movie streaming or networking, but I _can_ help you with Linux.

1. You need to choose a distro. A _very_ popular choice is Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com) which I use personally on my computer right now. I don't recommend you use it though. You will want to use something more along the lines of Xubuntu (http://xubuntu.org) instead, because it has a lighter window/file manager (Xfce, hence the X in the name). You could also go with Gentoo, something I am about to do, and not install X (graphical desktop) at all and have it text based. It has all the same things as a normal desktop, just no graphics (and if you're streaming video to another computer, who cares?) The install is what would give you trouble, as it is all text-based and requires a fair amount of knowledge of the Linux system. I suppose if I were you, I'd use Xubuntu.

2. Yes, you will be able to use a 250 Gb HDD on Linux. You can actually use all the same hardware for Linux, plus some. You can run Linux on any hardware (though some tweaking will be required) including PPC, SPARC, SGI, 64-bit, and even computers as old as i386. Why you would even bother with a computer that old I don't know, but you can if you want.

3. Not much learning is required. If you use X (graphical desktop) then you should be able to access movies and files no problem, without touching the terminal for a long time (until you need to install something). Even then, you can find out lots on the web, and most of the time just copy/paste commands that you need to use.

Hope that helps!

[jdbnsn]

Nil8- Are you sure that building a movie server on a private network is a copyright violation? I'm not sure it is as long as access isn't provided to outside connections, but I'm no authority on law.

Anyway, as for the video transmission, you should be able to do this fairly well with a wireless G router but I think you would get much better performance if you got a wireless A router which is designed more for video streaming. I'd like to hear more about the copyright issue b/c I was planning on doing this someday unless it's illegal.

[nil8]

It depends on if the files are legal copies or not. If they are, then yes, it's legal. You paid for it, you're watching it.

The disclaimer at the beginning of every dvd made now includes viewing as an offense.
To be honest about it, I highly doubt if any legal trouble will occur from a private collection or private viewing.

I'm assuming he's going to use that 10/100 NIC.
You motherboard might not support 250gb hard drives. I've dealt pretty extensively with older machines and a few of them have to have the BIOS updated before they support anything over 80gb. It's rare, but it does happen.

If you're going to watch directly on the machine, you should watch your memory consumption. Virtual memory and 5400 rpm drives that have a lot on them are going to give you piss poor playback.

[danthegeek]

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I will give linux a shot being it is a more stable for server applications (so im told). If anyone has more info on linux they may feel is helpful please by all means..

OK OK OK, I get it, the computers old but it was FREE. :) (old office pc for years) thats why I want to give it a try. If it dosen't work then it will meet its new home in the landfill or some taget practice for my rifle:twisted: . Ahhh good times.

P.S. Yes this will be for my private use only, not the worlds. (im an honest guy) and the movies are not copyrighted, bootleg, pirated, stolen, etc. etc. (thier mine)

[danthegeek]

How about I use the old one for target practice and buy this configuration?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813181022
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145529
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417 2 in RAID
Old 140 watt psu
Linux
etc. etc.

[.Maleficus.]

That is just about what I'm doing right now on my CS server. It should be fine, I don't see why that wouldn't perform fine for what you're doing.

Have you decided on a distro yet?

[danthegeek]

I have it working. Yahhh, but without linux. I also stuck a 160Gb HD in it for now.

Instead I uploaded XP Pro because Samba was giving me to much trouble. This is not a bad thing though for it makes an AWSOME SERVER. I dont know why but I cant lag the thing out on LAN.

For EXAMPLE:

I uploaded 50 Gigs of movies and watched the same movie on three other computers over LAN at the same time without any lag. I also did this while watching three different movies and the same results. I get rock solid performane.8)

The best part of this is, IT WAS ALL FREE AHHAAHHHA. (sorry im excited).

My current Home Server Configuration

Intel Celeron 366MHZ (lolololol)
192MB RAM
160 GB HD
140 watt PSU
Old Old Case
Lynksis ethernet Card and Router
Windows XP Pro

The next Step you may ask?

Mod the crap out of the fugly case.:twisted: Its currently stained(as in yellow) beige. Uhh:dead:. Im thinking gloss black covered in thin plexi for cool effect.

[Nagoshi]

That's surprising that your P2 will support 160Gb of HD... cause I heard DMA66 can support up to around 80Gb. What is your motherboard in it?

[danthegeek]

The motherboard is a BCM KR637. This thing apparently was made by Micron and support or additional information is no longer available throught them. They just no longer make motherboards.

[nil8]

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=t1n&q=micron+BCM+KR637&btnG=Search

Did you try a google search?