Homegroup/File storage/Media streaming PC?

jamesisninja · September 17, 2013

Hey, so my parents want essentially a media PC, so they can hold pictures/videos on it, stream movies off it to the PS3, and we can all use it kind of like a NAS for files like say I wanna save my school work to it and access from my laptop later or something. Will a NAS do that too? I know I can store files on a NAS and access them from any computer on my network, but can the PS3 see and stream stuff off a NAS? If so I suppose all I need is a NAS, and I am COMPLETELY clueless about NAS, but I do know how to build PCs fine, so any transferable advice and parts for either a NAS, or media PC are very welcome. I've only built gaming PCs before.

tk421 · September 17, 2013

Hey, so my parents want essentially a media PC, so they can hold pictures/videos on it, stream movies off it to the PS3, and we can all use it kind of like a NAS for files like say I wanna save my school work to it and access from my laptop later or something. Will a NAS do that too? I know I can store files on a NAS and access them from any computer on my network, but can the PS3 see and stream stuff off a NAS? If so I suppose all I need is a NAS, and I am COMPLETELY clueless about NAS, but I do know how to build PCs fine, so any transferable advice and parts for either a NAS, or media PC are very welcome. I've only built gaming PCs before.

As far as I know, the PS3 should be able to stream from a NAS. I've heard of people using their Xbox 360 or PS3 to stream from a custom NAS, but I haven't actually tried that myself. @looney is pretty much a guru when it comes to storage and he made a great post about it a couple of months ago: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/33510-how-to-install-and-setup-flexraid-on-your-windows-storage-system/.

Basically, the NAS itself is a low-power PC. So if you happen to have old or spare parts lying around, you're set! Something like a (modern) Pentium can handle this just fine. The majority of the labor goes into setting up your drives in RAID properly.

tk421 · September 17, 2013

Hey, so my parents want essentially a media PC, so they can hold pictures/videos on it, stream movies off it to the PS3, and we can all use it kind of like a NAS for files like say I wanna save my school work to it and access from my laptop later or something. Will a NAS do that too? I know I can store files on a NAS and access them from any computer on my network, but can the PS3 see and stream stuff off a NAS? If so I suppose all I need is a NAS, and I am COMPLETELY clueless about NAS, but I do know how to build PCs fine, so any transferable advice and parts for either a NAS, or media PC are very welcome. I've only built gaming PCs before.

As far as accessing stuff from school, have you tried using the Remote Desktop function in Windows?

Vitalius · September 17, 2013

Yes, a NAS will do all of that. Yes, you can stream movies from your NAS to your PS3 via Mini-DLNA.

Here is what you do:

Cheaper is better on all parts you buy, so long as you do not sacrifice features. Performance will not matter. Trust me. NAS' are very low power, lower requirement devices, most of the time. The only exception is ZFS in FreeNAS, which has the one high requirement of 8GB of RAM minimum.

Buy an AMD motherboard that supports ECC RAM, if possible. ECC RAM is for ZFS. It is not necessary. ZFS just keeps an eye on your NAS to make sure it's backups are never corrupt. It is just a nice thing to have and the only thing that makes it cost more is ECC RAM requirement and 8GB of it.

Get a Dual core AMD CPU. It does not matter what kind. As long as it is above 2.0GHz and has 2 cores, it does not matter. You can underclock stronger CPU's to that spec to save power if necessary.

Buy 4-8GB of RAM for it. If going ECC, at least 8GB. Make sure it is ECC RAM and an ECC motherboard.

Buy an HDD that is to your liking in capacity. Get a second one of the same size/model in case you want RAID 1 for redundancy (to protect your files). Seagate HDD's are of good quality and low price. I own many of them.

Buy a Corsair 430M PSU. Best Bang for the buck, low wattage, high feature, PSU.

Buy the cheapest possible case you can throw it all into that fits your needs. Go Mini-ITX/Micro-ATX if your motherboard supports it to save more space.

Build it. Note that all of that should cost anywhere from $300 to $600 depending on how hardcore you go. $300-$350 for UFS, $450-$500 for ZFS (more RAM needed) and up to $600 depending on how much storage you need and if you decide to go RAID 1.

Install FreeNAS 8.3.1 (or latest version) to a USB thumb drive at least 8GB in capacity. Boot from this drive in the BIOS of that motherboard. Make sure ECC is enabled if you are using it.

Set up FreeNAS. Google Lifehacker FreeNAS Setup for a guide on how to do it. You want to use ZFS in FreeNAS if you have ECC RAM. If not, use UFS. There are features that ZFS has that UFS does not, but ZFS is much more RAM heavy. It needs 8GB minimum. UFS can run on 1GB of RAM. Speed of RAM is irrelevant.

Install Plugins, Lifehacker's guide does this as well. The Mini-DLNA plugin is the one you want for your PS3. I own one. It works. You just have to make sure your files are the right format for your PS3 to read.

Bam. A NAS that is awesome.

I own both a PS3 and my old computer that I turned into a NAS. Good luck.