2 MA XIMUMPC JUNE 200 5
BUILD YOUR MEDIA SERVER
BUILD YOUR MEDIA
SERVER
In many ways, building a media
server is no different than building
a normal desktop PC. The basic
construction is the same, you’ll just
make a few different choices along
the way. Instead of springing for a
$500 videocard, you’ll spring for a
terabyte of storage. Instead of opting
for the fastest CPU, you’ll choose a
quieter, cooler alternative. Instead of
building a lightning-fast gaming rig,
you’ll build a stalwart server.
We’re going to assume you
already know how to build your
own computer—if you don’t, we’ve
posted a step-by-step how-to at
MaximumPC.com as well as in the
Extras section of the disc that came
with this magazine.YOUR STREAMING
MEDIA SERVER
QUESTIONS
ANSWERED
Q: What makes a server different
from a normal PC?A: Not a whole lot. In fact, many
servers are virtually indistinguishable
from a typical desktop machine you
would use at work. The main differences
are subtle. Typically a server will
include more hard drive capacity than
a standard desktop, and will include
some features to improve reliability, like
an uninterruptible power supply and
automated backup software.Q: What kind of case should I
build my server in?A: We built our media server in a small
formfactor case—the Shuttle SB86i—but
you can use any case you have lying
around. The SB86i features two hard
drive bays, and a chipset with decent
onboard sound and graphics, but it’s still
small enough to fi t on a closet shelf. The
downside to small formfactor machines
is a lack of expandability—using the
largest drives on the market, we capped
out at about 800GB of total storage. If
you have a huge media collection, you
might want a larger mid-tower case.Q: What hardware does a
streaming media server require?A: Your server’s minimum system
requirements depend on what kind of
content you plan on streaming. To just
stream audio and video fi les around
your home, you don’t need a whole
lot of horsepower. Pretty much any old
machine will work for audio, but you’ll
want at least a 1.5GHz machine for video.
That may not be enough if you
have more advanced requirements. If
you intend to transcode your music
or video—that is, convert it from one
format to another on the fl y —you’ll
need signifi cantly more juice under the
hood. Transcoding may be necessary
if you rip your content in one format,
MPEG-4 or MPEG-2, for instance, but
your streaming box only reads another
format, say, WMV9 or QuickTime.
Whether or not you’ll need to transcode
depends on the type of box you stream
your content to. Some products supportmultiple formats—including popular
MPEG-4 based formats like Divx—while
others support only the less effi cient
MPEG-2 format.
Regardless, if you’re going to
transcode your content, you’ll need lots
of CPU juice. A 2.4GHz Pentium 4 with
1GB of RAM is the bare minimum for
one stream at a time. You’ll need more
processor and RAM power if you plan
to transcode more than one video at a
time.Q: What kind of software do I
need to put this all together?A: There are several different PVR
software packages available for the
PC, but some work better than others.
An ideal PVR package will capture and
encode your favorite TV shows, give you
a way to schedule or change recordings
remotely, and even transcode your
shows to different formats. There are
several software packages that perform
one or two of these functions, but our
favorite is Snapstream’s BeyondTV
3. It does everything we need, is very
reliable, and works well with many
different TV tuners and remote controls.
Another fi ne option is Windows
Media Center Edition 2005. Even though
MCE2005 is designed to be used in
the living room, it works very well
as a server OS. Using Media Center
Extenders—specialized streaming boxes
designed to work exclusively with
MCE2005 —you can stream your shows
from one MCE box to any room in your
home. Check the sidebar on the next
page for more on MCE.
Finally, anyone with Linux experience
should check out MythTV. Although it
has the shortest compatibility list for
TV tuner cards and remote controls,
its advanced features make it a strong
contender. In addition to standard PVR
functionality, MythTV supports DVD
ripping, and sharing recorded programs
with every other MythTV machine on
your network, seamlessly. Best of all, it’s
free and open source.Q: What about the operating
system? Should I look at Linux
or Windows Server 2003, or just
use Windows XP?A: For most people, Windows XP
Professional will work just fi ne. In fact,
because there’s no Universal Plug and
Play support in Windows Server 2003,
many of the new streaming boxes thatIngredients for a
Media Server
➤ A reasonably fast PC – 2.4GHz or faster
with at least 1GB of RAM
➤ TV tuner/s – We recommend the ATI TV
Wonder Elite and the Hauppauge PVR-
cards for best image quality and a good
price
➤ Remote control – If you plan on
connecting your media server to a TV,
you’ll need a remote. ATI, Snapstream, and
Microsoft all have remotes, so get the one
that matches your confi g
➤ IR blaster – You’ll need a way to change
channels on your cable or satellite
receiver. You can get an IR blaster from
http://www.snapstream.com
➤ PVR software – You’ll need appropriate
software, either Windows Media Center
2005 ( http://www.microsoft.com ) or BeyondTV 3
( http://www.snapstream.com )
➤ Lots of internal storage – Video takes
up lots of space. Divx-encoded movies will
absorb 700MB each, and your recorded TV
shows will use about 1GB per hour
➤ External backup drive – To protect your
data should you suffer a virus attack or
hard drive failure
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