windows home server for storage of .iso's?

donburkard@temple · 10th April 2008, 04:47

I have 7 500 gig hard drives full of .iso files. All of which are dvd's. I was thinking about building a new box with windows home server os on it and just putting the hard drives in in it. any reason why i shouldnt or is there something better? i currently mount the .iso's on a virtual drive(deamon tools) and play them with mp clasic or vlc. this will still work right?

thanks

communist · 10th April 2008, 06:27

I don't see why Windows home server would do this any better than a free and lightweight Linux/BSD with samba (~'windows network shares'). Last time I looked samba still outperformed Microsofts implementation. Though if this is a single user 100Mbit/s network then you may not notice this.
If there are particular features of WHS that you want then there might be a reason to splash out the money for it but else I'd go with some free Linux or BSD distribution.

setarip_old · 10th April 2008, 07:19

@donburkard@temple

Hi!

Quote:

i currently mount the .iso's on a virtual drive(deamon tools) and play them with mp clasic or vlc.

If you're using VLC to play, there's no need to mount the .ISOs, as VLC will play them directly...

donburkard@temple · 10th April 2008, 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by setarip_old

@donburkard@temple

Hi!If you're using VLC to play, there's no need to mount the .ISOs, as VLC will play them directly...

yea on 1 of my computers it does but for some reason on the other it doesnt. im not sure why but i honestly havent really looked into that yet. i dont really like vlc. its not real user friendly, plus its kinda ugly lookin

olyteddy · 11th April 2008, 00:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by donburkard@temple

... plus its kinda ugly lookin

Not in full screen mode...

rebkell · 11th April 2008, 00:55

Lot of people like UnRaid,

http://lime-technology.com/

donburkard@temple · 11th April 2008, 03:53

yea this looks perfect. this is the type of thing i have been looking for for over a year. thanks alot man. is it easy to use? how fast will i be able to access the .iso's? any other software you recommend? i think i will have the server box right next to the main computer which i will have hooked up to my ht receiver. right now i use vlc player but its kinda ugly.

thanks again

celtic_druid · 10th April 2008, 15:29

With 7 drives you may get data corruption with home server. Supposed to only happen when files get modified rather than copied/moved/replaced, but I wouldn't risk it.

You might want to check out FreeNAS.

foxyshadis · 11th April 2008, 07:04

SMPlayer reads ISOs directly. It's by far the best replacement for VLC I know of, unless you need stream ripping or conversions.

UnRaid is as fast as the IDE/SATA subsystem, and it's always going to be limited by the speed of your network. You'd notice no speed difference compared to generic windows shares. You can test it with no fear of losing or corrupting your windows installation, too, which is always nice.

If you're going to have the boxes right next to each other, though, you could go the extra mile and hook the discs right into the media center, using the server for just power supply and cooling. Admittedly, it's a bit of an ugly frankenstein solution.

Dr.Khron · 11th April 2008, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxyshadis

If you're going to have the boxes right next to each other, though, you could go the extra mile and hook the discs right into the media center, using the server for just power supply and cooling. Admittedly, it's a bit of an ugly frankenstein solution.

Oh, but how I LOVE frankensystems!!!

If you don't really need a separate NAS, then a frankensystem is a viable option (specially now that we live in the times of SATA).

If the server box already has a windows OS, couldn't you just stick them next to each other and network them directly? (2nd network, separate from main one) If the mobo's both have dual Gigabyte NICs, this could allow you to build a mini network thats way faster then your LAN (since most home routers and hubs are stuck at 10/100).

Or maybe network through a firewire port? Is a FW IP network faster or slower then a CAT5 10/100 network?

LargePrime · 15th April 2008, 16:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr.Khron

Is a FW IP network faster or slower then a CAT5 10/100 network?

Mostly slower than gigabit, faster than everything else. But for large multiple file copies from one PC to another can be much faster with a fire wire cable, as there is nothing else to get in the way.

I just dump my ISO's in my remote server directory and play them with VLC. Then my server is free to do "other" things... although I sometimes have to ask my server to stop doing things if I get movie chop. But the server is not a fast disk machine.

My media pc is a super quiet PC, since it does not work hard at all.

donburkard@temple · 26th April 2008, 03:37

i really like the unraid system. thanks for the recomendation. im in the process of building it now. hopefully my kids will take a nice long nap tomorrow so i can finish it. i also found something called Cinemar. its expesive but looks like it will work great for me. anyone have any experience with it? Thanks again for all the feed back. You guys are THE S%)T!!

MfA · 12th April 2008, 11:15

What's the point though if you have a LAN anyway? Servers with lots of disks are for closets somewhere far away where you can't hear them.

10th April 2008, 04:47	#1 \| Link
donburkard@temple Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 30	windows home server for storage of .iso's? I have 7 500 gig hard drives full of .iso files. All of which are dvd's. I was thinking about building a new box with windows home server os on it and just putting the hard drives in in it. any reason why i shouldnt or is there something better? i currently mount the .iso's on a virtual drive(deamon tools) and play them with mp clasic or vlc. this will still work right? thanks

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10th April 2008, 06:27	#2 \| Link
communist Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,152	I don't see why Windows home server would do this any better than a free and lightweight Linux/BSD with samba (~'windows network shares'). Last time I looked samba still outperformed Microsofts implementation. Though if this is a single user 100Mbit/s network then you may not notice this. If there are particular features of WHS that you want then there might be a reason to splash out the money for it but else I'd go with some free Linux or BSD distribution.

11th April 2008, 00:55	#6 \| Link
rebkell Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 303	Lot of people like UnRaid, http://lime-technology.com/

11th April 2008, 03:53	#7 \| Link
donburkard@temple Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 30	yea this looks perfect. this is the type of thing i have been looking for for over a year. thanks alot man. is it easy to use? how fast will i be able to access the .iso's? any other software you recommend? i think i will have the server box right next to the main computer which i will have hooked up to my ht receiver. right now i use vlc player but its kinda ugly. thanks again

10th April 2008, 15:29	#8 \| Link
celtic_druid Registered User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,171	With 7 drives you may get data corruption with home server. Supposed to only happen when files get modified rather than copied/moved/replaced, but I wouldn't risk it. You might want to check out FreeNAS.

11th April 2008, 07:04	#9 \| Link
foxyshadis ангел смерти Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Lost Posts: 9,558	SMPlayer reads ISOs directly. It's by far the best replacement for VLC I know of, unless you need stream ripping or conversions. UnRaid is as fast as the IDE/SATA subsystem, and it's always going to be limited by the speed of your network. You'd notice no speed difference compared to generic windows shares. You can test it with no fear of losing or corrupting your windows installation, too, which is always nice. If you're going to have the boxes right next to each other, though, you could go the extra mile and hook the discs right into the media center, using the server for just power supply and cooling. Admittedly, it's a bit of an ugly frankenstein solution.

26th April 2008, 03:37	#12 \| Link
donburkard@temple Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 30	i really like the unraid system. thanks for the recomendation. im in the process of building it now. hopefully my kids will take a nice long nap tomorrow so i can finish it. i also found something called Cinemar. its expesive but looks like it will work great for me. anyone have any experience with it? Thanks again for all the feed back. You guys are THE S%)T!!

12th April 2008, 11:15	#13 \| Link
MfA Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,075	What's the point though if you have a LAN anyway? Servers with lots of disks are for closets somewhere far away where you can't hear them.