What is the best way to organize a home media server?

Question

WiFi

On the one hand, we have a PPPoE ethernet cord, on the other, 2 PCs, several phones and an 8th generation Samsung TV.
The task is to download movies using PC + torrent to network storage and watch them from TV. All connections must be via Wi-Fi. Budget - 10 thousand rubles.

I suppose to insert something like ASUS PCI-N10

into each PC As a drive: Hard disk SATA-3 2Tb Hitachi 7200rpm [HDS723020BLA642] Cache 64MB . What box would you recommend to choose for the drive? I aimed at some of the cheapest ones, since it does not play a role in the task.

I really hope for help in choosing a router. Not offering TP-Link is a sad experience. Preferably something that can broadcast basic functions, without wrt firmware. The apartment is three-room, but with solid walls, dir-300 through one wall gives 10% of the signal. Those. either a router with powerful antennas, or some kind of external antenna.

Answer 1

WD My Book Live + Linksys E3200 works, but WD has a lousy Twonky 5.0 media server - you will definitely need to install something else. OS = Debian. I do not advise you to update WD automatically, the latest firmware is very buggy, and they do not allow you to roll back, before updating, I advise you to familiarize yourself with the latest information on the relevant forums.

Answer 2

> Do not offer TP-Link - a sad experience.
A little offtopic, but still ...
According to my current work, I regularly take anything for repairs, and it seems that on the basis of one or two breakdowns, people completely abandon manufacturers, believing that "personal bad experience is more than statistics." I just constantly hear something in the spirit of “just don’t offer Western / Hitachi / Samsung / Seagate (underline as necessary), otherwise it recently broke down with me / my brother / my aunt.”
TP-Link is a normal, suitable manufacturer. Excuse me if I offended you.

Answer 3

I think that two points are important here
1) A simple router that performs the functions of a file storage (with a disk connected via usb) is not suitable for the author. Because the speed is not the same. In all the routers that I have met, the speed is so absolutely terrible. Not the fact that it is enough even for watching movies. Not that for their download. This is a feature of both usb and file systems and crooked drivers in Linux for routers.
That is, you need a router + NAS . The router distributes the network to devices, the NAS provides access to the hard drive and downloads torrents.
2) The router must be powerful enough. Watching movies is really a huge load on the router. Budget models like the Asus Rt-N10 might not be able to handle it. If you do not want to get into a situation where your roommate turns on the movie and your Internet immediately cuts off. Or, for example, you have to cut down all torrents to watch a movie.
That is your choice: a budget NAS with a 1-2 terabyte disk (4000-5000r) and a powerful router (3500-5000r). Just hit your limit.
From routers I can recommend ASUS Rt-N16 , Linksys E3200 , Linksys E4200etc. If you watch movies via wifi, then it may be better for you to use a router with 5 GHz support. But sufficiently powerful routers with such support begin to exceed 5000 rubles. Plus, they get around obstacles worse, in an apartment with 3 rooms and powerful walls, this can be critical. Also here, other habrazhiteli offer different options.
From NAS any budget with support for 1Gbps network. For example WD My Book Live , SEAGATE FreeAgent GoFlex Home , IOMEGA Home Media Network , there are other options. Interestingly, most of the cost of a NAS is the hard drive.
The main thing is to google and make sure that your NAS is compatible with the router. Of course, these problems can always be solved, but if the default settings do not work together, you can lose time.
Do not chase cheapness - just pierce. Take reliable and proven options.

Answer 4

If you need centralized storage, then it would be great to put some kind of separate NAS server on which SMB will spin to access files from computers and torrent (it will be enough to drop the .torrent file into a special folder and the NAS will download the file itself).
And then already downloaded torrents can be played either on a computer or on a TV if it supports such things.
In terms of NAS, any simple computer that can run FreeNAS ( www.freenas.org/ ) will do.
You can administer FreeNAS through a browser like any regular router.
There are several different simple network devices for storage that use x86 and this makes it possible to install the same FreeNAS.
For example, something like this:
www.happybison.com/reviews/installing-freenas-on-acer-aspire-easystore-h340-6/
The device is no longer in production (there is a newer model), so the price may be quite affordable.
What router do you recommend? I would suggest a custom one on pfSense, but often this is a bit too much, so I will offer the same Asus RT-N16 and its series. Or, for example, Linksys WRT600N.
If there are a lot of torrents, then it is better, of course, something on dd-wrt and with a lot of memory that would pull without problems. Here you can even pick up something on the dd-wrt website.

Answer 5

I strongly recommend paying attention to Mikrotik as a router. No asus and tplinka can do what this handsome man can do. In fact, this is a budget version of a tsiska, which is really lucky.
For example
, this model has gigabit on board, which has really become a necessity in a home media network, in my opinion.
Set up multicast and get the opportunity to watch video / TV / radio from all devices without overhead traffic.
In general, I recommend reading.

Answer 6

The router is definitely from Cisco, Apple, Asus, be sure to take 5 Ghz and wifi N, any PC with samba torrent rocking protocol or rtorrent + rutorrent or Transmission is suitable as a media server

Answer 7

My network is based on Mikrotik ROUTERBOARD 751U-2HND. Works great. 3 laptops, 2 mobile devices, 4 PCs and 2 TVs. Thought — will not take out) took out. Of the minuses - the difficulty in setting up for the average Yuzvere) It is compensated by the fact that this device can EVERYTHING. Its capabilities are limited only by the depth of your knowledge and directness of hands. If you need help - write) I will give links to Step By Step manuals.

Answer 8

Will this friend be able to complete the task? en.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Routers/RTN56U/#specifications

Answer 9

In this case, it is unlikely that you will need it. On the other hand, the neighbors may have Wi-Fi, and you can move. Routers for such a price are bought for a long time. Asus Rt-N56U is the only budget model with 5GHz support. But he can be weak.
I can only vouch for the Asus Rt-N16 - since I use it myself.
Yes, if at the input ADSL and not ethernet (I now suspected this when reading previous comments), then you will have to choose a router from other options - but the meaning is the same. Unfortunately, the characteristics describing the power of the router are not included in the standard description. You have to rely on cost
.
Regarding whether your TV will see the NAS and whether it will play files correctly - you also better google just in case - there may be pitfalls - I didn’t go through this process myself - well, in the know.
Here is a good article with a lot of useful information, maybe you can learn something for yourself.

Answer 10

All my devices are wired through a simple router. PS3 Media Server
acts as a media server . Shows video, plays audio, can also display web content from YouTube, and so on. On the fly can transcode video to another format. To view content from the Internet and ip-tv, I also use xupnpd from the Internet . Links to manuals can be found in Google in the top ten. P, S, it all works for me under Linux. Under Windows there are also versions of PS3 Media Server.