Thanks for your insight. There are some controllers out there with as many as something like 16+ SATA in one controller but it costs a lot. Never try Arec and I am sure it is a very good controller. Since my server is a dedicated media streaming server in my house therefore when I look at the MB for the server and one of the requirement was 4 PCI slots to accomplish the 4 Promise X 4 SATA = 16 HDD ready server for me.
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AnyStream is having some DRM issues currently, Netflix is not available in HD for the time being.
Situations like this will always happen with AnyStream: streaming providers are continuously improving their countermeasures while we try to catch up, it's an ongoing cat-and-mouse game. Please be patient and don't flood our support or forum with requests, we are working on it 24/7 to get it resolved. Thank you.
HD movie server recommendations?
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Thanks for your insight. There are some controllers out there with as many as something like 16+ SATA in one controller but it costs a lot. Never try Arec and I am sure it is a very good controller. Since my server is a dedicated media streaming server in my house therefore when I look at the MB for the server and one of the requirement was 4 PCI slots to accomplish the 4 Promise X 4 SATA = 16 HDD ready server for me.
PrincipalityFusion
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What Makes It All Possible
Whether you spend a lot or a little, what makes it all possible is AnyDVD HD. Without that little gem, it would be useless to have a high definition home theater server. And that's the thing that has impressed those that i've shown it to the most, is that I pretty much have my own movies on demand, like the cable company, but better:rock:
Like last night when my wife wanted to watch You've Got Mail and i wanted to watch AVP2. Instead of having to hunt for the plastic, we just fired up the client pc's (ones attached to a projector and the other is attached to the living room tv). I'm currently building a pc for the bedroom as i can find the parts for cheap.
Anyways, the server setup handled both requests splendidly although You've Got Mail is standard def. I really don't care to see Meg Ryan in 1080p
And that to me is the whole point of this thing, that we have a tool like AnyDVD HD that allows us to have that versatility and enjoy our movies within the "reasonable" limits of the law the way that we want.
Whether you spend a lot or a little, what makes it all possible is AnyDVD HD. Without that little gem, it would be useless to have a high definition home theater server. And that's the thing that has impressed those that i've shown it to the most, is that I pretty much have my own movies on demand, like the cable company, but better:rock:
Like last night when my wife wanted to watch You've Got Mail and i wanted to watch AVP2. Instead of having to hunt for the plastic, we just fired up the client pc's (ones attached to a projector and the other is attached to the living room tv). I'm currently building a pc for the bedroom as i can find the parts for cheap.
Anyways, the server setup handled both requests splendidly although You've Got Mail is standard def. I really don't care to see Meg Ryan in 1080p
And that to me is the whole point of this thing, that we have a tool like AnyDVD HD that allows us to have that versatility and enjoy our movies within the "reasonable" limits of the law the way that we want.
PrincipalityFusion
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Server Size Greater Than 2 Terabytes
In my quest to build the biggest server I can afford, i learned some things about the limitations of software/hardware when you go beyond partition sizes of 2 Terabytes.
First, if you are going to create a volume greater than two terabytes, make sure that your motherboard, or if using a controller, can create those sizes for the operating system. Some motherboards, even new ones, don't have the option to create a greater than two terabyte volume. Your best bet is to go with a controller like Areca or Promise. You will want to make sure that it either supports 64bit LBA or can change sector size from the standard 512bytes to 4kb. This will allow the operating system to address a volume larger than 2 terabytes.
Once you have the hardware set, its still not over yet. Besides loading drivers for the motherboard or controller raid, you will need to initialize the newly created volume as a GPT disk instead of the normal MBR disk. GPT allows the OS to "see" more than 2 terabytes of data. Once you do that, you should be good to go.
Finally, all programs won't be able to write to that volume, i'm assuming because it is GPT instead of MBR. An example that i've found is CloneDVD. It says that the destination is not available when i try to write to it. ImageBurn writes to it just fine and of course the copy-paste works so for DVDs i just write it to the local drive and then copy it over to the server.
I found a document on line, but its too large to attach here. Just google "Over2TB_050721" and you'll find it.
In my quest to build the biggest server I can afford, i learned some things about the limitations of software/hardware when you go beyond partition sizes of 2 Terabytes.
First, if you are going to create a volume greater than two terabytes, make sure that your motherboard, or if using a controller, can create those sizes for the operating system. Some motherboards, even new ones, don't have the option to create a greater than two terabyte volume. Your best bet is to go with a controller like Areca or Promise. You will want to make sure that it either supports 64bit LBA or can change sector size from the standard 512bytes to 4kb. This will allow the operating system to address a volume larger than 2 terabytes.
Once you have the hardware set, its still not over yet. Besides loading drivers for the motherboard or controller raid, you will need to initialize the newly created volume as a GPT disk instead of the normal MBR disk. GPT allows the OS to "see" more than 2 terabytes of data. Once you do that, you should be good to go.
Finally, all programs won't be able to write to that volume, i'm assuming because it is GPT instead of MBR. An example that i've found is CloneDVD. It says that the destination is not available when i try to write to it. ImageBurn writes to it just fine and of course the copy-paste works so for DVDs i just write it to the local drive and then copy it over to the server.
I found a document on line, but its too large to attach here. Just google "Over2TB_050721" and you'll find it.
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PrincipalityFusion,
On a separate topic, I noticed that PDVD8 audio and sound is lot better than native SD VMC player. I requested Brian in MM and see whether they can pick the SD player like we picked HD/BD player. Unfortunately it seems to me it will not happen anytime soon. What I tried to get to it now is in every HTPC in my home now I use PDVD mount the ISO and play both BD and SD DVD versus MM play SD before. And I definitely notice a smoother and easy manager an ISO than a folder in my server environment before.
On a separate topic, I noticed that PDVD8 audio and sound is lot better than native SD VMC player. I requested Brian in MM and see whether they can pick the SD player like we picked HD/BD player. Unfortunately it seems to me it will not happen anytime soon. What I tried to get to it now is in every HTPC in my home now I use PDVD mount the ISO and play both BD and SD DVD versus MM play SD before. And I definitely notice a smoother and easy manager an ISO than a folder in my server environment before.
PrincipalityFusion
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I'm almost in the same boat with you. After migrating my collection to a raid 5 volume, i notice that media center does not play my standard dvd files correctly or at all. For example, if i try to skip forward, it keeps going back to the same chapter. I found that creating ISO's of the dvds solved that problem. Also since Brian added support for PwrDVD8, i can install that on all my machines to get the better pq and sound.
I haven't looked at the pq for sd movies between 7 and 8, but high definition is definitely better in 8.
Thanks guys, this latter discussion is way over my head (and budget), but it's interesting and informational.
I got another question though. I just realized that I'll be needing to open the .torrent files with Azureus on the server, and I can't just be fiddling with 3 sets of kb/mice. They're all wireless and 2 of them are bluetooth so a switch is not possible, or maybe at least very, very inconvenient. Is there a way to open the files in Azureus (which will run on the server) remotely via another computer in the network? I'll probably be surfing the web with my Vista 32 PC, and the server will most likely run Windows XP pro.
I got another question though. I just realized that I'll be needing to open the .torrent files with Azureus on the server, and I can't just be fiddling with 3 sets of kb/mice. They're all wireless and 2 of them are bluetooth so a switch is not possible, or maybe at least very, very inconvenient. Is there a way to open the files in Azureus (which will run on the server) remotely via another computer in the network? I'll probably be surfing the web with my Vista 32 PC, and the server will most likely run Windows XP pro.
Reply,
1) I dont have a pre-amp with hdmi, i just use it for my projector.
The other problem i think is getting the software to pass the truehd down it so thats why i use a sound card with each speaker output connected to my pre-amp.
2) i run it 1080p no problem.
Problems with htpc are more to do with
Memory timmings,
having a page file (use 2GB ram and disable it)
Progressive rather than interlaced.
And enough processor power.
If you want to use this for anything other than a HTPC then look for other components.
Only word of advice is a HTPC is hard enough to get working with out using it for other things so be warned.
You can enable remote control of a pc and RDP to it if that helps with your other question. or use VNC.
Vista will have PaP (protected audio path). This will be the only way to get your true high defination sound. Windows XP will not have this ever.
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IF you want good information on how to build an HTPC. Goto
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972
This might be the 5 or 6 or maybe 10 thread on this subject.
Oh, I meant the discussion the guys were having about 16 drives and such. I already got my HTPC up and running, just rebuilt it with some upgrades by the way. That's a piece of cake.
I just built the server, and right now I'm installing the friggin XP updates. Will probably finish later in the day, although if it gets as hot as yesterday I might just do nothing. At. All.