Media Server Specs?

**Razor Blade** · May 27th, 2006, 05:06

I have a quick question. I was thinking about using an old laptop as a media server. Since it really has no other logical uses that my desktop can't do and excel above it, I thought this is a good way to breathe some life into an old POS

So my question is what kinda specs do I need? Does it really matter all that much, or is it more Network/Wireless Connection dependant?

As you can imaging the laptop would be very old

Like craptastic old. I'm taking like ~300Mhz, 32mb Ram old kthx

So if that is too old and crappy I need to know. Thanks for the replies

__________________

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Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM
Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home
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KillerShots · May 30th, 2006, 14:48

Well... when I built my media server, I went for the following minimum requirements:

1. At least a 386.
2. Must have at least 2M of RAM
3. Must have at least a 10Mbit ethernet connection
4. Must have a massive redundant storage system

I went with the machine in my sig because that's what I had lying around. Basically, all the media server needs to do is be able to push data from its storage device at at least 900kb per second.

__________________
Primary
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Mobo: Biostar N4SLI-A9 RAM: 2G Crucial (DDR400) Video: eVGA GeForce 7900 GTX (512M) Audio: HDA X-Mystique HD(s): Maxtor 300G SATA2, Samsung 400G SATA2 OS(s): WinXP x64 Pro, Vista x32 Ultimate, Gentoo x64 Monitor(s): Primary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Secondary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Tertiary - Zenith 42" Plasma TV (1024x768 res)

Many other machines... sig too short

**Cid Highwind** · May 30th, 2006, 15:11

Just don't try to do anything else when data is transferring. I still remember that on my old pc whenever I was sending a file to my brother downstairs his pc used to drain all my resources and my 350 with 288meg of ram just froze untill the tranfser was completed.

I don't know if this has been of any help though

__________________
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CPU: Intel Q8200 @ 2.8GHz // GPU: Sapphire ATi HD5870 1GB // Mobo: Gigabyte EP35-DS3
RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 // HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint // SPU: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
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lord_muad_dib · May 31st, 2006, 09:11

32 mb of ram?

you should use a minimal linux distro
forget windows (maybe windows 95 version A works good

)
kidding apart you need fast ram and a fast hdd also.
redundant storage isn't that important for hobbystic uses, (if the mobo is not that good, redundancy might add somy bus latency.so just mount a dvd-r when you have to backup, it's just my opinion i don't wanna flame), you can implement it later if you feel the need to (do not use a built in raid controller,they r crap usually, buy a new one).
processor speed is not that important, but depends on your needs

__________________
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 4000+(939 SanDiego CORE)@2,6Ghrz
MoBo: ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 SLi RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR Dual Channel
GPU: Geforce 68000 Ultra PCIEX: 16X >> Monitors: LG Flatron F700B 17''CRT <> Hyundai ImageQuest L17T
SPU: ABIT internal AudioMAX 7.1 + EAX >> Audio Out: My HiFi
HDDs SATA: MAXTOR 200GB x2 HDDs IDE: MAXTOR 80GB
DVDRW: Pioneer 108
Connection: ADSL Router Hamlet HDSL 740 @4Mbs/256Kbs
OSes: WinXP Pro@SP2 <> GNU/Linux Gentoo <> APPLE Darwin 8.4 <> DOS 6.22

KillerShots · May 31st, 2006, 13:06

As I understand it, all he wants is to store media on the box. The box does not need to:

1. Decode the media
2. Play the media
3. Do ANYTHING that may require more than 1 kb of RAM beyond normal OS functions

I really don't see a need for more than 32M of old EDO RAM. Hell, even the crap from the 80's (that usually came in 1M sticks or less) should be fast enough.

I do, however, agree that Windows is not an option with those specs. You MAY be able to go with '95... but bear in mind that there may be lots of swapping going on, and even more crashing.

If you intend to build a decent media storage device, redundancy really isn't an option - it's a requirement. Backing my array to CD or DVD, for example, would take hundreds of DVDs. If you just want to store 3G of data on a small machine, then why bother with a media server at all? I'd tend to agree with muad_dib's comment that built-in RAID controllers are crap. Most of them aren't even hardware RAID - they're just drivers that handle the RAID in software (any decent unix OS or recent professional Windows OS can do that without their crappy drivers).

If you MUST go with a built-in RAID, avoid RAID-5 like the plague - it's down-right dangerous if you don't have a battery backup on the card (and NO built-in solution has that). You could lose your whole array in a power outage (I had with a software RAID under linux - really pissed me off).

__________________
Primary
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Mobo: Biostar N4SLI-A9 RAM: 2G Crucial (DDR400) Video: eVGA GeForce 7900 GTX (512M) Audio: HDA X-Mystique HD(s): Maxtor 300G SATA2, Samsung 400G SATA2 OS(s): WinXP x64 Pro, Vista x32 Ultimate, Gentoo x64 Monitor(s): Primary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Secondary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Tertiary - Zenith 42" Plasma TV (1024x768 res)

Many other machines... sig too short

hooloovoo · May 31st, 2006, 16:46

Ebuyer sell some nice cheap PC's that are good for office work and data storage. I bought a Celeron awhile ago (you may have seen me mention it in another thread), bought an ATA PCI card and stuffed it with all the hard disks I already had. It was a 2.26 I think celeron, and honestly even thats more than you would need. But you can't really buy much lower anymore. Only cost me £150ish though, plus about a tenner for the pci card. Buttons.

__________________
OS : Windows XP Pro SP2
CPU: Intel P4 2.8GHz HT 800MHz FSB
RAM: 2048MB DDR 3200
HDD: 1xMaxtor 250GB, 1xSeagate 200GB, 1xWD 200GB, etc
GFX: NVidia GeForce FX5950u 256MB

**Razor Blade** · June 2nd, 2006, 06:07

Thanks for all the replies guys. Ya buying a simple PC would work, but i'm thinking of building one, not just any PC though. A Mini ITX system. Whenever I do (not too soon damnitt)

I'll post a worklog here. I really appreciate all the replies and KillerShots has it right. That's exactly what I want.

__________________

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM
Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home
Premium ● Dell 2007WFP LCD ● Dell XPS M1330 Laptop ● 1TB Western
Digital MyBook External HD ● Logitech Z10 Speakers ● PLAYSTATION 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 27th, 2006, 05:06	#1
Razor Blade Locked and Loaded Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I AM CANADIAN! Posts: 12,032	Media Server Specs? I have a quick question. I was thinking about using an old laptop as a media server. Since it really has no other logical uses that my desktop can't do and excel above it, I thought this is a good way to breathe some life into an old POS So my question is what kinda specs do I need? Does it really matter all that much, or is it more Network/Wireless Connection dependant? As you can imaging the laptop would be very old Like craptastic old. I'm taking like ~300Mhz, 32mb Ram old kthx So if that is too old and crappy I need to know. Thanks for the replies __________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home Premium ● Dell 2007WFP LCD ● Dell XPS M1330 Laptop ● 1TB Western Digital MyBook External HD ● Logitech Z10 Speakers ● PLAYSTATION 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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May 30th, 2006, 14:48	#2
KillerShots War Games coder Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Florida Posts: 1,927	Well... when I built my media server, I went for the following minimum requirements: 1. At least a 386. 2. Must have at least 2M of RAM 3. Must have at least a 10Mbit ethernet connection 4. Must have a massive redundant storage system I went with the machine in my sig because that's what I had lying around. Basically, all the media server needs to do is be able to push data from its storage device at at least 900kb per second. __________________ Primary CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Mobo: Biostar N4SLI-A9 RAM: 2G Crucial (DDR400) Video: eVGA GeForce 7900 GTX (512M) Audio: HDA X-Mystique HD(s): Maxtor 300G SATA2, Samsung 400G SATA2 OS(s): WinXP x64 Pro, Vista x32 Ultimate, Gentoo x64 Monitor(s): Primary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Secondary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Tertiary - Zenith 42" Plasma TV (1024x768 res) Many other machines... sig too short

May 30th, 2006, 15:11	#3
Cid Highwind The Hunter Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: NL Posts: 15,877	Just don't try to do anything else when data is transferring. I still remember that on my old pc whenever I was sending a file to my brother downstairs his pc used to drain all my resources and my 350 with 288meg of ram just froze untill the tranfser was completed. I don't know if this has been of any help though __________________ PC Specs: CPU: Intel Q8200 @ 2.8GHz // GPU: Sapphire ATi HD5870 1GB // Mobo: Gigabyte EP35-DS3 RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 // HDD: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint // SPU: Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music PSU: Hiper Type-R 580W // Monitor: Iiyama B2403WS / 19201200 Join the NGEmu Folding @ Home community NOW!*

May 31st, 2006, 09:11	#4
lord_muad_dib The FORCE is my ally Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: italy Posts: 177	32 mb of ram? you should use a minimal linux distro forget windows (maybe windows 95 version A works good ) kidding apart you need fast ram and a fast hdd also. redundant storage isn't that important for hobbystic uses, (if the mobo is not that good, redundancy might add somy bus latency.so just mount a dvd-r when you have to backup, it's just my opinion i don't wanna flame), you can implement it later if you feel the need to (do not use a built in raid controller,they r crap usually, buy a new one). processor speed is not that important, but depends on your needs __________________ CPU: AMD Athlon 64 4000+(939 SanDiego CORE)@2,6Ghrz MoBo: ABIT Fatal1ty AN8 SLi RAM: Corsair 2GB DDR Dual Channel GPU: Geforce 68000 Ultra PCIEX: 16X >> Monitors: LG Flatron F700B 17''CRT <> Hyundai ImageQuest L17T SPU: ABIT internal AudioMAX 7.1 + EAX >> Audio Out: My HiFi HDDs SATA: MAXTOR 200GB x2 HDDs IDE: MAXTOR 80GB DVDRW: Pioneer 108 Connection: ADSL Router Hamlet HDSL 740 @4Mbs/256Kbs OSes: WinXP Pro@SP2 <> GNU/Linux Gentoo <> APPLE Darwin 8.4 <> DOS 6.22

May 31st, 2006, 13:06	#5
KillerShots War Games coder Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Florida Posts: 1,927	As I understand it, all he wants is to store media on the box. The box does not need to: 1. Decode the media 2. Play the media 3. Do ANYTHING that may require more than 1 kb of RAM beyond normal OS functions I really don't see a need for more than 32M of old EDO RAM. Hell, even the crap from the 80's (that usually came in 1M sticks or less) should be fast enough. I do, however, agree that Windows is not an option with those specs. You MAY be able to go with '95... but bear in mind that there may be lots of swapping going on, and even more crashing. If you intend to build a decent media storage device, redundancy really isn't an option - it's a requirement. Backing my array to CD or DVD, for example, would take hundreds of DVDs. If you just want to store 3G of data on a small machine, then why bother with a media server at all? I'd tend to agree with muad_dib's comment that built-in RAID controllers are crap. Most of them aren't even hardware RAID - they're just drivers that handle the RAID in software (any decent unix OS or recent professional Windows OS can do that without their crappy drivers). If you MUST go with a built-in RAID, avoid RAID-5 like the plague - it's down-right dangerous if you don't have a battery backup on the card (and NO built-in solution has that). You could lose your whole array in a power outage (I had with a software RAID under linux - really pissed me off). __________________ Primary CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Mobo: Biostar N4SLI-A9 RAM: 2G Crucial (DDR400) Video: eVGA GeForce 7900 GTX (512M) Audio: HDA X-Mystique HD(s): Maxtor 300G SATA2, Samsung 400G SATA2 OS(s): WinXP x64 Pro, Vista x32 Ultimate, Gentoo x64 Monitor(s): Primary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Secondary - 19" Flat Panel (1280x1024) Tertiary - Zenith 42" Plasma TV (1024x768 res) Many other machines... sig too short

May 31st, 2006, 16:46	#6
hooloovoo Craptastical Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: England Posts: 145	Ebuyer sell some nice cheap PC's that are good for office work and data storage. I bought a Celeron awhile ago (you may have seen me mention it in another thread), bought an ATA PCI card and stuffed it with all the hard disks I already had. It was a 2.26 I think celeron, and honestly even thats more than you would need. But you can't really buy much lower anymore. Only cost me £150ish though, plus about a tenner for the pci card. Buttons. __________________ OS : Windows XP Pro SP2 CPU: Intel P4 2.8GHz HT 800MHz FSB RAM: 2048MB DDR 3200 HDD: 1xMaxtor 250GB, 1xSeagate 200GB, 1xWD 200GB, etc GFX: NVidia GeForce FX5950u 256MB

June 2nd, 2006, 06:07	#7
Razor Blade Locked and Loaded Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I AM CANADIAN! Posts: 12,032	Thanks for all the replies guys. Ya buying a simple PC would work, but i'm thinking of building one, not just any PC though. A Mini ITX system. Whenever I do (not too soon damnitt) I'll post a worklog here. I really appreciate all the replies and KillerShots has it right. That's exactly what I want. __________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0 GHz ● NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS ● 2GB DDR2 RAM Hitachi 120GB HD ● Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive ● Windows Vista Home Premium ● Dell 2007WFP LCD ● Dell XPS M1330 Laptop ● 1TB Western Digital MyBook External HD ● Logitech Z10 Speakers ● PLAYSTATION 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------