What's the best streaming media player/external hard drive/home media server

[cawe]

Hello and I hope somebody can help me. I am looking for a sort of multi service media player/storage for home use. I don't mind paying a higher price if I'm going to get what I want/need, something that is easily upgradable with a new disk drive/processor etc... in a few years time. I might be easier if I list my needs, If anyone knows of something or can recommend something, please do let me know.

Thanks in advance. Chris

• A stand alone machine/OS
• Wireless (but can/will be directly connected to the router is 300mb)
• Large memory 3TB+
• Quick streaming speed/decent processor
• An External hard drive, easily accessed by all laptops/PC's in the house for both long & Short term storage of images, movies, music, general files.
• A HD media player/streamer to the TV's in the house I guess additional hardware will be required for the TV's . If this is not possible it the another piece of technology that would plug in to this box and then be streamed to the rest of the house... AND, yes another and... be streaming two different movies to two different TV's simultaneously, (would be great if it would link in with the Sky box).
• Music - stream to all laptops (built in player would be a bonus but not essential)
• Compatible with both Android and iPhone's (uploading/downloading)

First I recommend you to decide whether you really need a home media server like Acer Aspire AH340-UA230N or a Network Attached Storage (NAS) like Synology DiskStation 2-Bay DS211J.

Synology DiskStation 2-Bay DS211J doesn't have a built-in Wi-Fi support, but you may use some compatible USB 2 Wi-Fi dongles with it.

Originally Posted by Synology DiskStation 2-Bay DS211J Overview

Your Own Entertainment Center

Download Station functions as a 24x7 BitTorrent, FTP, HTTP, eMule, and NZB download center without a PC. The eMule download engine allows search-n-download capability with a web-browser without installing additional desktop applications.

Audio Station supports music, Internet radio stations, and iPod playback with the optional speakers. An optional direction-free Synology Remote allows you to freely enjoy your music. Streaming mode allows your music to be shared with multiple users over the Intranet or Internet.

DLNA/UPnP Compliant Media Sever allows you to stream multimedia files with an UPnP Digital Media Adapter (DMA) to a stereo system or a TV-set. Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox360 are also supported.

iTunes Server is an easy way to share music with other iTunes clients over the network. Password protection prevents unauthorized sharing.


Back Up Your Precious Data

DiskStation Manager offers comprehensive solutions for you to back up data stored on DiskStation or your desktop computer to the DiskStation.

Server backup includes two alternatives: Network Backup and Local Backup. Both allow you to back up data in the shared folders and databases. Incremental backup option and flexible schedules are available. All can be easily configured with a step-by-step wizard.

Desktop backup provides your Windows PC with Synology Data Replicator for backing up desktop data, Outlook, and Outlook Express emails to your DiskStation by choosing one of the three backup modes: Immediate, Sync, and Scheduled backup, while Mac OS X users can use Apple Time Machine backup application to back up their critical data to DiskStation.

USBCopy allows you to quickly back up your data from an USB storage device such as an USB flash or USB card reader to your DiskStation with just one single touch on the front-panel copy button.


Enrich Your Web Presence

Photo Station simplifies photo, video, and blog sharing over the Internet. The flexibility of photo theme customization, blog layout arrangement, visitor’s privilege setting, RSS feed, and the dazzling 3-dimentional photo browsing with Cooliris make Photo Station your state-of-the-art lifestyle sharing center on the Internet.

Web Station with built-in PHP+MySQL allows you to publish your own websites or install numerous popular open source programs.
Access With Your Mobile Device

The iPhone and Android App, DS audio, allows you to stream music stored on your DiskStation with your mobile devices where Internet access is available, while DS photo+ allows browsing and uploading photos and videos stored on DiskStation from your mobile devices.

If you own a mobile device running on Windows Mobile 6.0, iPhone OS 2.2.1 onward, or Symbian OS 9.1, you can log on your DiskStation to view photos with Mobile Photo Station and read supported file formats with Mobile File Station wherever Internet access is available.


Eco Friendly

Synology DiskStation is designed and developed perpetually with the concept of energy saving. Compared with its average PC counterparts, Synology DiskStation consumes a relatively low amount of power and hibernates when not in use. This not only helps to save energy but also extends the lifespan of the hard disk.

Synology DiskStation truly earns the title of “green product” because of the unique Scheduled Power On/Off feature, and the smart fan design effectively cools down the system with minimum power consumption, yet keeps the system quiet on operation.

Finally, all Synology products are produced with RoHS compliant parts and packed with recyclable packing materials. Synology recognizes its responsibility as a global citizen and is continually working to reduce the environmental impact of the products we create.

Originally Posted by Synology DiskStation 2-Bay DS211J Hardware

CPU Frequency : 1.2GHz
Hardware Encrypted Engine
Memory : DDR2 128MB
Internal HDD/SSD : 3.5" or 2.5" SATA(II) X2 (with 2.5" Disk Holder) (Hard drive not included)
Max Internal Capacity : 6TB (2X 3TB HDD) (Capacity may vary by RAID types) (See All Supported HDD)
External HDD Interface : USB 2.0 Port X 3
LAN : Gigabit X1
System Fan : 70x70mm x1
Wireless Support
Noise Level : 20.8 dB(A)
Power Recovery
AC Input Power Voltage : 100V to 240V AC
Power Frequency : 50 / 60Hz, Single Phase
Power Consumption : 25W (Access) ; 10W (HDD Hibernation)

Other important questions are:
1. How large is your media archive?
2. Do you need RAID support?


My HDTV is DLNA certified, so I don't need any additional hardware for accessing media files on my PC or NAS. If your TV is not DLNA certified, you may use a network media player, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox360,...

[cawe]

Hi and thanks for replying so quickly. A lot to think about there... I have done a quick estimate and I will need 2.5TB of space once all the external drives are merged. The Acer Aspire AH340, what a beautiful piece of tec. that is. At first glance that ticks all the boxes however it's not the cheapest and I have looked, all 3 of the TV's do not support DLNA, so that would be a further 3 media players (Western Digital WD TV Live really did it for me) at ?70 a piece... the big point the Acer is not available in the UK. So Synology DiskStation is whilst not perfect the next best thing, I would still have to buy the 3 media players and the additional disk drives.

Raid is not essential as I have all important media, photos, home movies etc... backed up to a cloud drive and if I loose the latest blockbuster because of hardware malfunction, that's not an issue as I can just down load it again from itunes.

it got me thinking is the DiskStation/Western Digital combination is the best option, currently I have a windows 7 Desktop connected to the TV and the broadband router, whilst this is cheap and dirty it is sort of doing what I need and could I enhance this option. Could I get some sort of software that would play on the PC (wired to the main TV) and wirelessly to (additional hardware plugged it to the other TV's). and whilst this might be the easier option It doesn't really answer the issue of centralising all the media files.

Originally Posted by cawe

the big point the Acer is not available in the UK.

You may buy it in the U.S. Or you may buy any other home media server. You can also build your own server using say old hardware.

Originally Posted by cawe

it got me thinking is the DiskStation/Western Digital combination is the best option, currently I have a windows 7 Desktop connected to the TV and the broadband router, whilst this is cheap and dirty it is sort of doing what I need and could I enhance this option. Could I get some sort of software that would play on the PC (wired to the main TV) and wirelessly to (additional hardware plugged it to the other TV's).

There are plenty of DLNA home media server programs. You may even use Windows Media Player for that. So if you don't need any of the advanced features of a NAS or a home media server, you may use your desktop instead.

WD TV Live supports some USB Wi-Fi dongles, so you may access content of your computer, NAS or home media server wirelessly.

My router Netgear WNR3500L has a built-in USB port. It allows to connect a USB hard drive and share it with anyone in the network. This might be another option.