Media Servers?

[rodsterinfl]

I too am worried about using a cloud based service like the Plex

Just for clarfication. PLEX is not cloud-based or at least it doesn't' have to be (have to be careful as things can change). One option is to use a mac mini and a NAS. The PLEX software then acts as an interface for the movies/music and an organizational scheme.

[LBOskiBear]

Originally Posted by rodsterinfl

Just for clarfication. PLEX is not cloud-based or at least it doesn't' have to be (have to be careful as things can change). One option is to use a mac mini and a NAS. The PLEX software then acts as an interface for the movies/music and an organizational scheme.

This is kind of what I do, but the system seems to evolve as technology does.

1. We really never watch DVD/Blu-Rays
2. We mounted an old Mac Mini on the wall below the TV - movies/TV shows are stored on it and it's outputted to the TV via HDMI
3. An old router is plugged in to create a trailer "network"
4. When watching TV in the bedroom, I connect my iPad to the TV (mounts on the wall and connects via HDMI) and then use Plex to stream from the Mac to the iPad. I imagine we'll probably move an AppleTV from the house to the AS when we replace it with a newer one
5. Really don't like the built-in speakers in the AS so have a small soundbar that sits on top of the main TV for sound. It connects via optical and bluetooth so can stream from iPad or iPhone. We have subscriptions to Sirius, Pandora, Amazon Music, etc so that also allows for music streaming.

Lastly, iPhone is on AT&T which allows for unlimited streaming of Direct TV Now and Fullscreen. We use that when we can't pick up an OTA signal, which is what we did this past weekend.

I'm sure there's a much more elegant solution, but this seems to work for us - so far!

[khollister]

Kodi or OSMC on a supported device is the best "no network" answer. Plex can have logon issues with no internet.

[waninae39]

I too have WDTV Live . It can be used as a media server. or stream netfix etc
they are cheap as chips now

just add your files to a SSD drive and plug that in via a USB interface
it was a gift to my folks until they died last year. I would pass then a portable USB drive with family pics and videos ( as they never used the inet). It would play on their TV just using the remote

here is what the box looks like

[daleyocum]

We’ve been using the cute little Kangaroo self contained, battery powered micro PC as our media sever. This runs Windows 10 and is about the size of a paperback book. We connect a wireless Logitech media keyboard to it for a keyboard and touchpad. The cool thing is while it’s in the trailer it just connects to the TV via HDMI but when I want to download some new content on the road I just head to the nearest Starbucks or library and connect my iPad for the screen. It just acts like a normal (albeit slow) Windows computer. Most things we watch with either Netflix’s player (downloaded) or VLC. We can also rip DVDs or Blu-ray’s we rent from Redbox on the spot with an attached Blueray peripheral. That way we do t have to stress about returnig the disks if were far off in the back country.

[waninae39]

I have an older WDTV Live , that sounds similar to your media server.
just plug in a small ssd or USB drive and stream locally.

copy what you want and leave it on a portable drive for the road

most suite have lousy wifi and not enough BW for home streaming

[rodsterinfl]

This is a fantastic thread.

First, this week I noticed the 480GB SSD tiny PNY drive that might be used to backup movie files. The price is good.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...SZCSBMKGSGFBKD

waninae39, I have an unopened WD live hub 1TB that I purchased years ago. I put it in storage and forgot about it! I pulled it out a month ago. Do you find it to be a good option currently? Your post had me digging for info on it. I have the BZ 2012 model.

[waninae39]

hi rodster

yes

i made a small bracket for it. it sits just above the tv so the it sees the ir control
get a small 1TB usb stick and place all you av/ audio content on it
cheap and no streaming needed. get a short DV cable for the back of the LCD
we upgrade ours to a full HD quality LCD vs what AS sold us

[RedBearded]

I'm just getting ready to begin my airstream adventure, and I'm planning on bringing my server with me

Currently running FreeNAS (and all the benefits of ZFS!!) with docker containers of all the goodies such as Plex, Radarr, Sonarr, Transmission, Jackett, PiHole, etc. I have been curating a nice collection and have about 14TB of media stored up (most of it is x265 10 bit encoding which save's a lot of space) The nice part about an automated system is that I can keep everything organized without much effort, which was one of the problems I used to have when I ran external HD's. Plus I wasn't protected from failure of a disk, and I always had trouble finding where stuff was.

I figure when I want to run something I can just fire up the server for a few hours as it only draws about 40 watts at idle or transfer over anything I want to a flash drive or my laptop.