An idea, feedback would be appreciated

[hemp]

For over two years now I have been collecting media whether it's games, movies, books, or music with the intent of buying a very large hard drive to store it on. I am thinking about getting some type of thing that I can store all of these items on and share the drive or whatever it may be over a network, or have it so I can access it from other computers.

I am not sure what I would need to do this. I am thinking of buying 2TB's. I am not sure if it is considered a hard drive.

I found this and so far it seems like what I am looking for.

I am not sure if I set it up and go on vacation and be able to access this though. Does anyone know anything about this type of stuff?

Any and all help is very much needed. Thank you.

 

[iPwn]

...drooool...

Well I'm not up to speed on the whole accessing information away from home either, but know that it can be done. My solution (ancient!) would be a simple FTP server but then that's not direct access and you would have to download the file before viewing and I'm pretty sure that's not what you're looking for. If you get no other replies though, it's an option. If anyone else has the better answer, please post as I'm now curious as well.

 

[hemp]

Ya it would be very nice to have all my media at home so if I go anywhere I can just connect to the server/hdd or whatever it may be and just watch whatever is there. I know that it will be pretty much streaming, but if needed I can make it so I can copy files from it so I can watch the content on that computer/laptop.

 

[dude_56013]

I'm not sure if your home internet connection would be fast enough to stream. It's one thing to stream from Netflix, another to stream to a physical location other than a wired/wireless home network.

 

[hemp]

I was thinking of when I did set this up that I would upgrade my internet to something very very nice. I mean I will be willing to spend $100/month or so just for internet and no phone line or cable included with that.

 

[foothead]

Just store it on your server and use orb. You will be able to stream all your media through any computer, iOS device, blackberry, or android device. Bandwidth doesn't seem to be a problem either as it worked for me with 800/100 kbps on the server, and ATT EDGE tethered to my laptop. The picture quality was awful, but it worked. It can also access your tuner to watch live tv.

Definitely worth considering, especially since the service is free, and the mobile apps are $10.

1.5 TB Seagate drives are cheap as dirt nowadays. Put a couple of them in an old P4 rig and you've got an instant server. Throw in a $50 tuner card and a cheap HDMI graphics card and you've got a nice htpc too.

 

[hemp]

I would also like to be able to access the server from another computer and be able to copy content from it. Streaming is only part of what I would like it to do.

 

[foothead]

I would also like to be able to access the server from another computer and be able to copy content from it. Streaming is only part of what I would like it to do.

That's just basic networking. Just put it on your network and share all the folders you need. For remote access to files, set up a ftp server.

Everything you have described thus far could be done with an old pc from craigslist or a garage sale or w/e. There really isn't a huge need for specialized hardware. Just be sure not to use 802.11g or something.

 

[dude_56013]

I've tried Orb and like you mentioned, the picture was terrible. I mean, downright awful. Unwatchable in my experience.

 

[hemp]

So I just need to get an old computer and put a few 1TB HDD's in there and set it up for remote access? Can only one computer access it at one time? Or is it only those who have the password for it?