It has been in my mind for some time to set up a media server of some kind. We recently got a TV that was capable of connecting to a remote media server with DLNA, so perhaps it is time to play around with it.
One of my older hobbies has been to hoard old computer equipment. My original plan was to use some equipment that I was most familiar with; the rack mount server. About a year or so ago, I was doing a very dangerous thing. I was on ebay looking at old servers. Well, I found a great deal on two decent DL380 G7 chassis, one with 48GB of memory and a few hard drives in it. It would be a great server to run as a virtual host for several virtual machines. One of those virtual machines would be my media server.
I own the server, but I want to properly mount it in a rack I’ve got in storage. We recently moved, so I’ve got stuff in boxes and scattered all over the place. I’ll wait until I get the rack home, then get that server set up. In the mean time, what media server to use?
In the old days, you would connect an older computer directly to your TV in order to play your movies directly. There was also a remote control panel you could connect up and mount on the front of the box. You would treat your PC just like a DVD player.
These days, the media server is remote. As long as you have a network of some sort in your house, you’re good. A smart TV is not required, but it certainly makes it easier. You can use a streaming device like Roku, Firestick, or Chromecast to connect to your network, then pass the signal on to the TV.
I’ve decided to use Plex as my media server. I’ve heard mixed reviews on it. Most say it is an excellent server, especially if you need to transcode or work with some odd media formats (we shall see). A downside is that the software will update often, in some cases daily. While it is updating, it is unavailable to stream media to your TV.
I’ve got VMWare Workstation set up on my primary desktop computer at home. It is an older machine, predating the i5 and i7 Intel processors out there. I built it myself and it runs well, but is over due for replacement. I’ve created a virtual machine on this desktop that I’ll be installing Plex on. This is just a test, after all.
If Plex looks good, and works well, I’ll move this VM over to the “real” server when I get it set up.
Then again, I’ve heard of some other streaming software that I might check out. There is also some hardware that will do it for not a whole lot of money. The fun thing about hobbies is there are so many choices and paths to follow.