The advantages of a home media server
Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by admin in Featured Articles, Remodeling
If you’re anything like me, you have this huge wall of DVDs, or book shelves with the things piled higher than those stacks of vampire tween novels your teenagers are reading these days. I have been asked more than once to find a home for them. My collection has grown and shrunk over the years, but there has been many a time when I wish that I had just held on to that one movie, that I just had an urge to see. Collections consisting of over 200 movies should be closely scrutinized. Where are you storing them all? Are your walls covered from floor to ceiling with towers of pressed polycarbonate resin, hiding that random framed print you bought at the “big box” store? Sure, take them to the local Used-DVD spot and get a little credit for some new or used movies. Or just sell them outright to free up some space in your living room. But what about those of us that are appreciative of all movies, and hoard our collections until we’ve converted our Home Theater areas into Libraries? What then?
You have to agree that you’ve spent all of this money on your collection, just to get shafted at the store when you go to sell off some of your used discs. This is probably why some of our collections continually grow and grow. Well the next time you go and raid the $5 movie bins at Wal-Mart, and realize that you need that $100 white faux-wooden bookcase as well to sit them on, know that there are alternatives to tacky furniture.
Why not incorporate a Home Media Server into the mix?
ACER media server
There are several different methods for moving forward in this digital age of streaming media that will ensure the enjoyment of your slice of Hollywood for years to come. My top recommendation has to be a centralized Media Server. There are many top computer manufacturers that are migrating towards consumers in this more justified market than ever before. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Apple, and ACER are leading the pack in the low to mid-size sales and support range. Then there are specialty companies such as Fusion Research and Kaleidescape that are even more beefy on the budget, but offer so many more benefits for the price.
Different manufacturers offer different functionality with each system. You have servers that are strictly servers. (They are there to only store and hold data, to be accessed at a later time.) There are servers that have additional sub components that you will allow you to transmit the data stored on the server to be viewed on any television in your home. (These types of systems range from extremely basic to more complex depending on budget and goals for your system.)
Where do I begin?
You have to ask the question, “What do I want from my media collection?” The answer could be simple, it could be hard to explain, it could be out of your range of thought to really grasp what you want out of it. Your basic media server is used to store movies, music, pictures, and any random file you can think of. Do you just need additional storage? Purchase an additional hard drive. Do you want the capability to watch any movie you have, listen to any MP3, look at videos and photos of your last trip to the “Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” all on an on-demand type of setup? Then look into a Windows Home Server with Media Center functionality. For more complex setups I always recommend having a professional involved.
What are the true benefits?
It’s hard to see the benefits until you are watching a new movie streaming from your Media Server, sitting in your new recliner you finally had room for when you removed your shelves of pressed media and sold them on Cragslist. You don’t have to throw your discs and cases away, but your significant other would surely appreciate that additional living space. Think of it, an uncluttered living room, with the ability to start or stop any movie, anytime you wanted it. TiVO, eat your heart out.
For more information about this topic, call Neil Berry at Allied Home Technologies at (615) 385-3999, or log on to www.alliedhometech.com.
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