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Re: Mini-ITX PC's a the future of HA



> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:eN2dnUguUO_oDwnZnZ2dnUVZ_qmdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
>
>> I'm still not sure that in the future home there will be only one machine
>> serving all three functions:  HA, security (HA/S) and entertainment.  As
>> I
>> said previously, since the horsepower requirements are so different
>> between
>> HA/S and entertainment uses, it makes lots of sense for me, at least, to
>> split those areas.  I can't see how you could ever leave a media server
>> "alone enough" to keep it protected.  You're always adding new media and
>> if
>> you're running "street legal" you need constant updates to various
>> players
>> and intermediate software.

BTW, I think that you are confusing a media server and a media player. A
media server just serves up data. It's very much what servers are made to
do. It is completely possible to also have it do multi-channels of playback
if you want. This does not require constant tinkering at all, and plenty of
folks do it. But it can also just be a server. It provides access to
metadata for browsing and when you select something (from a local touch
screen), that invokes a local player that sucks data off the server for
playback.

In our system, at least in the upcoming 1.7 release, for just music (which
is the only media that can be legally ripped to disc right now), we will
upload the data to the server from wherever you run the media repository
manager client program. So you never have to go fiddle with the client to
get media onto it. It's still just acting as a server. Serving music doesn't
require anything more than a couple of 300MB SATAII discs in a RAID1
configuration, nothing fancy.

If you are going to do movies, then that may or may not be stored on the
actual automation server. It may be in a NAS or some other separate machine.
It depends on how you want to do. But still, it's just acting as a data
server, not a player.

-------------------------------------
Dean Roddey
Chairman/CTO, Charmed Quark Systems
www.charmedquark.com




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