Media centre double as a server?

[Cranium0974]

Hi All,
I hope someone can help me with this question or put me to a more appropriate forum or existing post if required.
My husband setup a fanstastic arrangement with windows 7 media centre with 2 xbox360 extenders wired off it to two separate rooms which works great. Very stable, records tv fine and has been going well for a number of years. The Wife approval factor (me ) is high!
The problem we have is that currently we dont have a home network arrangement, so although we can stream media easily to our tvs, all members of the family use their laptops the bulk of the time to buy music and upload their photos. We currently also have a nas drive where we try to remember to upload our photos for communal use, however its really unfriendly and we all dread it. So whenever we want to listen to a song someone else bought or email a photo off someone elses laptop, because the media centre is stand alone its a lot of mucking around with usb sticks and uploading to nas drives etc.

So I guess its time for us to look at a server of some sort, and I had some questions.

Should we buying a separate box with windows home server pre installed sofware, and somehow integrating this to the media centre along with our laptops? Or should we just instal the WHS software onto our existing media centre which is currently working beautifully.
What would the bringing in of the WHS do to our interfaces etc on the tv screens if anything?
Or is there something else altogether people would suggest.
Thanks so much for any tips

[newfiend]

I don't think you need a WHS for what your trying to accomplish. From reading your post I think you basically just need to set up your network for sharing. This way you can transfer files from your laptops or other PC's in the home to your HTPC. I use my HTPC as a Central Location for all my Media. TV, Pictures, Music etc.. And I have those locations shared on my network and can access them on any PC in my home.
Have a look at Homegroup built into Windows 7.. Here is some more info on it : http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... e-easy-way
Once the locations are shared on your network you can easily transfer files over wired or wireless networks without having to resort to USB Flash Drives etc.
There is this also: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/h ... group.html Please do not take offense to the "for dummies" it just has a decent guide.

There are also advantages to adding a WHS as well they would be:
Data Management :
Windows Home Server provides a place where you can back up and store important files on a local network. In addition, you can manage files across multiple computers and devices. For example, if you create a document on a desktop computer, you can access that document from a laptop computer later in another room. You can access a single copy of a document on the server as opposed to distributing copies individually to other users on the network which may be problematic as documents evolve.

Media Support:
The centralized storage location of Windows Home Server allows you to access multimedia files, such as music or videos, anywhere in your house. You can share photos with other family members by posting the photographs in a specific location on the server. You can also stream media files directly onto electronic devices, such as televisions or other personal computers.

Extendable:
You can easily add more storage capacity to Windows Home Server if you need more storage space. In addition, there are many add-on applications that you can use to customize and extend the Windows Home Server. The LightsOut add-on application manages the power consumption of the server based on the time of day. Automation tools, such as KeepVault, automatically back up and can synchronize computers on the network.

Having regular Back-Ups on a WHS is a huge advantage. Something I am wanting to add to my own setup at some point. If you do go this route I would suggest a seperate box with WHS installed instead of trying to put it all in one location in case of some sort of harware/software failure, that way your data is backed up to another location.

newfiend~

[Scallica]

Also, keep in mind WHS does not have WMC.

[Danno100]

I have one Win 7 64 bit "server" box which records all TV shows (350 saved at any time), holds movies (800+), music (30,000 tracks) , photo's (25,000) plus all home data files (e.g. Outlook, Word, Publisher), runs home automation software, and monitors/records 5 IP camera's. It runs a host of apps like iTunes, iCloud, Plex, Remote Potato, AirPlayIt, Blue Iris and other software.

It has 10 TB of storage and I back up to local storage or a NAS. I backup using duplicate drives and haven't lost any data in 15 years.

Client devices include 3 desktop's, 3 laptops, one iPad, 2 iPods, iPhone, 2 xBox 360's used as extenders, 2 jailbroken Apple TV 2's, 5 D-link extenders, and a Kindle fire. The Apple TV is becoming a favorite since I can rent movies on it and get Netflix.

No need for WHS. I have a license, but never installed it as it is useless (doesn't include WMC) for recording TV shows. Other than backing up client PC's, I see no advantage of WHS. One computer; does everything; easier to maintain; lower purchase cost; lower operating costs.

[Cranium0974]

Thanks a lot everyone, the posts are very helpful. We will go ahead with setting up a homegroup of some sort and forget the server for now. I appreciate all the advice greatly.