Combine Media Center and Server ?

[pdean]

For years I have been running a win 7 media center computer in my living room. It is an old Intel Core 2 Duo that works fine but has some problems and very slow boots when needed. I also have been running a home server from both versions of WHS to the last few years Win 8 using an old motherboard. I only store recent recorded TV on the mce machine and all music and photos on the server. I rarely use the server these days mainly watching recorded TV and had my 2nd power supply die so I wonder should I just build one pc combing everything and have my living room computer running all the time instead of sleep mode which is what I have used for years while my server ran full time. I think of using a stereo receiver look computer case design but with one very large drive and just possibly a DVD drive along with an external backup drive that I take to work at least monthly. On the server side I am looking to run Plex and use it more often and convert my TV recording to a plex format for access from iOS devices for example.

I am looking for a quiet pc and low power use and have been interested in something similar to the Value HTPC on the my media experience website.

What is the advantage of having a separate server these days. I mainly need to replace my media center computer but a server could be later. I have never run an NAS device but they seem very interesting or even installing my own.

I have hated Win 8 in general and never really used it like Vista. Am I correct that Win 7 for mce is still the better way to go. I also have a Linksys DMA2100 and Xbox 360 and Xbox One but those rarely use mce. For TV I use the Silicon Dust HD HomeRun Prime with Comcast.

[Tester]

I run 1 system to act as both using win7. I have an HTCP/Server PC in a closet behind the wall where my TV sits, all the cables reach.
I am using a PulseEight device to control the TV and AVR. Instead of using sleep states, I now use Away mode to power cycle the TV/AVR and keep the PC on all the time.
For me this setup works perfectly, no need for 2 systems any longer.

[blueiedgod]

The advantage of having separate server and media PC is that:

A) Server is going to have multiple drives, which are difficult to keep quiet. And they will generate more heat, which will require the use of fans, once again, difficult to keep quiet.

B) Should one fail or somehow become inoperative, you still have access to the other.

You can build an HTPC that will be quiet and compact, and a server that will be big and loud, but located where it does not bother anyone (basement, closet, spare room).

To build a quiet and powerful server/HTPC that is quiet may cost as much as 2 machines, but you lose redundancy, and flexibility.

[bob_p]

I used to have my HTPC sitting next to my primary TV (either in a TV stand or inside a cabinet) and the server located elsewhere. And the PC being used as the HTPC was relatively quiet.

When I moved to my new house - the home theater room had a separate closet and a 'future tube' running from the closet to the TV location in the room - so I ran a long HDMI cable from the closet and moved the HTPC into the closet.

Even though the HTPC was relatively quiet - it still generated noise. And now that it's in the closet - the room with the TV is now so quiet, my son calls it the "sensory depravation chamber"...

If you can find a way to relocate your HTPC away from your TV - that's always going to be quieter. It is possible to get a quiet HTPC by eliminating as many noisy devices as possible - using SSD instead of HDD, using a fanless graphics card and getting a case/CPU cooling that is as quiet as possible. Though for that additional expense, you may find it cheaper to relocate your HTPC - using long-run HDMI or HDMI over CAT wiring.

[Greenbutton2015]

I have been tossing around the idea also to combined my WMC and Plex server onto 1 computer. I think using a laptop would be a good idea. Only cons for me would be that I need a additional usb tuner and a new laptop. I use USB external drives for my media storage so they could be easily hooked up. I was wondering what the specs as far as the processor goes that I would need to run both programs?

[mdavej]

WMC takes nothing. Plex transcoding takes a lot. A laptop seems like huge overkill to me. A $150 PC can do the same job a $400 laptop can do since you don't have to pay for a screen or wifi you'll never use or the cost of making everything tiny. In any case, try to meet or exceed whatever works for your Plex server today. Adding WMC has virtually no impact on the CPU, but does require about 2GB of RAM per WMC and Extender session. I have 5 extenders, so 16GB would be needed to run all 6 sessions simultaneously. Since I never run more than 3 at a time, I can get by with 8GB.

[Tester]

Taking mdavej's idea further, I am using a cheap celeron based NUC on one of my TVs easily handling TV, Recording and Emby. Runs everything smooth at 1920x1080
Purchased used on ebay for $62, no need for laptop nor PC. Best part is that it comes with infrared port and mounts to back of TV.

[tletourneau]

I am currently running everything as VM's in my NAS. So far I've not had any problems other than losing my encrypted content when I made the switch which I knew would happen. I have one VM running Windows 7 with WMC and another running FreePBX for my phones.

[pdean]

For those of you that have your computer in another room from the TV as the media center/server how do you control the computer. I have 2 CAT 5 cables running from the media center to another room on another floor of my home to my home made wiring closet and could run more if needed.

[newfiend]

For those of you that have your computer in another room from the TV as the media center/server how do you control the computer. I have 2 CAT 5 cables running from the media center to another room on another floor of my home to my home made wiring closet and could run more if needed.

You could used an extender like an Xbox 360 at the TV. You can then use all the WMC functions as well as PLEX if you use that.
Otherwise you would have to route a USB cable to the PC in another room and place a IR receiver at the TV. There also may be other options I am not aware of.
newfiend~