

How I Set Up My Home Network – NAS and Raspberry Pi - gmontard
http://www.mythoughts.io/articles/how-did-i-setup-my-home-network/#.UpeWbZi9KK0

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Nursie
But... they're just computers!

\--edit-- so this comment isn't orally worthless, I ought to say that over the
years I've come to the conclusion that, when it comes down to it, they're all
just computers. Some may have a graphical output, some may not, some may have
the RAM, the processor speed, the SATA interfaces, whatever.

When it comes down to it you can stuff debian on any of them and make it do
whatever the hell you want. This is a worthwhile and awesome pursuit, but when
it comes down to it it doesn't matter - Pi, NAS, micro server, 1U pizza-box,
mainframe... they all do the same

\--edit 2-- Orally worthless? WTF? I'm getting rapidly sick of my new Mac's
autocorrect features!

~~~
StavrosK
That's why I can't understand this. Using the Raspberry Pi to control some
external device, sure. Hooking it up to your own LEDs or systems or whatever,
amazing. But, using it as a NAS/HTPC/whatever? It's pretty much the least
imaginative thing you can do with a computer, and the Pi isn't even that well
suited to it.

But, eh, if you had fun doing it, power to you. I'm not going to tell you what
you should and shouldn't do. It's just that I'd like to see some more
imaginative hacks.

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cones688
I have a HP N40L little 4 disk SMB server which runs ubuntu perfectly with all
the tools you list along with RAID and a bit more power.

Instead of having XBMC I use plex a free (though the plexpass is so worth it)
fork, which keeps a central library which clients then query, they have a
client for everything (rpi, android, ios, windows, mac, linux), by far the
best feature is that it remembers what point you were in movies and has a
great web interface where you can watch anything - no installation of anything
required. Also syncs content of your choosing to ipad or tablets/phones so
when you hit the road you have all your shows you want at the correct quality
and encoding - I freaking love it. If you have a good enough speed uplink you
can also even watch remotely in your browser.

If you like XBMC - try Plex, it's worth a little look at...

edit: Also runs on Roku's too :)

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gmontard
Interesting comment!

I like my NAS setup because it's silent (++), easy to manage and it has a
really nice Web interface, but you're right your home made server is much more
powerfull and flexible and will always be.

Also I tried Plex on the Pi, but it's too slow (there is even a port for the
Pi [http://rasplex.com/](http://rasplex.com/)) and it needs the server part of
Plex to run on the NAS... at the end it's too much of a burden compared to
XBMC for the little Pi.

~~~
cones688
I totally agree, you should try an Android TV stick with Plex app on (see my
comment above)

The N40L is pretty dam silent, it just sits behind my couch. Uses a touch more
power but it doesn't struggle like those NAS's sometimes do with certain apps.

~~~
gmontard
I definitively want to try those Android Stick!

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johnpowell
For others you might want to look into PLEX and RASPLEX. I have RASPLEX on a
Pi and it streams wonderfully from my Linux box sitting in a corner. The UI is
a bit slow if using a keyboard. But it is smooth and fast when I use the iOS
Plex app to control the Pi.

Edit: I find the UI on Plex to be way better than XMBC.

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dmix
How much was the Pi/accessories?

I paid $100 for a Roku box and 100% use it for PLEX, nothing else. Should have
just bought a Pi...

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johnpowell
Pi was 35. Then I needed a case (7) power adapter (5) SD card (10). So around
60.

And I can use the Pi for other stuff if I want. Keep in mind It runs the full
PHT. Not the watered down version on the ATV2 which is what I previously used.

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sehrope
Just adding that the RasPi power supply is a standard micro-USB so if you
happen to have one already ( _old phone or tablet charger?_ ) and a spare SD
card ( _old camera?_ ) then you don't even need to pick those up.

Heck even the case isn't strictly necessary. I've got a similar setup at home
and for quite a while mine was hanging off the back of my TV on a short HDMI
cable.

~~~
voltagex_
While the later model B's are reasonably good with most chargers, you still
want to make sure the charger is capable of at least 700mA.

~~~
gmontard
If anyone hesitate you HAVE TO buy the B model! Much more power for so little
money.

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abollaert
Nice writeup. I've got a similar setup, however, I grew a bit annoyed with
Raspbmc, as it's a bit slow as your library gets bigger. So I'd recommend an
Atom box to handle this part (I'm using an Ion330 from Asrock, but there's
probably better hardware available for this nowadays).

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gmontard
Well Sam did lot of speed improvements lately, and the Theme I talk about
(Amber) is efficient on the Pi. Also keep in mind the Pi is $50 compared to at
least $200 for a complete Ion setup, right?

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abollaert
Yeah but it's not the UI that's laggy. It's mostly the library updates. I've
got a Raspberry that takes 15 minutes to do a library scan, while my Ion takes
about a minute, maybe 2. It depends on your use case of course, but when you
use sickbeard, you end up doing library updates almost daily.

~~~
gmontard
You don't need to do a full scan each time. If you enable SickeBeard XBMC
notification it will only add the new Show without updating the whole
library...

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cupcake-unicorn
Not loving the heteronormative language, " In both cases your girlfriend will
thank you." ..for the same reasons that "How to explain Python to your
Grandmother" etc. is not OK. In my case my boyfriend would be clueless and I'd
be setting it up.

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gmontard
Oh it works both way for sure! I don't tell about my grandfather because well
my grandmother is lot more tech friendly than he is! Anyway I understand what
you mean, sorry about that.

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trentmb
You didn't do anything that warrants an apology.

~~~
gmontard
BTW I updated the post.

~~~
trentmb
I know, I was referring to your post before you edited it.

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kelvie
I use almost the exact same setup, but with an Ouya instead of the RP.

I could get an Ouya shiped to me next day via Amazon Prime, and installing it
from the store was a breeze. The UI is also really smooth.

I've also plugged in a cheap ebay media center remote receiver (which I have
programmed on my Logitech Harmony remote), and it works perfectly.

~~~
gmontard
Nice to know the Ouya also does media server..

On of the best part of XBMC is the HDMI CEC support meaning you don't need a
new remote control and trust me this is great!

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evolve2k
Sounds awesome, wouldn't mind a few more pics of hardware and screenshots of
software used to better illustrate what you did.

~~~
gmontard
Good point ! I'll try to add some later...

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psikonetik
I have a N54L with Xpenology installed on it. It's kind of a nightmare to make
sickbeard etc work but at leats plex works. I prefer it against XBMC, better
performance I think and is browser functional. I don't have too much time to
experiment but I'm looking forward to alternatives. Please any
recommendations?

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chrisblackwell
I couldn't agree more about using a Synology for your NAS device. I bought the
Synology DS213j a couple of months ago, and it has completely changed the way
I manage my files. The number of applications that Synology has out of the box
is outstanding.

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gotschi
he could have transformed his router into a NAS using either the proprietary
software or OpenWRT/Tomato etc... This way you dont need any extra NAS and
just plug in your external drive via USB. The performance is the only
bottleneck I've experienced with routers (cpu speed is about 200-600mhz).
Other than that it works really well with my raspberry pi xbmc!

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gmontard
Well Synology NAS is so much more than just a connected harddrive through the
network... Also I don't think the router can handle NZbget, sickbeard etc.

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gotschi
I really dont know what software is available from the NAS manufacturers or
the community. All i can say is that my Netgear WNDR3700v2 can handle
transmission, smb, ssh, afp, an apache server and tvheadend pretty well on
OpenWRT and there are many more packages (including nzbget) available.

~~~
gmontard
I think you'll find a really big bottleneck if you're using NZB (with NZget or
SabNZB). Even my NAS is too slow to give me the maximum speed of my fiber
optic internet connection :( (stuck at 9MB/s)

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sschueller
I have done this as well but I always end up using my crap boxee because it
supports Netflix and the RPi doesn't :(

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gmontard
Did you try this XBMC add-ons on it?
[http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on:XBMC_Flicks_-
_Ne...](http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Add-on:XBMC_Flicks_-
_Netflix_for_XBMC)

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AndyJ1972
I got all excited until I read it won't work in the UK, but it's a great thing
otherwise.

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killerpopiller
I have a pi, smb, an usb-drive and open movies directly. I never really
understood the streaming thing.

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Nursie
You can keep your media on a server that lives in another room or a cupboard
somewhere, and then play on any device you feel like.

I've never used xbmc, but using a DLNA server, a phone with an app like skifta
and various dumb music endpoints and smart-TV style video endpoints, you can
use your phone to throw media from the server to anywhere in the house. It's
rather cool :)

