Kaliko Systems Limited
Make a Low-Power Media Server
Introduction
Many people start with a few music and video files on their PC, and simply play them through their PC. However, as their collection of PC based music and video increases, and often the number of PCs around the house also increases, this results in the desire to share the media files between the home PCs. Soon the small, smart, family-friendly commercial network media players start to look attractive and you suddenly find that a home media server to store the family's music and video makes sense. Commercial companies have seen this trend and have produced sophisticated and expensive home media systems. However, you can now buy smart looking network media players with a good remote control cheaply, and it is fun to make your own media server. Such a system is normally lower cost and more flexible in the long term, as you are not tied to a single vendor. If you wish, your DIY media server can be hidden away in a closet or similar, so you can concentrate on functionality rather than appearance. A major focus for my media server is that it has a low whole-life cost, so a low purchase cost followed by low electricity bills is required.
Lets start with what I originally did and how you can learn from my mistakes.