Media streaming

[rh100]

Regarding audio/video streaming

Here is my setup - all my files are stored on Windows Home Server in shared directories.

At the moment each PC uses Windows Media Player, with a mapped folder pointing to the share, and media player is set to monitor this drive letter for new media to update it's main library. Each one is also set to rip any MP3's to a specific folder on the share, rather than locally - so a cd ripped on one PC is updated on another.

The problem with this is that if the mapped drive disconnects for any reason it starts playing havoc, and if I set one up from scratch it takes an age to scan the contents and build a library for that PC. (just the data - not the files themselves - they stay on the server).

I have seen a product called Twonky Media Server for WHS, am I right that this will just share a library for the client PC to read without importing it's own data? Or is there another solution that keeps things simple?

Anyone have experience of this kind of thing?

 

[Rezillo]

Twonky maintains its own index which it serves up to client software/hardware. The menu structure that clients see is configurable at server level so that you can have a navigable structure that suits your own collection. The problem is not all software or hardware clients use the menu structure and impose their own.

For example, Mediaplayer in Windows 7 just shows album/artist/track and trys to load everything as one big list, which for a large mp3 collection makes it virtually impossible to use. Mediacentre is better but then drops loads of additional jpg files into the file structure.

The good news is that Twonky v5 includes, afaik, its own client. The bad news is that v5 has a changed method of creating a menu structure which is very far from user friendly. I have v4 running on a qnap nas and it does the job well, streaming to a ps3, noxon, an eva8000 and a mydual radio.

There are other server options to Twonky - tversity, for example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPnP_AV_MediaServers has more info.

In my opinion, XBMC is good as client software, albeit with some slightly quirky navigation.

John

 

[rh100]

Hi John

many thanks for the info - very helpful.

I'll have a look at the link you've given.

I may well give twonky a go, they have a free trial. The living room hifi is fed and controlled from a mediacenter/vista box under the telly - so whatever route i go down it needs to be controllable from that through the media center interface- will have to check if there client integrates to it or not.

Many thanks

Rich

 

[Rezillo]

It will be the v5 Mediamanager version you need, which has the player included. However, I've no direct experience of version 5.

Here's how I set up the menus for version 4:

Forum link

John