silicon pop culture!

So this may be a little off topic, except 3 of the computers in our house are TRs running XP Pro, we have two other computers as well, one runs Vista, the other Media Center 2005.

We are moving into a renovated place and we have Cat 5e cable throughout the house, I am going to be buying an HP Home Server, and would like to use it to run the media throughout our house (I have a slingbox and dvr, but am thinking of setting up the server to replace these).

The question I have is for those that have server experience, what type of challenges am I likely to have using my TRs to connect (through ethernet) to the server, and then connecting the computer to the two TVs (one old, one to be purchased) and accessing the stored videos, music and photos through the server.

I’m not sure if all that people refer to (gigabit switches etc.) are necessary if I’m using older technology like our TRs.

Any advice would be really appreciated, or suggestions on how others have connected to the media on their PCs.

Thanks!

Just a note, the HP Home Server’s primary function is sharing files and backing up your systems. It’s not a replacement for a DVR or Slingbox.

The HP Home Server makes it amazingly easy to share files. It automatically creates all the necessary shares you need (you can make more of course) and when you install the connector software on each system, it makes sure you can see all the shares. You will need to create some accounts on the server (just match it to your current username/password on your system for seamless single sign on).

Then all you’d need to do is go to explorer and go to:

\\whatever_i_named_my_server\photos
\\whatever_i_named_my_server\videos
\\whatever_i_named_my_server\music

etc…

The HP will also automatically create an iTunes share from files stored in “music”.

You just need to make sure your internet connection goes into a router so it can share the connection with each of the systems. It’s really easy to setup and Microsoft got the setup right.

Thanks so much for your response. I am thinking that by adding a TV adapter to my Media Center computer I should be able to record television, and the recordings would then be stored on the server making them accessible to any of the computers in the house.

The HP server supports remote access, so I’m hoping I may be able to connect remotely when I’m out of town and stream stored media from the server to my laptop in the hotel room.

Are there any limitations that you’re aware of on the TRs accessing this media and streaming it? Also, what type of audio quality is the TR capable of putting out if I network into my home audio system with the speakers in our ceiling (I’d like to use the TR to connect to iTUNES and then have the sound come through the TR to the speakers). I need an amp to connect the ethernet cable into in order to send power to the speakers along with the music (or sound for stored media).

Any suggestions on where I could learn more about how to set up this sort of a configuration?

Any help would sure be appreciated!

Thanks