Nas media center software

This top-notch 2-bay box sports 2. It doesn't get much better, but you pay for the privilege. It's a great addition to a home multimedia setup. This diminutive NAS box is designed for 2. It's packed with media-streaming and other features, and it runs very cool and quiet when populated with SSDs. We were excited to see this two-bay box arrive, but the performance of its NVMe caching wasn't high as we expected, and the lack of multi-gig ethernet limits throughput.

It's a fine box with a great OS and software, but it already seems a tad dated. It has 99 percent of the features offered by the competition, and the OS is extremely clean and logically laid out. This super-affordable without drives dual-bay NAS box handles multimedia and backup with the best of them. This box ticks all the corporate boxes; it's also fast and it uses the state-of-the-art BTR file system. Only minor multimedia glitches and a couple of oversights kept it from a four-star rating.

An absolute steal in terms of its hardware, the F's software remains a work in process. The OS is slick and handles the streaming basics, but configuration of some of the apps can be tricky and there are oversights.

Zyxel's NAS is an affordable NAS box with good streaming and backup features, but configuration and administration are a bit geeky for mainstream users. Media-streaming is a must-have feature for TechHive readers, and client backup is nearly as important.

This box has little to offer on the latter account, and absolutely nothing to offer on the former. Small business and enterprise buyers, on the other hand, should give this very fast box with SSD caching a long hard look.

But ridiculously slow write performance will waste way too much of your time, and the inability to back-up to USB leaves your data vulnerable.

Jon L. Most music playing apps, such as iTunes , make it easy to convert CDs into digital files. MKVs are also rather large files, as they make complete copies of the disc, so a Blu-ray backup will be around 30GB in size. You can make the file sizes smaller in MakeMKV by deselecting additional soundtracks and bonus materials from being copied.

You could also use another program to convert the MKV to a smaller file, but this will sacrifice quality. This process will vary depending on the server you use — if you use Plex, check out our guide on How to use Plex media server , and for Kodi see our How to build your own Kodi media streaming box guide. For one, their data retrieval capabilities are restricted to the computer they are connected to.

To add more flexibility to your data storage and retrieval policy you need to use a network-attached storage NAS solution. These are the best Linux training providers and online courses. Besides desktops, it can also be installed on several ARM-based single board computers like the Raspberry Pi.

OMV is straightforward to rollout and simple to manage, thanks to its well designed browser-based user interface, which makes it suitable for even non-technical users. The server also has an extensive permissions system to control access to the shared volumes and folders. The server is modular and can be extended with a variety of official and third-party plugins.

For instance you can turn your NAS into a torrent client to download data directly into the NAS storage or use it to stream stored music across the network. The project is complimented with an extensive support infrastructure with plenty of documentation to handhold first time users. It used to be a great alternative to TiVo. This one is for advanced users that want to set up their home theater computer to link to their television.

Once linked, you will be able to record live television programs and store them on your PC. Unfortunately, MythTV development has been discontinued.

As you can see, there are several media center software available to choose from. Which media center is the best depends eventually on your needs for the media center.

Are you interested in basic DVD playback and music listening capabilities or more advanced ways to play online and high definition video content? My recommendation is to get started with Kodi media center and then set up a back-end with Plex Media Server.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases for my recommendation or link to any products from this website. Close Top Banner. Emby Emby is another great alternative to centrally manage all your media files and then watch them using the front-end application. Conclusion As you can see, there are several media center software available to choose from.