One of my business clients have asked me to help them design a media server at home. Here are the specifications that he asked for. One media server located in the basement that will hold all of his media, dvd's, cd's, photos, and files. Client machines at four locations in his house that will read these files to play on the LCD tv's he has. He already has cat 6 wire ran through his house so hooking everything up isn't an issue.
I've got no problem with the hardware my question is the software to use. What software do you guys recommend that would allow him to rip his dvd's to this server. Also what playback software would he need on the client machines to read these files. This system needs to be a simple as possible. No loading disc images in Alcohol, or other computer person zanniness.
With these in mind I'll explain what I've come up with. The media server will just be a regular server with about 1.2 TB of RAID 5 space. The client's will be a unit from HIPER, as shown in this Newegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856171001
This should be nice enough for what he wants to do. I'm going to put MediaPortal on the clients to look like Windows Media Center edition. That's where I'm at right now.
So as I stated above what are your recommendations on ripping the CD's, DVD's, and such to the server. Also how do I make it as simple as possible for the user to well use?
I've got no problem with the hardware my question is the software to use. What software do you guys recommend that would allow him to rip his dvd's to this server. Also what playback software would he need on the client machines to read these files. This system needs to be a simple as possible. No loading disc images in Alcohol, or other computer person zanniness.
With these in mind I'll explain what I've come up with. The media server will just be a regular server with about 1.2 TB of RAID 5 space. The client's will be a unit from HIPER, as shown in this Newegg link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856171001
This should be nice enough for what he wants to do. I'm going to put MediaPortal on the clients to look like Windows Media Center edition. That's where I'm at right now.
So as I stated above what are your recommendations on ripping the CD's, DVD's, and such to the server. Also how do I make it as simple as possible for the user to well use?