Just ordered the components for my first WHS system... pretty happy with the price I got on everything. New Egg had 2tb WD green drives for $109 today if anyone else caught that...let's say it snowballed from there as I was planning on putting together a home server at some point anyways.

Right now I just have a ubuntu based server running on an old laptop with a bunch of external drives. So this should be a step up.

ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 905e Deneb 2.5GHz Socket AM3 65W Quad-Core Processor Model HD905EOCGIBOX
CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
Crucial 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

My first question I have is, I still don't know exactly how I'm going to tackle video conversions with this thing. One of my primary goals early on will be to archive my dvd's, about 350 of them (thus the quad core processor). What is some of the software you guys can recommend?

[Edited 4/30 to clarify]
Is there anything out there where I can have a "To Convert" folder that I can just dump ripped vob or mkv files from dvd's into and then have my server monitor this folder for new files and re-encode them automatically (say to h.264 for example)? I've heard the MediaSmart's functions similar to this, wondering if I can setup something like that without HP's software.

I've taken a first look at handbrake, makeMKV, autoMKV, and others...not really sure which route to go. I'll be running the Vail beta at first, nothing critical will be stored here yet. I'm okay tinkering through bugs with the beta.

When you ask about convert I am not sure.
But I use slysoft.com products for dvd's.
Anydvd to decrypt and clonedvd to edit. But anyway I save them as vob files.
Not the cheapest since they are leased products. But they work quite well.

_________________
VGA/PS2 Keyboard/PS2 Mouse/Serial debug board
Popcorn C-200
Popcorn A-200
Dune HD Connect
Rasberry PI OSMC(KODI)
ReadyNAS RN316
Amazon FireStick
Amazon ECHO
AnyDvD
MyMovies

Hi bvone21,

Converting your DVD collection should bring you a wealth of recommendations. Personally I use makeMKV to convert my DVD's to MKV format. The program is fast and does a great job. Out of just over 500 movies it converted all but 19 movies and it did a fine job with the one Blu-Ray movie I have.

The only difference between the way you want to do it and I is I use a client to convert my movies then I move them over to my server. Damian to GURU of media streaming recently wrote a series of articles on makeMKV, HD Bitstreaming (this is way over my head) but he has posted a wealth of articles on this site which you can find them in the NEWS and REVIEWS area but beware he will get you hooked on things because everything he does is all good stuff let me assure you of that.

In the end what it really comes down to is what your planning on streaming too and how much hard drive space are you willing to use to store your movies on. For example if you want to stream to one of the many available Apple products you may want MP4 for example or what other formats those devices or the devices you have will support. Once you have a listing of the file formats supported by the devices you use then it comes time to balance high quality formats which means larger file sizes or a compressed format which is obviously smaller file sizes.

For me MKV is a nice fit but at a cost of hard drive capacity but its worth every penny to me but what works well for me may not be the right fit for you. But it took me over 2 months of playing with file conversions before Damian recommended I try makeMKV and once I saw how well the ripping software worked and how fast it could rip a DVD and the quality of the movies well I never looked back and so for me MKV is my video file format of choice.

Good Luck on your quest it might take you a while experimenting with all sorts of ripping software but I hope you are able to find what works best for you quickly. This task I do not envy you on.....

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8

DVDfab

Thank you all for the suggestions.

A lot of good information there, Comp1962. Thanks.

The way you've ripped your movies is exactly how I was going to do it barring any new information. I was going to use makeMKV on one of my client pc's and save them to the server. Now once it's on the server, I'll have a single uncompressed MKV file.

I may leave them uncompressed....I'm not sure....converting the video to h.264 or something to save storage space may be more time consuming and hassle than it's worth. HP's MediaSmart Server Software sounds like it makes this task easier, but I won't have that luxury. Uncompressed DVD's I may be okay with...the blu-rays...would be real space eaters if I didn't then re-encode them.

I would be streaming to a PS3, and probably a Samsung C6500 blu-ray player (have not ordered it yet, but it seems like one of the best blu-ray player options with good DLNA support). I'll check out the articles you suggested.

My next noob question is...is there any risk in using a 2.5" SATA HD in my server as the system drive? I've heard the answers, no risk at all just plug it in, and I've also heard that the voltages are different and you may damage the drive. I have a few extra drives lying around, one of them is 160gb which should work okay. [Edited 4/30, okay screw it, I just ordered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 for the primary drive; still interested in the answer though. Good price, $7 off today, so $48 for 500gb WD 7200rpm drive]

Regarding whether or not you should re-encode, it is really a personal preference. To give you a reference point though, if you are looking to re-encode your Blu Ray library depending on the specs of your PC each movie can take anywhere from 4-14 hours to encode. I used to encode, but it is just not work the time, hassle, and energy. Since HDDs have gotten so cheap and ultimately I purchase Blu Rays for the video/audio quality I no longer encode and instead keep in an mkv format (As Comp1962 pointed out, you can check out some of the guides I posted about different ways to approach). The only videos I encode now are TV shows that I record and cut out the commercials.

As far as a 2.5" HDD as your O/S drive, that is perfectly fine.

If you are looking to stream to your PS3 you are going to want to install PS3MediaServer on your MSS. The PS3 is very limited in the formats that it supports, so PS3MediaServer will transcode your video collection to a format that the PS3 can play back.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Thanks, I use PS3MediaServer now on my cobbled together Ubuntu server laptop thingy (everyone walks into my living room, and says, "what the hell is that laptop with all the wires and attached drives coming out of it?" "That's my server, dude"). I wasn't sure if I was going to use it here as well, but I'll give it a look. (I would have issues from time to time with it recognizing the PS3). I've seen some other options like Twonky, TVersity, Serviio, and good ole windows media connect. It may come down to which one also will be able to support the samsung blu-ray player, I know PS3MediaServer is relatively new to supporting other devices.

I went with a phenom II x4 processor specifically so that I could re-encode video if necessary (It's not the fastest, I wanted to make sure it was efficient in an always on scenario, this 905e is a 65w cpu)

I will certainly be reading your articles, hopefully I can get to it today as the parts start arriving today.

I have a quad core PC (Intel Q6600) and it takes me about 10-14 hours to reencode a Blu Ray movie. The faster way would be to use a core i7 CPU which from what I have heard will cut the time in half.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Hmmm...I'll have to figure out the space requirement for all my discs and make that decision. I think this chip here will perform comparably to your Q6600, maybe a bit faster but if so not by much.

In your experience, does a 2 hour blu-ray movie re-encode slower than a 2 hour dvd rip? The quality you start with is different...but it's still two hours of video?

To re-encode a 2 hour dvd rip takes me about 2-4 hours, vs 10-14 for a Blu Ray. It also will depend on the settings you choose (i.e. CQ vs. 2-Pass). And yes, it is still a 2 hour video, with Blu Rays you are dealing with a much larger file size/bitrate which is why it takes much longer.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin