Choose your server
First, what hardware and software will you use to share your media?
While it’s perfectly possible to add a media server to your existing desktop, its demands can interfere with your day-to-day running. Also, you may want to leave it on 24-7 to give you (and others) access without having to boot it up specially. So it’s a good idea to consider pressing a dedicated machine into service.
A media server’s requirements can be quite onerous, depending on whether or not it will need to transcode files to other devices. Transcoding means converting a media file from its native format into one compatible with the device you’re trying to play it on. As a rule of thumb, if media files are not in a universal format like MP4 (with H.264 video codec and AAC or MP3 audio codec), then it’s likely that some transcoding will be required on certain playback devices.
If you won’t need transcoding capabilities, then quite a modest machine will fit the bill (see the Raspberry Pi media server box below). However, if you’d like maximum flexibility and minimum hassle accessing your media from elsewhere, then look for a machine (possibly an older one you don’t use now) with a reasonable core spec: a 2GHz dual-core processor is ideal, and will allow you to get away with a lesser graphics card. If the processor doesn’t hit the mark, then make sure your graphics chipset supports hardware-accelerated video decoding. All Nvidia cards from GeForce 8 onwards will do the job, as will AMD Radeon R700 (HD4000) and Intel GMA X4500HD.
You should also look to pack your server with 4GB RAM if possible, and if you plan to shut down your server rather than leaving it on 24-7, consider investing in SSD boot media, or a fast SD card or USB flash drive – 32GB should cover your needs. That’s obviously not enough space to store your media on, so store this separately: internally via a separate HDD drive, or externally via USB or NAS.
If your server can’t be directly connected to your router, then use 500Mbps or faster HomePlugs to ensure that maximum transfer speeds can be delivered between the two, particularly for HD content.
Choose your media server
There are many media servers to choose from – in the past we’ve focussed on Kodi, but its main weakness is that its server capabilities are rudimentary. The most obvious alternative for those looking for a slick, attractive user experience across a wide range of devices is Plex ( http://plex.tv) – it works well, but its main issue is that large portions of it are proprietary. Thankfully, Plex has a rival that offers a similar experience but is open source. That rival is Emby ( http://emby.media), which was formerly known as Media Browser (see what they’ve done there?).
Emby offers the same polished user experience as Plex and is accessible across a wide range of platforms. It even has certain advantages over its rival: support for live TV, plus the ability to set up different users, allowing members of your family and friends to set up their own customised access to your library. Like Plex it offers a paid-for subscription option offering extra features, but its pricing is more competitive. We’ll be focussing on the free features here, but will touch on what advantages a subscription can bring later on.
Unlike XBMC, there are no dedicated Emby distros yet available, so you’ll need to install it over your choice of Linux distro. For the purposes of this feature, we’re going with Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS – it’s the most stable and supported distro for Emby users.