[Tweaker]

It would be interesting (to me,anyway), to find out what kind of dedicated music server setups are being used with the Squeezebox. Motherboard, processor, case, operating system, etc.

[Rashiki]

I use a Mac Mini. It's the base ($499) model with RAM upgraded to 1GB. For storage I use an external firewire hard drive enclosure with a 200GB drive. The Mini serves three squeezeboxes (one original, one original with high-res display, and one squeezebox2).

I used to use a Shuttle sn45g small form-factor PC with an Athlon 3200 running Linux, but it was too noisy. The Mini is much, much quieter.

 -Rob

[rlsx]

Allow me to quote my contribution to another thread:
*   http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=22712
---------------------------------

This "appliance", QNAP TS-101, just appeared in the UK (and Europe?)
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1039

It's a NAS with a minimal OS (which one?) It can run slimserver!

I don't know much about it, other than what's in the link above.

It is quite expensive (£300 including taxes, for a 300GB device. That's £255 before taxes, about $445.)
http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=qnap

The manufacturer is QNAP Systems http://www.qnap.com.tw a NAS specialist, apparently.

Curiously, the device is not listed on their web pages.

[davehg]

It's also based on a MAC Mini 1.44 mhz, 512 mb RAM, and dedicated only to music. I am using both a wireless and a (soon to be modified) wired SB3, both running slimsever. The SB3 feeds a Musical Fidelity 21 Tri-Vista DAC, which in turn feeds a VAC Avatar SE into Merlin TSM-MM's and REL Strata III. Cables are all Acoustic Zen.

I use 2 LaCie Mini 250gb drives (one for storage, the other is a backup).

When  I get everything installed and working next week, I will send the wired one to Bolder for a modification and fancy shmancy power supply.

Right now, I am using a noisy XP machine to test out the SB3's. Sounds better than it should, but not as good as it can get.

[Tweaker]

The various NAS devices I've looked at are interesting and it seems like they might be a better alternative to building a pc based server.

[jermmd]

I just added a 300Gb hard drive to my PC. I already have a wireless network so it was very simple. I have about 600 CDs burned onto my HD so far and I have about 80Gb left. I already bought another 300Gb HD ($80 woot!) for when this one fills up. A dedicated music server seems like overkill to me. With the squeezebox, all you need is a hard drive. It's unlikely you'll need more than 500Gb for all of your music. I also have a 200Gb external drive for backup and transfer purposes but honestly, burning your collection to DVD is the safest back up solution.

Joe

[jhenderson010759]

I use the Infrant ReadyNas 1GB http://www.infrant.com to source MP3s throughout the house.  The PC in my den also runs SlimServer and serves FLACs to my primary living room rig and the den rig.

The SuperFlexible file copy utility synchronises the music database each night, providing redundant backups.

[Tweaker]

I was just checking out the Infrant website and it looks to be the perfect NAS device. Pricey, though. I am thinking of trying to build an NAS now. Got some work to do to figure out the best approach.

[Bemopti123]

Davehg wrote

I use 2 LaCie Mini 250gb drives (one for storage, the other is a backup).

I assume you are using Apple Lossless, how many CDs do you expect to compress on a 250 gb drive?  What software do you use for automatic or manual backup?

Also have an almost fully loaded Mini, with everything else, but with just 512 MB Ram and I wonder whether it would be worth the effort to make it into a fully dedicated music/image server.

[rlsx]

I was just checking out the Infrant website and it looks to be the perfect NAS device. Pricey, though. I am thinking of trying to build an NAS now. Got some work to do to figure out the best approach.

Pricewise, the QNAP looks much better -- if indeed it does well what it's supposed to do.

Here is a thread from the one of the Slimdevices.com forums:
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=17359&highlight=qnap

[Please note that I am not endorsing any specific product: I have yet to buy a Squeezebox!]

[jakepunk]

Also have an almost fully loaded Mini, with everything else, but with just 512 MB Ram and I wonder whether it would be worth the effort to make it into a fully dedicated music/image server.

I run FreeBSD on a 1.7GHz Athlon with 512 MB of RAM and a 3Ware RAID controller with two 250GB drives.  Slimserver takes 2% of CPU and 45MB of RAM (perl).  You should have no problem running a music server on a 512MB mini.

[davehg]

Davehg wrote

I use 2 LaCie Mini 250gb drives (one for storage, the other is a backup).

I assume you are using Apple Lossless, how many CDs do you expect to compress on a 250 gb drive?  What software do you use for automatic or manual backup?

Also have an almost fully loaded Mini, with everything else, but with just 512 MB Ram and I wonder whether it would be worth the effort to make it into a fully dedicated music/image server.

I am using the software that came with the LaCie drive. I am experimenting with file formats; it is between WAV and Apple Lossless. I expect on average about 300-400 cd's per drive, more with Apple lossless.

The MAC Mini is new to me (not even 1 week old). I'll post when I have more experience, see my blog at musicserver.blogspot.com