Hi folks
@Cbleman
You don't need enterprise HDD's for Home use -- even old slower HDD's are reasonably reliable these days - and if you have a few old ones don't chuck them - they can be used in an external USB 4 or even 2 bay RAID array with the box set to RAID0 - JBOD option --"Just a bunch of Disks" so the OS sees one big disk !! Device can be connected via USB2 (better USB3/3.1) or to an esata connector -- use a card though if doing it that way rather than from the MOBO.
For a NAS -- any old computer will do - you don't need to get an expensive dedicated NAS server. For maximum storage attach a USB 4-bay enclosure -- the decent ones have built in RAID -- if you select one variant of RAID 0 (Just a bunch of Disks) you can use old HDD's in it and the total storage will be the combined total storage of all the HDD's - they can be of different sizes -- this is a good choice :
Icybox External 4-Bay RAID Enclosure for 4 x 3.5 inch SATA l/ll/lll HDDs
Check on Amazon etc or prices etc. Different jurisdictions have different sales / other taxes so you have to check locally for the best offers.
Streaming via a LAN is a great way if your Internet connection is poor and you can record programs, and watch them later.
On the old computer (even one with only BIOS and 2 GB of storage) will work for a NAS -- simply install any Linux distro on it -- with or without a GUI, add SAMBA (for file sharing) add guest account for access to the drives and you are in business --it can run 24/7 even headless. The problem with using Windows is that windows will sometimes want to do updates or want some answer from the console, and if you logoff then connected drives are unavilable too. With the Linux NAS any smart TV or things like ROKU / Amazon firesticks can access the shared files via the GUEST account even when nobody is logged on. You don't need to start any media server either on the NAS.
To install KODI on a firestick : (probably similar on ROKU type of device too) --you'll need the relevant handset and the device plugged in to an HDMI slot on your TV.
1) from settings enable developer options
2) enable the adb also from the settings
3) install the downloader app (it's on the amazon applications area -- just search in home and then install it
4) in the downloader go to "
http://www.kodi.tv/downloads" - i've put the quotes here to show the text rather than the url being expanded
5) choose ANDROID (picture of the robot)
6) scroll down and choose one of the ARM versions -- currently the best results with rel 19.3 Matrix is to select the 32 bit version
7) install and follow the screen options.
8) depending on your NAS server once KODI is started on your device you might need to alter the Windows security -- for older NAS boxes set min security to SMBV1 and Max security also to SMBV1. (All within the KODI settings).
9) now add your NAS server to the video / music options.
If you want to enable subtitling add opensubtitles.org from the repository (addons) . Then configure it with your userid and password (for opensubtitles.org), Reboot the firestick. -- note other subtitle services are available too -- I find opensubtitles.org simple and just works.
When watching a program you can dynamically download subtitles - it's pretty much automatic and foolproof.
Now you're done -- enjoy !!
(Backups of data held on NAS still need to be done of course -- however that's a strategy for individual users. - The rsync program plus the GUI version if you want a GUI - GRSYNC are excellent for making backups / archives. Ensure ntfs-3g is installed as well to have read / write access to Windows files if wanted and ssh for command line connection from windows etc.)
Cheers
jimbo