VortexBox as SqueezeCenter + HTPC? (Data on seperate NAS)

**Davide-NYC** · 02-06-2011, 02:18 PM

I have two older ReadyNAS X6s that are not up to the task of running SqueezeServer.

They serve files just fine so I'd like to setup VortexBox as a SqueezeServer which copies data to the NAS (when ripping) as well as indexing and serving files from the NAS (when playing) on the network.

I'd also like to run some Home Theater software on the same box (likely to be an Nvidia Ion / Intel Atom box) and hook it into my home theater setup. Maybe using XBMC or Boxee. I dislike the idea of having yet another piece of equipment running. In fact, if there was an elegant way to get rid of the squeezebox and just use this same HTPC I would.

Is this a reasonable idea? I don't want to give up my NAS as my main file server but SqueezeCenter requires more horsepower than the old X6 can provide.

Thanks in advance for any input. I'm very interested to know your thoughts.

PS: If this is a double post I apologize. My previous post seems to have been lost. (Mods: please delete one or the other post if they both show up)

**belcherman** · 02-10-2011, 03:27 PM

I've been thinking along the same lines myself. I like vortexbox for it's integrated simplicity, but I'd also like to use the same system for htpc. I've looked some of the options, and unfortunately the options for Fedora are limited. XBMC seems to be the best bet. Just make sure that whatever hardware you use has good Fedora support, and if you're going to be playing videos while streaming media at the same time, you'll probably want a dual-core processor.

What I'm currently setting up is vortexbox running in a VMware server vm on top of Ubuntu 10.4, although you could just as easily run it on Windows 7. I chose Ubuntu because I'm a linux junkie and because Ubuntu seems to have the best Linux support now for the nVidia ION gpu, which I have in my box. I have the vortexbox guest vm ripping and serving media to/from an external storage array which is connected to the Ubuntu host. I haven't had much time to play with the htpc side of it yet, but my plan is to install XBMC or Boxee on Ubuntu and have it play the files that I've ripped via vortexbox. That's the plan anyway.

Good luck and let us knwo how you make out.

**andrew** · 02-10-2011, 03:30 PM

VortexBox is designed to be a server not a player. The best option would be to get rid of the old ReadyNAS boxes and get one large VortexBox for all you file storage. Then use a small no hard drive player like Boxee Box to play your movies through your TV.

That way you only have one box running all the time.

**belcherman** · 02-11-2011, 07:49 AM

While I like to tinker with computers, I also appreciate things that "just work". That's one reason I was drawn to vortexbox. However, with embedded devices such as Boxee and Roku, etc., you're limited to what the vendor gives you. I've found most of the embedded devices lacking in some area, either with the apps that they support, or limited codecs with the apps that they do support. That's why using a htpc is an option for a lot of people. If something is missing, it's usually possible to add it, although not always easy.

I've curious to know if anyone has used vortexbox to stream video to a Boxee box and what their experiences were with it.

**Davide-NYC** · 02-11-2011, 09:40 AM

Thank you all for your replies.

VortexBox does not fit into my needs currently, but it seems like a very interesting product.

For my needs, I'd be better off just purchasing a newer ReadyNAS as I do not need the Optical Drive Ripping features that often.

FWIW: I'm keeping my eyes on this project with interest.

**jakebake** · 02-11-2011, 02:09 PM

belcherman said:

I've been thinking along the same lines myself. I like vortexbox for it's integrated simplicity, but I'd also like to use the same system for htpc. I've looked some of the options, and unfortunately the options for Fedora are limited. XBMC seems to be the best bet. Just make sure that whatever hardware you use has good Fedora support, and if you're going to be playing videos while streaming media at the same time, you'll probably want a dual-core processor.

What I'm currently setting up is vortexbox running in a VMware server vm on top of Ubuntu 10.4, although you could just as easily run it on Windows 7. I chose Ubuntu because I'm a linux junkie and because Ubuntu seems to have the best Linux support now for the nVidia ION gpu, which I have in my box. I have the vortexbox guest vm ripping and serving media to/from an external storage array which is connected to the Ubuntu host. I haven't had much time to play with the htpc side of it yet, but my plan is to install XBMC or Boxee on Ubuntu and have it play the files that I've ripped via vortexbox. That's the plan anyway.

Good luck and let us knwo how you make out.

How is this working out for you? Also how do you install vortexbox onto windows 7? I wanted to play with it until I build a vortexbox soon.

**jbworks** · 02-13-2011, 12:05 PM

jakebake said:

How is this working out for you? Also how do you install vortexbox onto windows 7? I wanted to play with it until I build a vortexbox soon.

I'm also currently running a vortexbox image in a Virtual Machine on my mediacenter. Download a copy of either vmware server or vmware player for windows 7 load up the iso image as a cd rom and install. Its working great, although I'm going to end up building a dedicated vortexbox.