"Yes," he said, "that's where my CD collection used to be." Now that he'd ripped all his CDs to the PC in MP3 format—nearly 200 discs worth—he had taken down his shelving and retired the CDs to boxes in his basement. He was still trying to figure out what to do with the newfound wall space.

But he had a bigger question for me: "How can I easily get the music from my PC to other devices in my home, including my stereo system?"

As you might expect, the answer is complex, largely because there are so many different ways to accomplish this goal. And although you could simply use your PC as a server of sorts, pushing music and other content across your home network to other devices, a better solution is to create a dedicated media server. Don't be turned off by the "media server" designation. A media server is basically just a PC whose sole function is to store digital media content, such as digital photos, music, video, and recorded TV shows. One option is to buy a new PC for this task—try Ben's Bargains Center for some great deals, including $300 bargain-basement specials from Dell that crop up from time to time—but many people are starting to requisition older PCs for this task.

Almost any old PC should be up to the task of serving media files over your network, assuming it meets a few conditions: The PC must be able to run a stable OS, such as Windows XP (not any version of Windows 9x), and should have an Ethernet connection/network card (not wireless) for the best performance. Even if you're able to use an old PC, you should probably look into a newer, larger-capacity hard disk on which to store your files.

Possibly the most important aspect of setting up a media server is to plan a backup solution. I'll cover this topic more in-depth in a future commentary, but it doesn't make sense to store all of your memories on a hard disk unless you have some sort of backup policy in place. A cheap if somewhat limited solution is to buy two hard disks of identical size and periodically back up everything from the main disk to the backup disk. A better but more expensive solution is to use external hard disks for off-site backups.

In the next issue of Connected Home Express, I'll step through the details of setting up your home media server. But here are the basics to get you started:

1. Install the second hard disk in your media server, then install Windows XP, reformatting the system drive during setup.
2. On the second disk (typically D:), create separate folders for music, photos, videos, and any other content you'd like to store.
3. Using XP's file-sharing capabilities, share those folders so that other users on your network can access the folders through My Network Places.
4. Use those newly created shares to copy the content from your PC to the media server.

If you want to connect your media server (or PC) to your home stereo, you have a few options. The simplest option is to simply purchase a Mic-style extension cord and a Mic-to-RCA adapter. Attach the cables to the adapter, then plug the adapter into an unused Line In port on your home stereo. Finally, attach the other end of the cable to the Line Out port on your sound card. You'll need to use a program such as Apple iTunes or Windows Media Player (WMP) to control playback.

Alternatively, you could purchase a digital audio receiver or digital media receiver ($100 to $400), which provides a UI near your stereo with remote control and uses home-networking technology to connect to the media server. Examples include the D-Link MediaLounge and the Roku Soundbridge M500.

Stay tuned for more information on this topic, and remember that starting February 16, we're moving Connected Home Express to a weekly schedule. Prepare yourself for more frequent doses of home-networking advice, home-tech tips, and product news!

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RE: "If you want to connect your media server (or PC) to your home stereo, you have a few options. The simplest option is to simply purchase a Mic-style extension cord and a Mic-to-RCA adapter. Attach the cables to the adapter, then plug the adapter into an unused Line In port on your home stereo. Finally, attach the other end of the cable to the Line Out port on your sound card." Just curious as to the recommended maximum distances that extension cables can be run in getting from the PC to the stereo system. Is a Mic-style extension cord basically a microphone cable that can be run over longer distances?? What about video cable runs as far as distance?? Richard Ohlrogge -February 2, 2005 Folks, exactly how much does MS pay you for all that tribute? clearly a better solution by definition does NOT include any flavor of Windows. I would opt for Linux of some sort but since I am partial to Warp Server that is what I would use. Howard Weatherly -February 2, 2005 XP on an old PC? Dream on!! Craig Fogg -February 2, 2005 Yep, XP on an old machine may not be a good idea, especially if you plan on using a media server for playing video files. Instead of going off and learning a new OS (setting up a media server to do exactly what you want is time consuming enough!) why not use Windows 2000 Professional. Most reasonably specified machine purchased in the last few years are quite capable of running it, and there’s a good chance your old machine shipped with it in the first place. W2KP could provide a good combination of stability, more reasonable footprint on your hardware and a familiar platform for a user who only familiar with Wintel. A fresh reformat of the hard disk and a clean reinstall with as few unnecessary utilities as possible should give you an optimised system. While you wouldn’t be able to build a solution that requires the latest DirectX and WMP enhancements you might just get what you need. Conor Doyle -February 3, 2005 The problem is that PC's are noisy and the WIFE factor ususally prevents them getting anywhere near the living room. Some years ago I built a quiet PC with no fans and no harddisk that booted FreeBSD via 802.11b from a server (just using a floppy disk) but unfortunately the link is not stable enough to play mp3 without drop outs. Maybe one day I'll try again with 11g but all considered an off the shelf digital media receiver is probably the way to go... as long as it support *nix. Michael Heitmeier -February 3, 2005 Your readers might also like to try Mythtv packaged very nicely by KnoppMyth. Offers frontend and backend servers. Does everything M$ does and more for free. Dec -February 3, 2005 As much as I hate to admit it, XP is a good OS that with the right hardware sub components can be made to run well on very low spec kit. Knowing which services you will not use and can be switched off helps a lot. I have been running for some time now a Compaq Small Form Factor PC with a P2 350 CPU, 512MB RAM, and 120GB 7200RPM Disk. It does everything I require of it at the moment in delivering (not playing) both audio and video over the network (though anything past 2 concurrent video connections and video stutter is occasionally present). Soon this will be passed out to pasture though as I'm hoping to upgrade my whole system due to required home extension. I'll probably go for a Linux Server (dedicated File Server) and may be a few Mac-Mini's as the client PC's (ultra small footprint & very quiet), playing the Audio/Video, and I like the look of those Roku Soundbridge units for playing Audio elsewhere. Also like the look of Beyond TV/Media as well though. Decisions, decisions.... Paul Wakefield -February 3, 2005 I have been looking into this exact problem for about 2 years now. I have found a solution: Use any type of server you like to hold your media. Buy an XBOX and install open source (FREE) media center software on the XBOX. Great solution! Home page: www.xboxmediacenter.com Screen shots: http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/info_screens.htm Shane -February 3, 2005 Your Comments (required): steve -February 3, 2005 shane - do u need to mod the xbox hardware to install the xbox media center UtahSaint -February 3, 2005 I use an old discarded 300 mhz celeron, 5gb running headless and stashed in the basement. Audio line out goes via 12 ft cable to living room audio in to a Kawai keyboard. The Celeron is wired to the home lan, and a small laptop running xp with a wireless card is used via "remote desktop connection" to control the celeron. Only cost was an upgraded soundcard and the audio cable. Works like a charm! steve -February 3, 2005 Any one know of a WIFI Remote Control Clarence -February 16, 2005 What kind of tv tuner card? The Hauppage(sp?) that I bought only goes up to the basic cable channels - not the "extended" cable channels where I really want to record. I know somehow I can build my own dvr, but seems like this is a limiting factor. tia Lou -February 16, 2005 UtahSaint - you do need to mod the xbox, but it can be done with software for under $30 if you already own the right game without opening the box or fussing with a mod chip. You can then use XBOX Media Center to access media over a network from a plethora of types of shares - anything from linux to windows to another xbox media center. If you're feeling adventurous, you can pretty easily throw in a large hard drive and store you music and/or media locally as well. Jeremy Turnley -February 16, 2005 Lou - If you get an MCE or Snaptream remote with IR blaster support then you can use your media center PC to control your cable box so you can record extended channels. The remotes cost $30-50 depending on the model and what OS it's for. Jeremy Turnley -February 16, 2005 The xbox with MediaCenter (XBMC) is a great solution. I have 3 (as I have kids) in different rooms. Everyone knows how to use it. Cheap, reliable, and plays all media types. You can even get LCD addons for the front if you don't want to turn on the TV to play music. Besides, xbox2 is coming so there will be some absolute bargain xbox's available - already modded too I'll bet! Andre' -February 17, 2005 Definitely go with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 (MCE 2005). It rules. Build it yourself. Microsoft has allowed vendors (like NewEgg) to sell OEM copies of MCE 2005. You will need a little patience (I sure did), but I'm really glad I built it myself out of spare equipment. Saved at least $1,000 over a new, pre-built MCE system. Good Luck JJK -February 17, 2005 For the music - really simple solution! Ever heard of Airport Express? Wow - maybe Connected Home should break out of potentially cumbersome solutions most folks aren't comfortable with and give "many" options. I agree with one of the earlier posts - how much does Microsoft pay? Linux is great stuff - try MythTV, Mac OS X is excellent with many easy to use and affordable solutions - ElGato anyone? Come on Connected Home get some journalists who break the mold! Michael Harper -March 25, 2005 found a great site for info on some of the function of the MC. Plus they have great prices too. www.xptheater.com bill greenwald -April 21, 2005 Let me tell about my home netowrk... I have server which is used for storing music (mp3/ogg/aac), movies (mostly DivX) and digital photos. Running proxy, mail, chat, and other network services as well. Hardware which I use here: Pentium 233MMX, 160 Mb RAM, three HDD's (one SCSI and two IDE's). And, of course, there is no Windows at all - just FreeBSD 5.2.1. Also I run here radio-broadcast software (Icecast). Two other PC's in my house - desktop and laptop which runs Windows XP Professional. Desktop connected to FastEthernet switch, laptop works over 802.11b wireless link - and everything really rock-stable... Evgen A. Patiy -May 9, 2005 I have a media center holding all my music and then I have almost a dozen machines (also MC) pointed to it for playing music. Every so often I get a lockup/delay for about 2 minutes. I realize now the Media Center apparently only allows 10 concurrent connections (problem 1) and it seems that that when you use MC to play an album, it wants to open every file with read/write access across the network. So, is my only choices a Microsoft Server OS or a Linux Server? Dan -August 15, 2005 Hey,is there a way that you can access the media server by internet The dude -October 6, 2005 Could set up a VPN connection to view movies from work...... Andy -October 26, 2005 how do i make my own server for my radio station i have got planned bill bordley -November 27, 2005 you guys are all idiots rob -December 18, 2005 What I'de really like to find is a Virtual Audio Driver (acts like an installed sound card) which broadcasts over TCP or UDP. Then I could set up a stupid simple computer to listen to the broadcast and play out my stereo. I could then play music from my laptop, over my wi-fi and into my stereo. I can't seem to find any such software... considering making it myself. Coder0xff -February 19, 2006 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -July 4, 2006 any luck setting up that Virtual Audio Driver? sounds very intriguing Pooleo -August 9, 2006 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -August 15, 2006 a good idea is to buy a cheap celaron pc thats all the power you need and buy a pci sata adapter and put it in and 2 cheap 500gb hdd not to cheap but not to pricey and a gigabit ethanet adapter and a good idea is to buy a gigabit router but you dont only if your running it on 2 tvs at once and whack the sever in your garage and run your network cable under ground and into your house your server will run headless no monitor or mouse,keyboard the only thing you need pluged in are the network cable and power all the work is done via remote desktop and then all you have to do is back up all your pictures,mp3 ect then set up your sever and a good cheap network media player is a moded xbox then all you have to do is set up your server and xbox and thats easy just set up your xbox to talk with the server just like a normal pc aka samba if you dont want to spend money on a gigabit switch or 2 500gb hdd a 120gb hdd will do the job just fine and a normal switch will do just fine just make sure you go for sata hdd and a gigabit ethanet addapter have fun Paul. Paul -September 19, 2006 I'm currently running a p3 500mhz dell i had in my parents' garage. cleaned it up a bit and installed winxp. i just purchased a wd 250gb hd from circuit city and backed up all my music, pics, documents, and apps to the server. running it remotely is cake, and it's handy too since i don't have to walk into the room where the server is to access it. i can stream music to my xbox 360 wirelessly without a problem, other than the fact that i live in a complex with other wifi users so they tend to cross my frequency. i would hardwire it to another switch which would connect to the xbox, but i rather not drill holes all over the place at the moment. just to make a note on remote access, you can't remote into an older OS using an XP machine unless you are using a 3rd party app. another reason why i stuck with xp to run my server. NoK -October 27, 2006 i use a dedicated pc running fedora core 3, which is a version of linux, for a backup server. there is no mouse, keyboard, or monitor connected to it. in the rare event i need to do anything with it i use putty to tunnel to it from the xp machine connected to my stereo and tv to take care of whatever i need to do. both machines have the same files stored on them and once every couple of months i back everything up to a third drive that i store offsite at my sister's condo. on occasion i will masturbate looking at **** and this setup serves me well. do not forget to back upp all your data at regular intervals or you could find yourself holding a limp pecker to the side of your face like a piece of uncooked sausage. Jobo -December 3, 2006 I just want to know step by step how to make media server specialy for movie or vidios. in our area most people here are like to watch new movies, i would like to serve them as good i can. what i mean is the people i mentioned has computers and i will share the files or data that they can open it anytime even the same time. same as e-library, a computer cafe, it just like networking process. thank you so mucn. i just want to know -December 8, 2006 Get a Squeezebox instead. No computer needed, digi out, plays internet radio as well. http://slimdevices.com/ cliston -December 13, 2006 Why not just set it up as a raid 5 set up than it'll automatically back up all your files upon both discs and is great for archival purposes... and honestly Hak5 did an awesome segment on turning and old box into a virtual server for file hosting, iirc it was running a flavor of freebsd, and it was a nice server, would be great for movies, I guess the stero thing you could buy like a cheap cheap cheap like 50-100 dollar computer at a garage sale, (no monitor) and pick up one of those wireless FM transmitor so you can have a radio station in your house perhaps Name (required): -January 13, 2007 I have tried with D-Link dsm-320 and my 0,5 Terabyte media server MS Media Connect 2.0, MS Media Player 11 (Media Connect 3.9) and D-Link Media server. Twonky beats them all big way. It is fast and dont skip. It handles large collections (5000+ tracks) and hase very handy Artist Index, Album Index etc mode. I recommend Twonky to everybody. More about my solutions and projects http://jacksgadgets.blogspot.com/ Jaak Ennuste -January 30, 2007 I am using a old pc as a server on my home network (wirless network) to store all my media on it. I fitted it with a 500Gb hard drive and now instead of putting music files and videos on all my computers in my home I just go to my network places on any computer and it comes up with the files on my old pc, I also no longer need to have many printers I just access them via the server (the old pc) I also backup data on it, its a good thing to do with a old pc better than leaving it hanging around the house. Joe -March 18, 2007 Great article, I think the home media server is one of the next big things. http://www.home-media-server.net shane4x4 -March 27, 2007 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -April 28, 2007 I've been thinking about this for a while - I'm no computer whizz but think that this will work. Oldish PC with wireless network card, Soundblaster Audigy with remote control, graphics card with TV Out. Set up the PC to run some media centre software on boot-up, sending display to TV and audio to stereo. Set-up the media software to monitor media files in a remote network location and hey-presto - or not???? Should be able to control software with remote control as the creative IR can be mapped with Intellitype drivers. I reckon I can get all the necessary bits and bobs off eBay for about $150. Any comments Sam Sam Sam IYam -May 9, 2007 Has anyone tried to push ceiling speakers with a pc speaker package? I want to install a pc in the kitchen and run speakers in the kitchen and dinning room. Just to listen to sirius radio of the internet. But I do not want to have to purchase and store a receiver to do this. I was looking at a package like this: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/234&cl=us,en and replacing the satilite speakers with the ceiling speakers. ant -June 2, 2007 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -June 22, 2007 Yes this method works wonder full! There is even more that you can do if you are running windows xp on your medea server you can cut the disk space that xp takes up its self remove Unused programs and trialwere, sampels fromicrosoft you can get it down to about 1gig if you cut the fat. to increase RAM (Im assuming that most people will be using a win 98 or 95 computer and there is littel ram for it about 128mb) Turn off the xp luna theam this helps alot. You can also host your own web server FREE i might add by using appachy softwere it works excelent you can also use it has a print server install the printer to the medea server and hook it up then on your other computer configure it to use the printer on that pc (it works nice before i had to transfur all my files over to one computer it was a pain.) RicNovil -January 23, 2008 Simple and easy: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Use-an-Old-PC-as-a-Server-5027652 johnjohn -January 29, 2008 Have you checked out this tutorial on a basic DIY Sonos system? http://tenderlovemaking.com/2006/06/27/build-your-own-sonos-player-with-ruby-on-rails Ben -February 29, 2008 I like the "you are all idiots remark" this person sounds tormented, and deserves to be. HAHA dillbo -April 2, 2008 i am all new to this and want to learn i also want to be able to run all my videos and music through a media player i want to be able to hook the ( server ) media player to my home amplifier and have it start with a menu only ready for use is a xbox 360 just a temporary solution should i start setting up a proper server so i can add to it daniel -April 18, 2008 This is a really cool article. Here is an article on <a href="http://www.vitamincm.com/reusing-anreusing-an-old-pc-as-a-server/">Using an Old Computer as a Server</a> with Step-by-Step video instructions. VitaminCM -July 13, 2008 i had all my videos music and photos coming up on my ps3. it was under windows media server, now it has disapeared and i dont know why. DAVIE -August 6, 2008 sounds like you're all doing some fun projects... My network - IBM Netfinity 5500 M-20 server (4 x P3 xeon, on ethernet), Dell tower (ethernet), IBM desktop (ethernet), Toshiba laptop (wireless b), and homebrew media center (none at present). The 5500 runs Ubuntu server, the laptop runs Windoze ME, all others run XP pro. Half-assed media center specs: P3 @ 667MHz, 256 MB PC133 RAM, 10GB IDE HD, CD-RW, Trident ProVidia (old PCI with TV-out), Creative Audigy, homebrew infrared receiver (paired with old DVD player remote). Software: XP Professional, SesamTV media interface, WinLIRC infrared remote interface, Girder 5, and assorted audio and video CODECs. Works quite well, surprisingly. Only missing TV in, hopefully get that in the next week or so. Just proves that old machines can still do something other then collect dust. Bill -January 11, 2009 i just uses TVersity it is as easy as to Install it http://tversity.com/download/ Minimum System Requirements * Pentium III 700 Mhz or better (Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz with support for Hyper Threading is recommended) * 128 MB of memory or more (512 MB recommended) * 50 MB of disk space (At least 1 GB of free space is recommended for cache area of transcoded media) * Windows XP / 2000 / 2003 / Vista (only with UAC disabled) * DirectX 9.0 or higher * Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher * For transcoding to WMV (Xbox 360) WMP11 is required (Win2k and Win2K3 users need the Microsoft codecs from the Ace Codec Pack instead) * Xbox 360 users will need the 2006 Fall upgrade from Microsoft in order to browse videos from their computer via TVersity. * Audio enabled on the computer running the software * Macromedia Flash version 7 or higher for the GUI nikeon42 -January 13, 2009 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -February 1, 2009 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -May 6, 2009 Your Comments (required): Name (required): -December 19, 2009 READER COMMENTS: We want to hear what you have to say about this article!     Acceptable Use Policy Your Comments (required): Your email is only used if our editors need to contact you. 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