JaseNZ 53 Report post Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) Note: Please excuse the use of some larger pictures its was the only way of really showing them. Hi guys I just wanted to share some info because I have had a lot of people pm'ing me for some reason on what I am using all my bandwidth up on in my 500gb per month post. The main reason is my home theater setup, I have only really just got all this going together since I purchased my new tv, Added to this is a little no noise at all pc that I purchased which has a 60gig ssd which is coupled up to a hdd dock that has a 2tb and a 1tb drive in it, One is for movies and one for tv series. I will eventually get around to putting all the storage into a nas when $$ becomes available. Running on the pc is xbmc which is my media center of choice as it has everything I need and more. I run the Transparency skin which has all the extra eye candy goodies. The main drain on my bandwidth though are 4 applications that are constantly running , SABnzbd , Sick Beard , Couch Potato , Headphones , Maraschino. What are these I here you ask. Sick Beard - Is a tv series system that you add a tv series to and it automatically gathers all the info for that series then you can stay up to date with it and even download backlog episodes (This is what is currently taking up all my bandwidth downloading backlog episodes.) I am usally able to watch a tv episode about 10 - 15mins after it has aired in the states. Couch Potato - You put in the name of a wanted movie and the quality you want it and it will keep searching for it for you until it finds it. Head Phones - Keeps track of all your music and if a new album comes out it will grab it. You can all so set wanted albums for it to search for as well. SABnzbd - This is what all the above applications pass their info on to when they find something and this is what downloads it and sorts it and places it on my media drives and then updates xbmc with the information. Everything is downloaded from a Usenet server which costs me $14NZD every month and I paid a one off fee of $12 for the lifetime use of a Usenet indexing server which is where they all search for there info. I can monitor everything all at once with Maraschino. I also have 2 apps for my iphone/ipad which are remotes for controlling xbmc , These are amazing apps and have to be seen to appreciate how great they are. All these things are accessed via my browser which means I can access my system from anywhere. I can also use this as a remote to control xbmc. You may ask why, Well its just a thing I like to do and store, Maybe when I am old and retired (not far to go) then this gives me something to look back on and watch on rainy days. Following are some pics of my setup , Mainly just pics of the applications running. First 2 are sick beard , First one is general overview page, 2nd is in depth of a series. This is Head Phones This is SABnzbd Last but not least Maraschino. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Edited November 2, 2012 by M-Spec Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nick496 268 Report post Posted November 2, 2012 Nice, I was wondering what it all looked liked when it came together. What's it running to in the lounge? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaseNZ 53 Report post Posted November 2, 2012 all running on a TH-P55VT50 Panasonic plasma. Visit My Website Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neal 512 Report post Posted November 2, 2012 Nice rig Mspec , Built an HTPC as well (HT Case, temp controlled fans , 4 TB of onboard eco drives ) I like the UI you're using. TV looks great as well. I'm currently building a speaker cabinet to re-house some speaker drivers for a centre channel (8 inch 3 way system). I'm using some oldschool wharfedales to replace my energy speakers which work well on home theater / music video. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaseNZ 53 Report post Posted November 3, 2012 I'm currently building a speaker cabinet to re-house some speaker drivers for a centre channel (8 inch 3 way system). I'm using some oldschool wharfedales to replace my energy speakers which work well on home theater / music video. Nice to build your own stuff but I am to lazy lol. I actually have 6tb of storage where 3tb so far is allocated to media and a 3tb hard drive is used only once a week and is used to backup everything onto , I found out the hard way of not making sure I had a backup some years back when I lost all my work from a failed hd. I have spent alot of time making things automatic where now all I have to do is sit down and pickup the ipad or use my iphone to control everything , There was even an ipad app for my tv so now all my remotes are on an ipad. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nick496 268 Report post Posted November 3, 2012 Does the iPad app allow you to turn the TV on? That's the one thing I can't do with my current TV. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaseNZ 53 Report post Posted November 3, 2012 Does the iPad app allow you to turn the TV on? That's the one thing I can't do with my current TV. Yup sure does Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nick496 268 Report post Posted November 3, 2012 Yup sure does Time to upgrade then Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
antil33t 90 Report post Posted November 5, 2012 XBMC is quite cool. - might try that when I fix my HTPC. at my flat we use my POS Media PC, Dual Core, Rooted board... noisy hdd... all four of us have some way of watching the shared media that's on our file server.... has about 12TB of storage space now. It's pretty handy being able to dial up media and have virtually unlimited storage. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oscar90 0 Report post Posted November 6, 2012 wish i could do all that stuff with computers! haha will stick with SKY, DVD's and my external HD. techy enough for me at this stage!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JaseNZ 53 Report post Posted November 6, 2012 wish i could do all that stuff with computers! haha will stick with SKY, DVD's and my external HD. techy enough for me at this stage!! Haha Andrew I am by no means techy I did all mine by following tutorials step by step and hoping for the best. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
westy 614 Report post Posted November 6, 2012 I understand less than 50% of this thread. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m325i 705 Report post Posted November 6, 2012 I stopped hoarding a while ago. I realised it was pointless as I never re-watch anything. And if I did want to I could just download again or stream. So 500 - 1TB is fine. My solution is a hacked appleTV with XBMC streaming from PC and 1Channel. It's pretty solid. (XBMC 12 is close now too) I use airplay for music though - it's great. Multiple options: -Stream from your PC/iTunes to the apple TV (and therfore AMP) and control itunes remotely with your iPad or phone -Control directly from the Apple TV streaming from the PC -Airplay music from 'guests' iphones to the Apple TV (great for parties) Also I woudl HIGHLY recomned a Logitec Harmony remote. $80 to get rid of all your remotes. (How many you got? Sky, TV, Amp, Apple TV, DVD, PS3, etc etc) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
