Easy Mac Home Media Server Guide

Overview

Apple computers are ideally suited for work as a home server. They are easy to use, secure, a hub for media, and come equipped with plenty of tools for home server use. Apple's Front Row and integrated remote support make it easy to control from your couch. OS X is built on Unix which has been power servers and mainframes since the 1960's and an ideal base for a secure home server. Macs are already a hub for media via iTunes and there are many third part apps that make it a great home media server.

Using Apple's "Front Row" as a starting point you can easily build a media hub able to support about any source you can imagine. From Front Row you can build links to Boxee and Hulu Desktop which will stream shows from the internet all in an easy interface that you can control from you couch. You won't even need cable after you set it up. But if you want to build in DVR functionality you can use EyeTV which will let you record shows and watch them easily on your Mac.

At the same time you have your Mac as the center piece of your media you can have it doing things that you usually pay a monthly premium to a hosting company for the ability to do. You can host a personal web site, with a dot com and custom email addresses if you choose. You can set up a VPN server so you can by pass web filters, either at work or from China. And by building on that you can make it so you can easily access computers and printers remotely as well.

This guide is broken up into two parts that you can use depending on what you want to do. This part will give an overview and discuss the hardware set-up. Part Two will discuss how to turn the Mac into the center piece of your entertainment center.




Hardware

First of all, why Mac? Windows, Linux, and Mac all have their pros and cons. As you can probably tell from my Triple Boot a MacBook post. I use all three. Windows has some good home server functionality and you can find some good guides out there if you want to go that way. In my opinion windows is not ideal for a media server because it is not as good at performance, security, and user interface. Linux I support. I built a MythTV / Ubuntu a few years ago and it is a more than capable box and feature rich. I am convinced Linux is the future. Linux has made major usability improvements over the last several years. But you will have trouble with things like Hulu and Netflix streaming.

Macs get a reputation for being expensive. And it is true if you are looking for low-end hardware and performance. Apples entry-level product is on the high-end of performance relative to the market as a whole. But for a media server you need some decent hardware so Apples will be a good deal. Especially if you already have an extra Mac lying around. I am using a Mac Mini I bought a few years ago as my first Mac. It was intended to be connected to my TV so I could surf from my couch on the big screen. But over the years it has evolved into all you are reading about here.

The actual hardware you need is not too bad and almost all of it is optional:


-Mac Mini (Or any Mac from the last several years)

Any Mac mac from the last several years should work. You could even use an old MacBook with a broken screen. If you don't already have an extra Mac lying around then a new Mac Mini is worth it for under $600. The Mac Mini is also what I will use for the basis for this article, but as long as the Mac is Intel based (newer than 2006) you should be OK.


-Bigger Hard Drive (Optional, if you have a lot of media)

If you already have or plan to have more media (music, movies, TV shows) than you have space for you should upgrade your hard drive. Even if you are buying a new Mac it will save you money to replace the hard drive yourself over upgrading through Apple. But read through the iFixit guide to see if it is something you are comfortable with.

-EyeTV Hybrid (Optional, if you want DVR)

If you want to record TV shows from either cable / satellite / or antenna on your Mac pick up one of these. You can also do other things with it as well like sync the recorded TV shows to your iPod.


-Cable to your TV

If you want to connect your Mac to your TV you will obviously need something to connect them. You will need to see what kind of connections you have to work with. My Mac has a DVI port. The new ones now come with a Mini DisplayPort. My TV has VGA, DVI, and HDMI ports. You will need to find out what video ports your Mac and TV have and the cables you need. Click here for the Cable / Adapter Guide to Connecting Your Mac to Your TV

I already had a 25 ft VGA cable lying around so I just went with the less expensive option and bought the DVI to VGA adapter. But if you are more concerned with video quality you will want to connect to DVI or HDMI.


-Cable to go to your Sound System

The audio out on the back of your Mac is the "headphone" jack. You can buy just a simple 3.5mm to RCA to connect them. But most of the Macs can do optical audio out through the "headphone" jack, which is about the highest quality audio out you can find. You just need to find the special cable to do it. My RCA connection had a bad buzz so I went with the optical connection.

-Wireless Keyboard (Optional)

If you want to sit on your couch and surf the web or other tyical computer activities picking up one of these is worth it. If not, you can just connect a USB Mouse and Keyboard while you do the set-up and then unplug them and use the remote to control the system.


-Universal Remote (Optional)

Almost all recent Macs have a built in IR port and most come with the little Apple Remote. But if you already have too many remotes and want to make things easier for users you could consider a Logitech Harmony remote. I found a good deal on a 550 when I bought mine, but the 510 is not bad as long as you don't have more than 5 devices to control.



Up Next:

Part II: iTunes, DVR, Boxee, Hulu