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Whitepaper

Why you need your own home media/backup server

There are many compelling reasons why you will come to love having a home server* - it's simply the most convenient, economical and effective way for you and your family to organize your digital life. In the following section, you will probably discover many things about a home server that you may not have considered before, all of which are supported by Kenbushi.

*A 'home server' is really just a normal computer dedicated to serving your needs whilst sitting quietly behind or next to your TV. In fact, most budget computers you see in specials catalogs would be suitable as a home server, as even a budget computer nowadays is quite powerful. You don't even need a computer monitor, as the TV is used for display.

Provides a central location on which to store and organize your movies, music and photos
Most computer users have media files spread all over their laptop and desktop computers, and this chaos generally increases as more media are added. The additional problem is that some of these files are huge (especially movies), and you could unknowingly have multiple copies of the same file wasting valuable space on your hard disk. Putting media onto a central server means you can clear media from your other computers and know the master copies will always be on your media server. Of course, at any time, you can always download any media you want to use locally onto your laptop or desktop computer from the media server.

Is always switched on and ready for action
The most annoying thing about wanting to play media on your normal desktop or laptop computer is having to switch it on and wait for it to boot, do it's anti-virus and anti-spyware scans, and then finally give you control. Sometimes it's switched on already, so playing media is a simple and quick process, but often it's not. A media server, on the other hand, is always on and always ready for immediate action.

Can Play High-Definition (HD) video and audio now
High-Definition content is what most mediaphiles want - crisp, smooth, luscious video, where you can see each individual blade of grass sway in the wind. With current wireless technology, you simply can't stream High-Definition content, and even streaming Standard-Definition content can be a challenge. Having a movie break up into a pixellated mozaic spoils the whole point of setting up digital movie playback in the first place.

With a home server, you don't have to wait for some new wireless standard to come out, nor buy new networking hardware to support the very high data rates required for video streaming, nor suffer the disappointment of finding your neighbors also want streaming video and the airwaves are clogged. Why stream movies when you can simply store them on some inexpensive, monstrously huge hard drives and play them directly from the hard drive to your beautiful big screen TV and surround sound system? You have to store the movie files somewhere anyway, so why not store them next to your TV on a media server, rather than take up valuable space on your laptop or desktop computer?

Does all the hard work of playing the movies, leaving your main computer free for productive tasks
Playing a movie usually takes a lot of processor (CPU) power and often continuous hard disk use, so streaming a movie from your main computer would leave you with a less responsive and overworked computer when you want to do productive work on it. For example, you might want to play a movie for the kids to keep them entertained whilst you work. Let the media server do all the heavy lifting involved in movie playback, and gain the full productive use your main computer, in addition to complete remote control of media playback. After setting up the media server to play a movie, you could even get into some intensive 3D game action whilst controlling movie playback remotely using your PDA with Wi-Fi.

Allows you to play games (eg. World of Warcraft) in a totally immersive, big screen, surround sound environment
Wireless keyboards and mice are now inexpensive and widely available, and provide an excellent way to control immersive computer games, such as World of Warcraft, Half-Life 2 and Counterstrike. Why play these games on a small computer screen, when you can use your big screen TV and surround sound system to enjoy these games to the max? Thus, connecting a wireless keyboard and mouse to your home server gives you the necessary control to change computer settings, install software, etc., but also allows you to play games from the comfort of your lounge chair.

In contrast, laptops are not designed to play games, but are perfect devices for work productivity and control. Having the combination of a laptop and a home server gives you the best of all worlds: you can conveniently set up and control media playback on the home server from the laptop, easily and regularly backup your laptop files to the home server, and use your laptop for productive work.

In addition, if your family likes to play casual games together on the TV, a home server offers an excellent way to do this is in the comfort of your lounge room.

Gives you 24/7 Skype, so your friends, family and distant relatives can always call you for free
Skype and other free Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services are becoming a powerful benefit of having a broadband Internet connection. These services provide an effective replacement for normal telephones and operate between callers anywhere in the world, for free.

The only problem with Skype is that you need your computer switched on to make and receive calls, but normal laptop and desktop computers are off most of the time. However, if you have Skype installed on a home server, and the home server is always on, you have a Skype service which is always on. That means people can call you at any time on Skype, just like they call you now on a normal telephone, but at no cost ... from anywhere in the world. The value proposition of a home server just moved up a notch.

In addition, there are now many telephone handsets on the market which are designed specifically for use with Skype. There are even dual-use handsets which plug into your existing telephone socket and work as a standard telephone, but also plug into the USB port on your computer and work directly with Skype. When making a call, you push a button to select whether you want to make a normal telephone call, or a call through Skype. When receiving a call, the ringtone indicates whether the call is a normal telephone call, or a Skype call.

Skype is currently introducing video calling to their software, and with an appropriate TV mounted webcam connected to your home server, it would be possible for you to video call your friends and family from the comfort of your lounge chair.

Get a wireless home router for free, with simpler Internet setup, and make your home server accessible from the Internet
Many households now connect a wireless router unit containing a firewall to their broadband modem, and then use that router as the gateway to the Internet for their home computers. The idea is that it provides better security, since NAT (Network Address Translation) is done by the router, as well as firewalling, and this protects the home computers from hacker attacks coming from the Internet. In addition, the router can be on 24/7, so anyone in the household can connect without being dependent on a computer connected to the broadband modem to be on.

In contrast, there are significant benefits in having a home server connected directly to your broadband modem and using that as a wireless home router.
  • you don't need to buy a wireless router unit - the wireless card in the home server can do that job.
  • the home server is on 24/7, so anyone in the household can connect to the Internet (and other LAN users) at any time.
  • home network configuration and administration is significantly simplified. Router units can be difficult, if not nearly impossible, for the average home computer user to manage. You need to know which ports are used by a particular program, open them by configuring the router, and then test whether it all works. Trying to serve files through a router can be even more complex, as it involves passing ports through the router to the server, or setting a DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) on the router, etc, etc. It can be a difficult and frustrating process.

    However, a home server used as a wireless router is generally much easier to set up and manage. Good firewall software is either included with the operating system, or freely available. For Windows users who want full control over their firewall (rather than using the simple firewall built into Windows XP), there is software such as     ZoneAlarm (www.zonealarm.com), which simply pops up with an alert when you try using a new port. You then just click a button and it works. Serving files is similarly simple.

    If you enjoy online games, such as World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, etc., then playing those games on the home server, from your lounge chair, on your big screen TV, with wireless keyboard and mouse, with the fastest and most streamlined Internet connection, is what you want. Period.
  • you can access your home server over the Internet. This allows you to securely transfer files to and from your home server with Kenbushi, as well as remotely monitor and control your home.

Note: It's important to keep your home server as secure as possible. If you use MacOS X or Linux on your home server, you need to regularly install any operating system updates released by the vendor. If you use Windows on your home server, in addition to installing operating system updates, make sure you have good anti-virus and good anti-spyware software installed, and that you regularly update it. This should ensure smooth operation of your home server.

Can backup your documents and other files, and keep them safe
The key to effective data backup is to have copies of your valuable documents and other files stored on a different disk to the one you work on, in addition to an easy way to restore them from those backups when your originals get lost or deleted. This 'different disk' may be a writeable CD, a USB flashdrive, the hard disk of another computer connected via the network, or a remote server connected via the Internet.

A media server provides an ideal location for you and your family to backup your files. It's conveniently accessible, offers fast transfer of files via LAN, and offers large storage capacity. Generally, the files on a media server don't need to be backed up*, since no progressively edited sole-copy works (such as word processor documents) are routinely stored on it by users (unlike laptops, for instance).

*many prudent users burn movies, music and photos to CD or DVD for archiving.

Home automation and security
A home server is the perfect platform from which to control home automation devices, such as lighting systems, heating, cooling, garden watering systems, etc., whether controlled with a local remote control, via remote control over the Internet, or via an automated control system (eg. a thermostat keeping the room temperature constant).

A home server is also perfect for monitoring purposes, including baby monitoring, home security devices (eg. still and video cameras), as well as logging data from devices such as solar energy and wind power collection systems, etc.

The key to effective implementation of these types of systems is to have a computer always on and always performing it's control and monitoring tasks. Reliability is very important, especially when there may be problems with the supply of mains power. A home server with very minimal energy needs would be optimal, both to be environmentally friendly, and also to allow it to be powered from a backup battery or solar-powered source, when necessary.

Is cheaper than you may think
A 'home server' is really just a normal computer dedicated to serving your needs whilst sitting quietly behind or next to your TV. In fact, most budget computers you see in specials catalogs would be suitable as a home server, as even a budget computer nowadays is quite powerful.* You don't even need a computer monitor, as the TV is used for display.

There are two important things to look for when selecting a media server: the computer must be quiet, and it must have a composite video output if you have an older TV. However, if the computer you like doesn't have composite output, you can install an inexpensive video card with a composite video output, or purchase a composite video output module for it. Quiet computer cases are now more common (some even have ball-bearing fans), as are quiet motherboards. If you want to use your server for home automation and security as well, low power operation is also a must.

If you are technically proficient and want to build your own computer, you might consider installing the Ubuntu version of Linux on it, which is free. The latest version of Ubuntu (codenamed 'Dapper Drake') installs easily, detects most computer hardware (including wireless network cards), and has a simple installation system for additional software which works via download over the Internet. With Kenbushi installed, you can use your new Linux computer as a file server, media server and backup server. You could also use it as a wireless home router and Internet hub. Linux has the substantial added benefit of not requiring anti-virus and anti-spyware software, nor the regular scans required by this software (unlike Windows). Details about how to set up a Ubuntu home server can be found in the Kenbushi user manual.

If you wish to purchase or build an inexpensive computer running Windows XP with the intention of playing intensive 3D games on it as well (eg. World of Warcraft), you should look for a motherboard with good integrated graphics. For example, motherboards with integrated GeForce 6150 GPUs make excellent inexpensive games computers. An Intel Core Duo processor coupled with a good video card would also be a good choice.

If you like the Apple Macintosh, the Mac Mini (with Intel Core Duo processor) would make an excellent home server in almost all respects, including very low power consumption. It's only downside is that it won't run intensive 3D games well, if you need that ability (eg. World of Warcraft works, but generally not at high enough framerates).

*most should play Standard Definition movies well, but High Definition movie playback and intensive 3D gaming may require a better quality system.


Summary of what a home server should be:

* Compact, so it can be conveniently located behind or next to your TV
* Low-power, so it is environmentally friendly, and can be powered from a backup battery or solar-powered source, when necessary
* Wireless, to make installation easy and to provide portability
* Offer large storage capacity, so you can store all your media and backup data in one central location
* Silent, to eliminate fan noise, DVD disk grinding, etc. from spoiling the enjoyment of media playback
* Easily connectable, so your current and future TV and sound systems can be plugged straight in
* Give you 24/7 Skype, so you can make and receive free local and international phone calls anytime
* Inexpensive, to save you money


Currently, Kenbushi plays media using the VLC media player, as VLC runs on Windows, MacOS X, and Linux and thus supports all platforms Kenbushi does. However, we plan to introduce support for Apple's Quicktime media player in a future release, which will provide an alternate playback system for media on Windows and MacOS X (including DRM protected media purchased from the iTunes store, such as TV shows and full-length movies). All functionality in Kenbushi is expected to be the same when playing media with Quicktime, but we will be able to take advantage of Quicktime's superior performance in some areas, such as mpeg 4 and H264 movie playback of High-Definition content, whilst retaining VLC's slightly broader media compatibility (Quicktime does not support some types of audio codec).

We also plan to introduce support for Microsoft's Windows Media Player in a future release, which will provide an alternate playback system for media on Windows (including purchased DRM protected media, such as TV shows and full-length movies).