SlimNAS – Graves On SOHO Technology

How To: DIY Music Server Using FreeNAS, SlimNAS and an H-P T5700

Originally published July 21, 2008 at www.smallnetbuilder.com

By: Michael Graves

Date: July 21, 2008

From my first exposure to Slim Device’s original SliMP3 back in 2003 I was taken with the idea of streaming music throughout my house. The designers approach to this task I found very interesting. They literally give away an open source media streaming software intended for use on a file server. Then run their business by selling a dedicated hardware device to interface the music stream to a traditional stereo system.

T5700 SlimNAS Server: Now With 512 MB Memory

July 31, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

Well it took a couple of tries but I finally got my little SlimNAS server running with 512 MB of memory. I first tried a 1 GB stick of DDR-333 (PC2700), but the T5700 BIOS doesn't deal with memory greater…

How To: DIY Music Server Using FreeNAS & A T5700 Thin Client

July 22, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

I've written up this most recent project of mine for the folks at www.smallnetbuilder.com. It's a complete How-To that describes running FreeNAS, SlimNAS & SqueezeCenter on a recycled HP T5700 thin client. I also modify the T5700 by adding a…

SlimNAS Is In Service

July 5, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

My rebuilt SlimNAS device is now operational. The little 2.5" HD is installed inside the T5700 case. I used the expansion chassis just to ensure that there's enough air flow now that there is a IDE ribbon cable blocking airflow…

SlimNAS Project Update

I have a 2.5" 250 GB IDE hard drive to form the basis of my rebuilt SlimNAS server. I also have the HP T5700 host platform. As week or so back I ordered a 40 pin IDE cable on Ebay…

SlimServer on FreeNAS Soon To Be Revisited

June 8, 2008
Michael Graves
Audio

I see that the newer Squeeze Center, which is actually Slim Server v7, is available as a FreeNAS module. This means that it might be a good time to upgrade my T5700 based music server.

I haven’t actually been using this server for a few months. A while back I decided to try a “room correction” plugin from Inguz for Slim Server. This does some DSP transformations on the music stream on-the-fly, basically effecting some equalization. This plugin required more CPU power than a lowly T5700 could provide, so I’ve been using and old P4-2.8 as my music server these past months.