Centralize your data, spread the fun

Many rooms in the house, too many CDs, DVDs and MP3s...
How to access them all in a uniform way?
How to avoid hardware duplication?

Well, a friend told me some evenings ago, in front of a couple of beers, that he is going to set up a nice network all over his house. I argued that I dislike having PCs constantly running and he agreed... his recipe is rather different:
- take a large HD,
- add a simple network interface and
- run a few ethernet cables through your walls
an you are done, you will have a network-accessible, centralized storage unit.

Advantages? There is a lot of hw out there that can interface with an ethernet network and playback a number of formats; there are even recorders that can take your TV programs, convert them to DIVX and send them to the storage unit, via the network...

Cool ah!? That should take care of the whole matter, and practically provide you with a very large jukebox for the price of an HD a some meters of cable.

Here are some links on the subject:
- Wired - The Home Network Project
- Home Network Push Accelerates
- Perhaps avoid the new cables: Netgear`s adapter turns house electrical wires into data network
- Network your storage: basic NAS drives
- Digital Home DIY