wanting to build a nas/streaming media server

[bldgengineer]

I'd like to build an linux based server that would serve my 3 htpc(1 living room and 2 bedrooms) along with 2 laptops and my autocad/cs5 workstation.

all htpcs and one laptop are win7 home based, the second laptop is vista home, and the workstation is win7 professional.

Current configuration I am thinking about is:

Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

5) Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL

ASUS P7P55 LX LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i3-550 Clarkdale 3.2GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80616I3550

I plan on utilizing the hdd's in RAID 5 and running this thing 24/7 in a closet while accessing it remotely if I need to do any changes to it after I get it up an running.

Can anybody see any possible issues / problems with something like this? I need a good storage solution for my work, DVRs, movies, music and possible bitorrents that's reliable and low cost on power with the ability to expand with the probability of having a few more htpcs in the future.

Also, which linux distro would you guys use and why?

 

[NyxCharon]

Crunchbang linux. There's a script that runs after you install it, and it will give you options to go ahead and set it up as a server, all automated for you, which is nice. Crunchbang is debian based, and a minimal distro, perfect for a server. I actually used to use it on a older computer to stream music to my desktop and laptop. Works good. Just dont go experimenting with it too much, or it might go Crunch, BANG!

 

[bldgengineer]

lol yeah with my luck I'll mess around a tiny bit in terminal and CRUNCH BANG! think I'm gonna need something a bit more stable

 

[bldgengineer]

So after doing some thinking and deeper searching I came up with an alternative that I think will save me money in the long run. let me know what you guys think:

LITE-ON DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model iHAS124-04 - OEM
LIAN LI PC-Q08B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
5) Seagate Barracuda Green ST2000DL003 2TB 5900 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
CORSAIR Builder Series CX500 V2 500W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
JetWay JNF99FL-525-LF Intel Atom D525 (1.8GHz, Dual-Core) Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo

 

[NyxCharon]

Crunchbang is actually really stable. I only say that, is because a lot of people venture off into the world of testing/unstable to get the absolute newest stuff, and that usually requires a lot of works to keep working. I've been on stable for 6+ months now with no issue. There was a distro i saw on distroweekly made specifically for streaming media to other computers on your network. I'll see if i can find it.

Edit: Haven't found it so far, but i did find this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streaming_media_systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_streaming_media_systems