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[jacky]

Hi,

I was wondering if I could get a second opinion on the best way to set up my HTPCs at home given such hardware configuration (2 HTPCs and 1 Domain Contoller / File server)

My Current setup:

HTPC_A (log-on as Username: "Mediauser"):

Windows Vista
Hardware TV Tuner

Local Contents:

-150GBs of video xvid files from TV recording (in a local harddrive)

Network:
-My Music folder: GPO (Group Policy) redirected to \\server\users$\mediauser\mydocuments\mymusic
-My Documents folder: GPO redirected to  \\server\users$\mediauser\mydocuments\
-2 network Mapped drives called 'video' and 'cue_music' to network shared folders on the Server

Current MC13 Settings:
MC13: auto-import from My Music folder, 'cue_music' mapped network drive and local harddrive (for the 150GBs of xvids)



HTPC_B  (log-on as Username: "Mediauser"):

Windows Vista
Local Contents:

no local media files


Network:
-My Music folder: GPO (Group Policy) redirected to \\server\users$\mediauser\mydocuments\mymusic
-My Documents folder: GPO redirected to  \\server\users$\mediauser\mydocuments\
-2 network Mapped drives called 'video' and 'cue_music' to network shared folders on the Server

Current MC13 Settings :
MC13: auto-import from My Music folder, 'cue_music' mapped network drive



Domain Controller / File Server

Local Contents:
-2TB of movie files: Blu-Ray /HDDVD ripped to MKV, remuxed TS files, direct Blu-Ray / HD-DVD clones (network share enabled folder called 'videos')
100GBs of music files: in CUE format (table of contents for an APE file) (network share enabled folder called 'cue_music')

-100GBs of WMA Lossless CD ripped from MCE2005 (in local folder My Music (\\server\users$\mediauser\mydocuments\mymusicfolder) (This is where GPO points the 'My Music' folder to for the 'MediaUser' account)

Settings:
Group Policy redirected all My Music, My Pictures, My Videos to a Server Shared folder (ie: \\server\users$\%useraccount%)  for each user.  This way every user will have access to the same files no matter which computer they log-in on at home. 

All HTPCs auto log-in with the Media account, so they automatically have the same contents in their My Music, My Videos, My Pictures.


Current usage:
I share the folder on the Server containing all the media files, and tell MC13 on each HTPC to auto-import from My Music and 'cue_music' folder for now. I haven't told MC13 to import anything from the 'videos' network folder yet, since I don't know how MC13 handles such video files. 

Question:

Sorry for the long windedness, but with all the buzz about UPnP, Library Server, etc,  I wonder if I am using MC13's capabilities properly to it's full advantage.  Is this the best set-up?  Or such I use a centralized database and uPnP server that people around here are buzzing about? 

Edit:  I should add that all the media playing/recording/ripping happens on the HTPCs not on the server.  Nothing happens directly to the server, it doesn't even have a CD-ROM drive and it out of reach in the basement.

The network is 1GBit, so it's sufficient for most streaming and copying purposes.

Any response appreciated!