Netgear has a terrible record of providing lasting value to their customers (updates), but their initial concept with that EVA8000 was quite good.
The EVA8000 had nothing comparable to your database. It simple scanned a network storage system for file locations - then generated a flat file the player used to locate files almost instantly. Only the remote held you back due to tiny buttons...but once you memorized the locations you could select videos very fast. Type first two or three letters and go. They were using some ridiculously underpowered industrial processor in that thing - but it could still be fast.
I miss such simplicity. If JRiver generated such files or say a spreadsheet where one could perform a simple title search then click on the title to navigate the video player (such as a WD TV) it would represent a huge speedup. Even better if that file were maintained on a network share where any PC in the home could just hit it.
To some degree, this is what you are trying to do with those webaccess features - but your concept doesn't work very well when you need to page through 75 pages. And there is no search!
There is a place for "super duper" database efforts, and JRiver has a good product. But "quick and dirty" is missing. I wish you would add it.