I am running a Linksys NSLU2 with the uNSLUng firmware with TwonkyVision Media Server installed. Attached to my NSLU is a standard external 300GB USB drive that holds my MP3s, movies, pictures, etc... On the home theater side of the equation I have the D-Link DSM-520.
I must say, the setup is pretty simple and, in theory, it should be all I need. No PC needs to be on, I just need to leave my NAS device on and I should be able to fire up my DSM-520 and listen to my music. The problem is that the DSM can't find the uPNP media server unless it is freshly restarted. Once I start the DSM and then restart the NSLU I am good to go, but it is a bit of an annoyance to say the least.
Looking farther down the road... what happens when my USB drive takes a dump? I need to start looking at RAID'ed NAS devices to make sure I don't loose the pictures from my honeymoon! At this point, is it worth getting simply a NAS device? If I am going to be running a RAID NAS device, with a uPNP media server that costs close to $1000 is it worth it?
This new Windows Home Server is looking like a pretty good solution. Granted, everyone is hyped up over all the cool stuff coming out of CES 2007, but it still looks cool! If they can price this in the $500 range it will surely be a contender for me.