Author: Rasmus

Nerd and immigrant who uses words, pictures and sound to tell stories.
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Why I Built a Home Media Server

I need to preface this by admitting to living in a household that consumes a lot of media. We typically have a movie, show or gaming video running in the background at all times. We are the type of people who will put on a 10-hour bird video for the cats before leaving the house, for their entertainment. If your situation is different the following may not apply to you.

TL;DR

  • We have too many media subscription services with content that is of zero interest, even though we consume lots of media.
  • Funneling savings from canceled subscriptions into building a media collection is no added cost, and I get to own the media as opposed to renting access to it.
  • In the end, I have fewer subscriptions and a collection of shows and movies I actually want to watch, streaming anywhere.

Before there were streaming services, I used to complain about paying for cable/dish channels I never watched. When streaming showed up, there was hope for something better. Many cut cable entirely. Others, like myself, ended up keeping cable while adding more services on top. When the specials and promo deals expire, it can get pretty expensive.

Most streaming services do allow you to turn them on and off without long-term contracts. I will be honest here. I do not have the follow through to manage them month-to-month, depending on whether I’m done/starting with the latest season of whatever show that service drew me in with.

On top of that, I still only consume a fraction of what each of these services have to offer. So, I have the same problem as I did before streaming came along. I found myself wishing things were simpler, and being who I am, found a (not really) complicated way of achieving that.

I decided to build my own media server that could be accessed from the cloud. The money spent on Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, HBO Max, Paramount+ etc. can build a nice library of shows and movies that I like to watch. But actually building a media server at home is not as simple as signing up for Netflix, and there is a significant up-front investment.

With some patience and saving, I eventually added a network attached storage (NAS) setup at home. There are many ways to configure one of these things, including using it as a media server, which is what mine does mostly, but it’s also great for storing backups of my personal documents and data.

It took a lot of research to find a solution I was happy with and also fell within my budget. You can build the whole thing yourself for less, but I wanted something with a little less configuration and assembly required, but still with the option for later expansion. There are lots of options at the prosumer level.

Taking the requirements, availability and support into account, the brands Synology and QNAP are where its at. I mainly compared their respective 4-bay products (Synology’s DS923+ vs the QNAP TS-464) and both are solid solutions, but in the end I went with the latter of the two. The QNAP offers a few more customization and upgrade options. By comparison, Synology is a bit more user-friendly out of the box but has other limitations. However, this is not a comparison post. If you are considering a NAS, I recommend diving into the YouTube channel, NAS Compares.

I am using PLEX as the platform for my home server. It has free and pay options. I went for the lifetime-license.

If you’re a passionate media consumer like myself, chances are you already have a collection of Blu-Ray and DVD movies. That’s an easy place to start, and seeing my personal collection pop up on my smart TV, on my phone and so on, has made me revisit some of those old favorites. My wife reacted the same way, and was inspired to update some of our older DVDs to a higher resolution. Once we’ve filled a few more gaps in the collection, we’ll start actually saving money.

Your needs may differ from mine. I wanted lots of storage and went with 4 x 12 TB HDDs in a RAID 5 config. I bought all refurbished enterprise drives. They are a bit pricier but built for longevity and still come with warranty if you get them from a reputable seller. It took me three months to get the parts needed to actually fire up the NAS and another month for upgrades. Starting with 2 drives per month first, then the QNAP box itself. Finally, I upgraded it to 16 gb of RAM (from 4), a WiFi PCIe card and a 1TB SSD to work as a cache drive. It has been tested by running 2 HD movies on different devices at the same time, while also copying files to the NAS. No problem.

I highly recommend looking into your own media server if you’re in a similar situation and/or enjoy tinkering with tech. Because there will be tinkering. But it’s so cool when it is up and running, and as added bonus, it also gives me cloud storage for my photos, notes and other little services I’ve been paying for.

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What does a Producer do in Video Games?

If you know the expression “herding cats”, you already know half of what a Producer’s role is, and the challenges that come with the job.

Much like a conductor guiding an orchestra, the producer keeps each part of the development in sync and on task, when it comes to creating and launching video games. Instead of different orchestra sections, the producer conducts different teams, like designers, engineers, translators, etc. so that together, they produce an extraordinary experience for the end recipient, the gamer.

The Producer’s first priority is the Project, specifically its journey to completion. Even if a producer is dedicated to a single team, the project itself is still the foundation for setting priorities and making decisions. This might sound a bit harsh, but keep in mind that the project is nothing without its people, so it comes full circle, and a good producer knows that if the people are doing well, the project will benefit.

Producers are guardians of the Big Picture. The artists need to focus on their art, the developers need time to code, and so on. It is easy to lose sight of what everyone else is doing, when you are focused on your own work. That is where the Producer comes in as the Big Picture expert, to make sure no one falls victim to tunnel vision, Feature Creep, gets blocked by unsolved bugs, or prioritizes work that isn’t needed quite yet.

Producers are facilitators. You make sure deliveries and timelines align across teams, sprints and milestones, and you do this by assisting those doing the work. Here are 5 ways this might play out.

  1. You help plan the work and prioritize items that will move other teams forward as well, before doing other things. Part of that is also following up and poking team members to do boring things, like write reports or updating their work items.
  2. You sit in on a LOT of meetings, so you get a good idea of what is going on at a high level, and you can relate anything important back to the team. I like to say, sometimes the producer’s job is to have their time wasted, so the real talent doesn’t have to.
  3. Running interference is related to the previous item. Some people like to go straight to the source, without checking whether the source has time. The producer can step in as a temporary gatekeeper. You take the questions or request, so that you remain in the loop, and if work was requested, you ensure it doesn’t get put ahead of the planned work (unless warranted, of course).
  4. You take charge without being the boss. You run meetings with all sorts of people, and you can’t be too intimidated by asking senior leadership questions, or questioning the priorities of a team lead, if it doesn’t fit with the overall progress. Running meetings also means making sure all agenda items are covered in the available time, notes are taken, and follow up is done.
  5. You’re a support class, to use gaming terminology. You make the others be all they can be by propping them up. Think like a healer, not like a tank. Strategy beats brute force when it comes to getting a game shipped. Especially if you’re like me, meaning strictly anti-crunch. Cheer your team on, and be ready step in with a quick heal or buff at any time.

What a (good) producer doesn’t do, is force everyone to follow their way, whether we are talking about prioritizing work, deciding how to track it, or anything else. You’re a facilitator, not a dictator.

For example, if everyone hates working in Jira don’t force people to use it. Find a tool that works with minimal frustration. People don’t have to love it, but you can do better than something they hate. For the record, I am a big fan of Jira. I only use it in this example, because it’s a tool many are familiar with.

That’s the high level look at what producers do. There are many approaches to the how things are done, but they all roughly try to achieve what I’ve outlined here. I will be writing more about producing games in the future, so leave me your questions in a comment or ping me on social media.

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Don’t Let Anything Stop You

I bet there is something you’ve thought about doing, but you’ve either never tried, or when you did, you barely scratched the surface. Maybe because you’re afraid to fail, the ridicule of others, or you don’t have the confidence that you’ll be able to keep it up or finish the project. All of that is completely normal, so at least you’re not weird.

See what I did there? I put the thought of “being weird” in your head. Even though I assured you, you are not “weird”, I still put you on a scale. This is a rather crude example, but being judged by other people happens all the time, whether you realize it or not. If you are conscious of it, it becomes easier to identify and dismiss, rather than letting it fester until you start questioning whether perhaps they were wrong and you really are weird. Here’s the thing though, any perceived “weirdness” is likely what sets you apart. So own it! Make it part of your brand.

Gatekeepers, nay-sayers and those self-appointed guardians of Normal, are often people who have either plateaued – they fear change and see everyone who thinks differently as inferior – or they never got started themselves, and project their own bitterness onto you. There are also people who simply get off on putting others down, and nothing you do will ever be good enough for them. So, why pay these people any mind?

Some people will come from a good place but still work against you, trying to shield you from the disappointment of what they see as imminent or likely failure. Don’t hold it against them, but ignore their warnings.

Of course, for many of us the hardest critic to ignore is the internal one. The voice in the back of your head, that says you’re not talented enough, or smart, or likable, or whatever your particular voice likes to say. But who put those thoughts in there? Where did those expectations come from?

Regardless of what has been holding me back, the way to move past it always comes down to understanding the root cause of the blocker. Once I understand it, it loses its grip – the spell is broken and I can move forward.

Besides, it’s okay to fail. You learn more from things going wrong than going right. It’s okay to not adopt other people’s expectations of how to do something, or how often.

Want to start a YouTube channel? It takes 5 minutes to get one set up. Worried about building an audience, or the competition? Great! It’s good to be aware of such things, but don’t let it stop you from getting started.

That is just another simple example, but every project has obstacles, competition and challenges. No dream comes easy – otherwise you’d have fulfilled it right away.

So get on with it! What are you waiting for?