Plex Media Server: Your content from anywhere on iPad, iPhone or Mac

Media files like photos, video and music can quickly swallow up gigabytes of drive space. Then there's the issue of viewing or listening to those files on more than one Mac or device. Do you diligently copy the files you need across to your second computer, or create a network shared folder that everyone can access?

A third option -- which has the added benefit of providing you with a fuss-free, attractive user interface for browsing and accessing your media collection -- lies with a tool such as Plex Media Server; it has been updated to version 0.9.3.4.

Plex simplifies the process of sharing and managing the media both on your home network and, thanks to free plugins, selected Internet sites too, providing you with a single location for accessing media of all types.

The biggest drawback at present is that Plex is very much an Apple-centric platform. While it's possible to install the media server component on a Windows PC for sharing its own media collection (Linux support is also under development), access to that collection is restricted to Macs or -- via a $4.99 app -- iPhones, iPads and Android devices.

Quick and Easy Setup

Setup is simple: install Plex Media Server on one of your computers, typically the one that's hosting all or most of your media collection, and when it's running you'll have access to its content from over the network or even further afield via the internet.

The server setup is straightforward: pick the folders to share (more than one folder can be allocated to each type of supported media content: photos, music, movies/video and recorded TV), choose optional plugins to add support for online services and you're good to go. Future configuration of the server is done through your web browser: just go to "http://localhost:32400/manage" to access it.

The Mac version of Plex Media Server also contains the client software, so you simply copy this and install it on your other Apple computers, too, then use it as the client. This involves skipping key steps of the setup procedure (namely the prompts to add folders to your media library); once you arrive at the main screen, it should automatically detect the content on your main server, and you're good to go.

Note: navigating the Plex client interface is done by keyboard or Apple Remote (you can enable mouse support via Preferences > System > Input Devices). One quick tip: once installed and setup on your client Mac, navigate to Preferences > System > Media Server and disable Always Running to save on system resources.

Installation on the Android and iPhone apps is even simpler; if the server's up and running you can quickly and easily select it when setting up the app to gain access to all of your media without having to store it on your device.

Both desktop and mobile clients provide a gorgeous, easy to browse interface for all of your media collection, complete with mini-bios and information about the media you're about to play, courtesy of various online databases like Wikipedia, Amazon and TheMovieDB.

Access over the Internet

You can even access your media over the internet when out and about. You'll need to set up port forwarding on your router (see the Plex wiki) for instructions, and once done you'll need to configure your client to access your server via its public IP address (get this from www.whatismyip.com). Job done.

It goes without saying that accessing your media over an Internet connection will be slower than your home network, and could prove costly if you're using your phone's 3G connection to make contact. With that in mind, try to limit your access to WiFi networks where access tends to be free and unlimited.

Plex Media Server is a freeware download for Mac (OS X 10.5.8 or later) and Windows (XP SP3 or later), with a Linux version due for public release soon. Additional hardware requirements can be found at the Plex wiki. There's also a Plex mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android, which costs $4.99, giving you access to your Plex media server from the comfort of your phone or tablet.