How do I set up a "media server"?

[Drayl]

I have Windows 7 64 bit (brand new) and want to set up a "media server" so that I can securely access files over the internet.

I don't want to access my entire computer, but something like a front end http page that has links to files I link.

I fear this is pretty basic, please forgive my ignorance.

 

[Solidwave]

HTTP access is not recommended unless you have the skills and time to learn to run a web server securely. This is non-trivial.

The easiest solution for moderately skilled users is to share your media folders on your LAN as normal and then connect to your LAN remotely something using a zero-configuration VPN tool like Hamachi. You'll be able to see your shared folders and other LAN resources through the VPN when connected via the Internet.

Things get a lot more complicated if you want to transcode your media into lower bitrate versions to cope with low upload bandwidth availability.

 

[Lemur]

What do you want your media server for? If you're just talking serving up web pages, that's a web server. You can use IIS, Apache, etc.

If you want to stream media, you can go the Linux route (more free apps), instead a Helix server (I think it's still free for limited streams) for something like Flash Media Server (FMS) which starts to cost bucks.