Setting up a home media server (Ubuntu OS)

[Vodo4321]

Just wondering if anyone as any experience setting up a home media server. I've got some spare parts lying around and having just bought a PS3 I figured it'd be nice to have a place to dump my downloaded shows etc to make watching them on the tv nicer.

A little down the road I'll be buying a HD ready satelite receiver with PVR capabilities so it'd be nice if the server could also function in that capacity later on.

Anyways I'm ok on the hardware side of things but I have zero experience setting up an OS to work in this way. After reading a couple articles they say Ubuntu is the cheapest way to go.

Any other suggestions on an OS or setup tips would be appreciated.

Thanks