I can't believe i'm saying this, but this sounds a little overkill, no? Whats wrong with setting up a share, or even iSCSI?
I doubt your HTPC is going to require that much IO bandwidth.
Well, I actually stumbled upon a different avenue, as you said I really don't need that bandwidth or all the drives hot at once.
I ordered 2 e-Sata multiplier (5 drives ea)from Addonics with the matching 2 port card on the server side. Cost about $150, should be here Friday and I should be(hope)I'm good to go.
I already have a 8 port sata controller card to replace the 4 port cards currently in the server for the bays in that case.