In our family we don't really care about extra features or stuff. We have two small kids, so having all their movies and TV shows on demand is a big bonus.
What I like about XBMC is that it keeps an entire library of movies and tv shows up to date, can be sorted by genre or whatever, and can be driven from the same remote control we use for the TV. Very wife/kid friendly. It also supports AirPlay so you can push iPad/iOS content to it. Downside is that the integration with browser-based streaming services like Netflix still needs work but it's there. --------- Brian On Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 3:08 PM, James Maki <jwm_maill...@comcast.net>wrote: > What is the main advantage of XBMC over, for instance, MPC and PowerDVD? It > looks like an interesting program that needs addition investigation on my > part. I support movie only ripping, but my wife and daughter often spend > hours watching the extras from some movies. It takes me extra time to try > and catalog the extras whereas using the ISO and PowerDVD menu structure, > it > is simple. > > Thanks for any input. > > Jim > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: hardware-boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com [mailto:hardware- > > boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of Anthony Q. Martin > > Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 7:43 AM > > To: hardw...@lists.hardwaregroup.com > > Subject: Re: [H] What are we up to (Was-Are we alive?) > > > > Oh...I run XBMC on mine too....I just have to add folders...and you do > that > > once and you're done. That's when you get a nice interface. > > > > BTW, I had initially ripped to ISO...the I decided I don't want ISOs...so > I'm re- > > ripping to mkv. That is taking a long time, but I do a few each day. the > recent > > stuff is already mkv...but stuff I ripped two years ago is what i'm > working on > > now. I assume you guys are all using mkv, right? > > > > On 2/24/2014 9:45 AM, Brian Weeden wrote: > > > Anthony, I'd also add to Jim's comments that once you have one big > > > central drive you can use someting like XBMC to have a very nice > > > interface on all your HTPCs in the house and accessibility to all your > content. > > > > > > > > > > > > --------- > > > Brian > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 9:42 AM, James Maki > > <jwm_maill...@comcast.net>wrote: > > > > > >> That's how I started! :) But the desire for ease of use for my family > > >> (if it's not in plain sight, they can't find the drive, folder or > > >> location of a desired movie or TV show) and it just got "out of > > >> control!" A couple of drives here. A Sans Digital tower there. A new > HTPC > > in the family room. > > >> Gigabit network hooking upstairs bedroom to the main computer > > downstairs. > > >> You name it, it got added. I ended up spending lots of time > "cataloging," > > >> especially when adding drives. The pooling aspect of FlexRAID allows > > >> me to have one BIG drive with a folder for Blu-rays, one for DVDs, > > >> and another for recorded TV shows. Previously, a desired file might > > >> have been on one of 4 computers and any one of the approximately 30 > > >> drives. I did compromise awhile back and create 8 and 10 TB JBODs on > > >> the Sans Digital towers and internal in the main HTPC. This made it > > >> slightly easier to catalog. > > >> > > >> Of course, all of this ignores the "building computers, etc." is fun > > >> factor of this hobby. :) > > >> > > >> If nothing else, I have learned lots about SAS (which had intimidated > > >> me before), building my own NAS, and a little about Server software. > > >> Always a fun (if not occasionally, frustrating) experience. > > >> > > >> To Brian: I am doing exactly that-One big drive with 3 shared > > >> folders. The multiple pool idea was to facilitate doing smaller > > >> Updates/validates that could be done overnight rather than over 3 or > > >> 4 days. Once I get the drive set up as desired, I will give the > > >> parity backup another try and see if once it is set if the periodic > > >> updates of a static pool are quick. Thanks for the input and > > >> feedback. > > >> > > >> Jim > > >> > > >>> -----Original Message----- > > >>> From: hardware-boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com [mailto:hardware- > > >>> boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of Anthony Q. Martin > > You > > >>> guys are so sophisticated! I'm just stringing all my drives off a > > >>> PC > > >> with > > >>> external enclosures (10 drives inside the box, 8 more in two > > >>> four-bay enclosures). Using 3 and 4 TB drives (greens, mostly, from > > >>> WD and > > >> seagate). > > >>> Mine or just NTFS mount volumes all shared over my GB network. That > > >>> way, I can just navigate to any drive and any folder to play my rips > > >>> from my > > >> other > > >>> HTPCs. Easy setup. If a drive goes down, I just re-rip as I have > > >>> all > > >> the > > >> optical > > >>> discs as backup. Poor man's setup. Lazy man's setup. :) Raid is > > >>> too complicated for my brain and I don't see my use as super > critical. > > >> Ripping to > > >>> mkv is mostly done in the background while working on other stuff. > > >>> > > >>> On 2/24/2014 8:30 AM, Brian Weeden wrote: > > >>>> Jim, have you thought about setting up multiple shares instead of > > >>>> multiple pools? For example, you could have one big drive pool > > >>>> with all your data but share out any folder on that pool as a > > >>>> separate > > >> network > > >>> share. > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> --------- > > >>>> Brian > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> On Sun, Feb 23, 2014 at 2:46 PM, Brian Weeden > > >>> <brian.wee...@gmail.com>wrote: > > >>>>> If you're doing an initialization and building parity for 23 TB of > > >>>>> data, I can expect that to take quite a while. The update I'm not > > >>>>> so sure about. It should only need up update parity for whatever > > >>>>> files were changed. So if the update needs just as long, that > > >>>>> indicates > > >> maybe > > >>> all your data changed. > > >>>>> But if it's just video files then it shouldn't. > > >>>>> > > >>>>> I do know people have talked about exempting things like nfo files > > >>>>> and thumbnails from the RAID so the parity process will skip them. > > >>>>> > > >>>>> > > >>>>> > > >>>>> --------- > > >>>>> Brian > > >>>>> > > >>>>> > > >>>>> > > >>>>> On Sun, Feb 23, 2014 at 2:17 PM, James Maki > > >>> <jwm_maill...@comcast.net>wrote: > > >>>>>> Hi Brian, > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> I switched to FlexRAID to combine a total of 23 2tb drives spread > > >>>>>> over 5 Sans Digital port multiplier towers plus extra drives on > > >>>>>> several PCs used as HTPCs. I have ripped all my Blu-ray, DVDs and > > >>>>>> recorded TV to the various arrays and over time had just gotten > > >>>>>> too large to easily manage. I wanted to centralize everything on > > >>>>>> one system. The system I started with utilized a AMD FM2 > > >>>>>> motherboard with 8 onboard SATA ports, 2 SAS ports on an add-on > > >>>>>> card (for a total of 8 additional SATA ports, and 3 of the Sans > > >>>>>> Digital towers > > >>>>>> (5 > > >>>>>> disks each) for a total of 31 drives distributed as 1 OS drive, 4 > > >>>>>> parity drives and 26 data drives (several were empty). When this > > >>>>>> continued to fail on creation, I moved the Sans Digital based > > >>>>>> drives to a 6 port SAS controller card. > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> When I still had problems, I found that several drives were bad > > >>>>>> (scan disk), including the 1st parity drive. Replacing the drives > > >>>>>> gave me a successful creation but it took 4 days. The Update took > > >>>>>> another 4 days. That's when I started having second thoughts on > > >>>>>> using the Parity backup option. I guess I am just expected too > > >>>>>> much from the software. That's when I thought creating several > > >>>>>> pools would reduce the strain for each update/validate. > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> I am using a modestly powered AMD dual core 3.2 GHz processor > > and > > >>>>>> mostly consumer drives (mixed with a few WD reds). I went with > > >>>>>> Windows Home Server for economy reasons ($50 vs. $90-130 for > > >>> Windows > > >>>>>> 7 Home Premium/Professional). I utilized a HighPoint RocketRAID > > >>>>>> 2760A SAS RAID controller card. I am using RAID over File System > > >>>>>> 2.0u12, SnapRAID 1.4 Stable and Storage Pool 1.0 Stable (although > > >>>>>> not using the SnapRAID at this point). > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> Overall, I am happy with the pooling facility of the software. I > > >>>>>> just wish my large setup would not choke the parity option. > > >>>>>> Thanks for all the input. > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> Not sure if there is an answer to my problem. More powerful > > hardware? > > >>>>>> Reading the forums seems to indicate that hardware should NOT be > > >>>>>> the bottleneck. There seems to be the option of > > >>>>>> Updating/Validating only portions of the RAID each night. More > > >>>>>> research is needed on that front. My current plan at this point > > >>>>>> is to fill the RAID in the pooling only mode, make sure all names > > >>>>>> and organization is correct, then commit to a stable, unchanging > > >>>>>> file system that I will then commit to the SnapRAID parity > > >>>>>> option. That way I will only need to > > >>> Validate/Verify periodically. > > >>>>>> Thanks, > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>> Jim > > >>>>>> > > >>>>>>> -----Original Message----- > > >>>>>>> From: hardware-boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com > > [mailto:hardware- > > >>>>>>> boun...@lists.hardwaregroup.com] On Behalf Of Brian Weeden > > >>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2014 6:06 AM > > >>>>>>> To: hardware > > >>>>>>> Cc: hwg > > >>>>>>> Subject: Re: [H] What are we up to (Was-Are we alive?) > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> Hi Jim. Sorry to hear you're having such troubles, especially > > >>>>>>> since I > > >>>>>> think I'm > > >>>>>>> the one who introduced FlexRAID to the list. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> I've been running it on my HTPC for several years now and (knock > > >>>>>>> on > > >>>>>> wood) > > >>>>>>> it's been running fine. Not sure how big your setup is, I'm > > >>>>>>> running > > >>>>>>> 7 > > >>>>>> DRUs > > >>>>>> and > > >>>>>>> 2 PRUs of 2 TB each. I have them mounted as a single pool that > > >>>>>>> is shared > > >>>>>> on > > >>>>>>> my LAN. I run nightly parity updates. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> Initilaizing my setup did take several hours, but my updates > > >>>>>>> don't take > > >>>>>> very > > >>>>>>> long. Sometimes when I add several ripped HD movies at once it > > >>>>>>> might > > >>>>>> take > > >>>>>> a > > >>>>>>> few hours but that's it. How much data are you calcluating > > >>>>>>> parity for at > > >>>>>> the > > >>>>>>> initialization? Do you have a lot of little files (like thousand > > >>>>>>> of > > >>>>>> pictures) or lots > > >>>>>>> of files that change often? Either of those could greatly > > >>>>>>> increase the > > >>>>>> time it > > >>>>>>> takes to calcluate parity. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> I'm running it under Win7, and unfortunately I don't have any > > >>>>>>> experience with Server 2011 or any of the Windows Server builds. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> From what I've gathered you can only have one pool per system. > > >>>>>>> I think that's a limit of how things work. But I've never needed > > >>>>>>> more than one > > >>>>>> pool, > > >>>>>>> so it hasn't bothered me. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> For hardware, I'm running the following based largely on a HTPC > > >>>>>>> hardware guide I found online. It's based on a server chipset to > > >>>>>>> maximize the bandwidth to the drives. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> Intel Xeon E3-1225 > > >>>>>>> Asus P8B WS LGA 1155 Intel C206 > > >>>>>>> 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM > > >>>>>>> Corsair TX750 V2 750W > > >>>>>>> 2x Intel RAID Controller Card SATA/SAS PCI-E x8 Antec 1200 V3 > > >>>>>>> Case 3x > > >>>>>> 5in1 > > >>>>>>> hot swap HDD cages > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> Part of the key is the controller cards. I'm not actually using > > >>>>>>> the > > >>>>>> on-board > > >>>>>>> RAID, just using it for the ports and the bandwidth. I've got > > >>>>>>> two SAS > > >>>>>> to > > >>>>>> SATA > > >>>>>>> cables plugged into each card, which gives me a total of 16 SATA > > >> ports. > > >>>>>> The > > >>>>>>> cards are each on an 8x PCIe bus that gives them a lot of > > bandwidth. > > >>>>>> Boot > > >>>>>>> drive is an older SSD that is attached to one of the SATA ports > > >>>>>>> on the > > >>>>>> mobo. > > >>>>>>> Once trick I figured out early on was to initialize your array > > >>>>>>> with the > > >>>>>> biggest > > >>>>>>> number of DRUs you think you'll eventually have, even if you > > >>>>>>> don't > > >>>>>> actually > > >>>>>>> have that many drives at the start. That way you can add new > > >>>>>>> DRUs and > > >>>>>> not > > >>>>>>> have to reinitialize the array. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> When I started using FlexRAID it was basically a part-time > > >>>>>>> project being > > >>>>>> run > > >>>>>>> by Brahim. He's now created a fully-fledged business out of it > > >>>>>>> and has > > >>>>>> gone > > >>>>>>> way beyond just FlexRAID. Apparently he now has two products. I > > >>>>>>> think > > >>>>>> the > > >>>>>>> classic FlexRAID system I'm still using has become RAID-F (RAID > > >>>>>>> over > > >>>>>>> filesystem) and he's got a new Transparent RAID product as well: > > >>>>>>> http://www.flexraid.com/faq/ > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> I'm still running 2.0u8 (snapshot 1.4 stable) so I guess at some > > >>>>>>> point > > >>>>>> I'll need > > >>>>>>> to move over to the commercial version. But for now it's working > > >>>>>>> fine > > >>>>>> so I > > >>>>>>> don't want to disturb it. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> Hope all this helps, and happy to answer any other questions > > >>>>>>> however I > > >>>>>> can. > > >>>>>>> > > >>>>>>> --------- > > >>>>>>> Brian > > >> > >
