What do you use to store your movies to your rasbbery pi/xbmc

red eye · 22 Dec 2014 at 20:46

I have two PCs one win7 and the other xbmcubuntu on two networks each with 3tb drives (with the same movies). I now have two rasbbery pi and I want to turn the xbmcuntu machine into a media server, with two 3tb with one copy of each movie I own. so what do you use?

Steveocee · 22 Dec 2014 at 21:38

Keep PC 2 as an xbmcbuntu build (as it already has a copt of all films on it), stick in the additional 3TB and set it to mirror the other drive (not RAID) using rSync so you have a solid backup of all data.
Add another NIC so the xbmcbuntu can be part of both networks and you are done!

**Apart from the bit where I suggested to network share the drives (samba would be a recommendation) for ease of use (Win PC and Pi's can use that) or alternatively use NFS shares which carries less overhead for the Pi's but your Win PC will be out in the cold.

Currently I use a HP Microserver runnung Ubuntu Server 14.04 but after xmas I will be running a custom i3 m-ATX Node 804 home server running....Ubuntu Server 14.04. Both are.will be RAID 10 with 4x2TB drives with a 3TB as a backup which rsyncs every 6 hours.

Frozennova · 22 Dec 2014 at 22:12

I use a custom built AMD FX4100 based home server running Debian Wheezy in a Fractal Define R4.

Currently 3x1TB and 3X2TB in a RAIDZ pool (Very similar to raid 50)

This then serves media/files via SMB for Windows PCs, NFS for Pis and also has Plex Media Server on it for plex on a NowTV box.

It also serves as a VM host, Deluge for torrents, Sickbeard and CouchPotato.

I then have irreplaceable data like photos backed up to a dedicated server via Rsync daily at midnight.

Timber · 22 Dec 2014 at 23:37

At the moment I've got a mishmash of equipment that's been serving my home network. Currently:

A Synology Diskstation DS211j with two 1TB drives running on Synology's hybrid RAID that's effectively setup as RAID1. I've had this for over 3 and half years and it's just acting as a file server and using the built in Photostation app for backing up of iPhone pictures and video.
A self built PC running Linux Ubuntu Server 14.04.01. Originally put together as an HTPC it will be 2 years old in March next year. Nothing special, was built from bits I had and some new bits: AMD A4-5300 APU, 4GB RAM, 64GB SSD and 2GB data drive all in a Lian Li case with 300W PSU. I had it running XBMC on Ubuntu using a Motorola Nyxboard and USB TV tuner, but it was too unwieldy and unstable for family to use. So currently running Ubuntu as a Media Server with Plex and Madsonic installed.
Plex then used on iOS devices, Windows PC, Apple Mac, Android Nexus and Rasperry Pi (running RasPLEX).

The Synology has run out of space and I have been deliberating for months on what to replace the setup with. Whether to buy another Synology NAS and upgrade the Ubuntu server, or buy an all in one i3 QNAP or combinations of different options. There isn't an ideal all in one box out there for me but all the while I've been learning the basic of Linux/Ubuntu and can easily install and administer a headless server running the few apps I need. So I think I can cut the Synology solution out and run all in one server.

I am very tempted to replace this all with one of the HP Gen 8 Microservers currently on cashback offer and upgrade the memory (8GB will be plenty) and install a couple of 4TB REDs. Then I want to run Plex, Madsonic, Owncloud (maybe) or PhotoSync for the iOS devices and Samba for file sharing. This could easily be Ubuntu Server, although unRAID is appealing if only for the ease of setup and the fact that I am unlikely to need more than the free version. Later on would like to setup my USB TV with TVheadend or similar so I can get TV recording back up and running.

The Gen 8 Microserver is a slightly stronger CPU than my AMD APU so seems to be a nice combination of enough power to transcode or stream 1080p content whilst being reasonably energy efficient. Also offers an upgrade path with that IvyBridge socket. Conscious I will need to make up my mind soon if I go for the HP Microserver.

Audigex · 23 Dec 2014 at 01:50

HP Microserver (Gen7) running Ubuntu Server as the OS, with Plex Server (to serve the media) and Samba (to put the media in the right places) with about 4TB of storage so far, but will be expanded up to at least 8TB

Fairly soon I intend to turn my current PC into my home server, which will become the Plex Server, and my Microserver will become a pure NAS with RAID 5 and OwnCloud, while the PC will be an OwnCloud client so that anything put on the NAS will be automatically pulled to the PC. The beautiful thing being that I can add as many local or remote backups as I like, and they'll all sync to the OwnCloud instance

I used to love XBMC but I'm a total Plex convert - it's a much neater solution and "just works" on everything, I love it.

Shoei · 23 Dec 2014 at 07:02

I use a Qnap TS-210. 2x1.5Tb disks, raid 1. The pi connects to the nas through normal smb shared folders. Just means that the iMac & any other laptops or PC can see the folders too.

GDL · 23 Dec 2014 at 09:52

HP Microserver G7 with 16GB ram running Server 2012R2 (DHCP, DNS, FS, WDS) with 4x4TB Disks.

red eye · 23 Dec 2014 at 23:05

It turns out that the pi can't pass though hd audio, so I be keeping the xbmcuntu box in the living room and use a pi upstairs as planned. Kind of ruined my plans of getting rid of AV clutter.

Audigex · 27 Dec 2014 at 02:56

red eye said:
It turns out that the pi can't pass though hd audio, so I be keeping the xbmcuntu box in the living room and use a pi upstairs as planned. Kind of ruined my plans of getting rid of AV clutter.

That depends how determined you are ;-)

the hardware is certainly capable of it.

red eye · 27 Mar 2015 at 19:36

Audigex said:
That depends how determined you are the hardware is certainly capable of it.

how determined do you need to be?

Also a hammer is going to need with the pi. I got a share working can't rember if it was smb or what but when I play a movie on the pi it keeps buffering every 2-3mins, pc in the same room can play it fine. Problem is I can only spend 20-30 mins here and there, I need a guide or something or better still a magic little box that works out the box.

On a side note I found my old xbox with xbmc but that has no hdmi :rolleyes:

FrankJH · 1 Apr 2015 at 04:48

an i5 with 8GB ram and 20TB (nearly full) of 500 or so BR rips using Unraid although thinking of transferring this all to an 8 bay NAS

stuie · 1 Apr 2015 at 10:42

My old pc q6600 with a few gigs worth of mem. ive then dropped 4 3tb drives in a copy of xubuntu and mediatomb which runs as a sql database service. Saved me buying anything apart from the drives and was an excuse to play with linux

Audigex said:
That depends how determined you are the hardware is certainly capable of it.

More info on this please

anything I don't mind · 2 Apr 2015 at 18:33

I just use my desktop pc running windows 10 and amd 7850 that connects directly to my av receiver and projector, i have 20tb in there and then I have a pf sense firewall as a mini desktop pc, coolermaster 360 case with my old atx mb and chip. I would like to setup a NAS as i have no raid and also move the pfsense to a small pc or case. I just need something with two nic and wifi for the pfsense and was considering a hp microserver for a nas. I then control it with shield tablet through mpc controller. It works well.