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[MikeO]

Hi

I think I am answering my own question but here goes...

I want to use JRiver as my Library Manager & DLNA server but I want to upgrade to some form of "File Sever" / NAS and centralise all files , Back Up,  maintenance etc.

If I purchase a NAS and attach it to the network , in order to use the JRiver's DLNA server will I need to run a second computer running Windows (say), JRiver etc and simply use the NAS as a "File Server" or a BIG HDD

I assume something like Synology , Disc Station Manager will provide all the DLNA server I need but I won't be able to take advantage of JRiver's custom tags and library set up , it presumably has some sort of in built library manger of its own. Reviews of Synology aren't clear on this.

Is a better route to build a "Big Desk Top" file server from a base PC and drives and run MC on that ...

I suppose what I'm asking is what is best practice for running bulk storage , JRiver and getting DLNA out the end while still being able to use the File Server on the network

As usual I want the "impossible"

Cheers

Mike

[JimH]

It might help if you could say why you want to use a NAS.

A NAS is a computer in the end.  It has the advantages and disadvantages of a computer.

A version of MC is available for the QNAP NAS.  Please see the Linux board here for more about it.

I don't run a NAS at home, but if I did, I think I would put a low power computer like a NUC in front of it, with MC on it, and just importing files from the NAS.

[MikeO]

Hi Jim

I am not convinced I need a NAS hence the question. Currently I have my files on 3 External USB Drives (plus another 3 as BU)

The music one is permanently connected to a PC with MC running on it

My thought around a file server is to centralise all files to make maintenance , Back Up etc easier .

I use a Cambridge Audio CXN for playing music which is connected to a HDD. In the same way I use a Med8er 800 for Video with a HDD

but I miss the library structure of MC and the ability to customise tags and views etc hence the thought of a DLNA server streaming to the CXN

The choice was not to do with MC as a rendered more about "easy to use" boxes rather than navigating a PC to listen & watch escially for the family. I found a PC was a constant niggle as you'll see from a few of my older posts

Sounds like a Server / PC running MC to DLNA is the answer

Mike

[JimH]

Before you introduce a new server, you could try the current PC, playing to the Cambridge Audio CXN.

[MikeO]

Unfortunately the geography doesn't work, the PC is 20 m away from the hi fi gear. I am however using an old laptop as a try out "NAS" direct onto the router, everything from there is wireless ... This seems OK for music but I have yet to test thoroughly with video.

I had a major disaster just before Xmas when I ran a hard wired network from this PC to all the gear. My next door neighbour had a direct lightening strike and the reaction was to spike the phone line (and hence ADSL Line) , despite all mains being disconnected the phone line blew up most of my equipment

You can tell that now I have replaced all the gear, I am very nervous now of a hard wired network. Johannesburg is the lightening capital of the world they say, and in the summer we have major storms daily.

That's why I am trying everything wireless at the moment, leaving only the router vulnerable.

Mike

[JimH]

Just out of curiosity, do you or your neighbors use lightning rods? 

[MikeO]

Yes its quite common in fact its an insurance requirement where thatched roofs are involved.

The estate I live in is mainly brick and rendered concrete facia with flat concrete roofs so it's not a requirement, I don't have one

It this case the "lightening rod" was a 10m palm tree in the adjacent garden, I was "quietly" watching the storm on my patio when the tree took a direct hit about 20 metres from me , quite a wake up !!

It caught fire and smouldered for quite a few hours.

Mike

[Arindelle]

well getting back to your question, lightning aside and even connections for that matter.

I used to have a NAS ... it went up and died ... and I never replaced it.

When my kids were living with me I had my main listening area running JRiver as server and three clients. Now I only really have one and an occasional second client on a laptop.  The NAS was slow, and a pain. Looking into what was available at the time and estimating how many hard drives I was going to need (2tb drives were then the norm, 3tb drives were just starting to be affordable) a 4 to 6 bay fast NAS was expensive.

Looking at the money, I also wanted to avoid an additional machine running so I decided to build a silent PC (well almost silent). I put an i5 in it, a mini-atx motherboard in a Lian LI box that is pretty small ... and I can have up to seven drives+SSDs and two optical drives (at the time I used 6 HDs. Now with 4tb drives I don't need as many, but hey they are there.)

No worries about not having system events kick in for autoimport, fast access across the network, it can be a JRiver renderer directly, and you don't need 2 machines on if just running your main "entertainment area". If you configure the wake on lan functions, even energy efficiency shouldn't be an issue for most people. Also very simple headless operation using Teamviewer or something like it with a client ... no worries about Linux/Windows issues (or in my case Linux ignorance,).

Now I'm not sure why you have the server machine running 20 meters away, but you have that streamer so you chose to go that route already (I like to use JRiver as renderer myself). Still you can set up a server PC for MC (especially if its not rendering 4k videos) for less than an equivalent performing NAS. (chime in if this has changed guys, but I don't think so)

However, if I travelled all the time and had an office or clients external to my local network, thats where a NAS would be nice to have I think. Now I just tap into my music using my ipad at my local pub so problmes that can happen with external wake-ups aren't a big deal. Maybe if I had a big family adding/using the content all the time a NAS would be worth it.  And there is this cool QNAP version of JRiver now that didn't exist before which might also enter into the equation.

Anyway I think most people don't need a NAS and are just complicating their life and spending money that they don't need to. If you don't need silence, an old computer maybe with an upgrade or 2 would be fine. You want straight ethernet or wifi no problem. 20 meters, not an issue. If you aren't using it as a renderer an i3 would be fine for most things. And now with Iris built in graphics, you could get a new gen NUC or similar to be a renderer for MADVR video playback (maybe no interlacing and stuff, but it should be pretty good).

I think you can protect your electronics from most anything these days, but I don't think the question to buy a NAS or not is really linked. If lots of people contribute and access at the same time the content on a bunch of clients, or you want a very stable external connection, look into one. If not I'd just use a PC as a server myself.

good luck with the storms in Johannesburg 

[MikeO]

Thanks Arindelle

I am coming around to your way of thinking.

The system is a one room set up (except for hard wired , under the floor slab, Zone 2 speakers in the kitchen), hence I have at the moment no network, simply WiFi to enable automation etc.

I have the CXN for music and a Mede8er 800 for video , both fitted with external HDD. These replaced the PC route some while back for ease of use .

My main driver was to be able to take advantage of MC's tagging and to centralise maintenance..

The Cambridge Audio app for ipad is ok but not as slick as JRemote and since its USB HDD based it reads the structure off the disc with little use of Tags (just Name, Album & Artist), hence any specialist views are absent. The Mede8er app is simply cr*p , its not even worth using. Hence my thought of a NAS and using MC as the DLNA server with JRemote.

I am rapidly coming back the idea of no formal network, its one more thing to manage as would be a NAS. Also in summer when the storms come everything is unplugged form the mains (its not uncommon for a storm to run the entire evening)  , I have a big UPS which keeps the local kit , amp , Mede8er, CXN & TV running for around 4 hrs. A network would not be run from there so I would finish up with nothing. Currently the 2 x local HDDs keeps things going.

I guess the answer is put up with the maintenance tasks for the sake of simplicity elsewhere

Thanks for all helpful comments.

Mike

[ssands]

I keep all my media on a NAS. My only PCs are laptops (running JRiver) and the NAS allows me to stream directly to the TV, sonos, my audio streamer, or use my JRiver PC as player and sometimes DLNA server.
The NAS maintenance is pretty minimal - I occasionally check for updates. That's it. I just added more storage and it was trivial. It's automatically backed up to the cloud. Everything is wired so access is fast (except on the laptop, but I've configured access points so that is no longer a problem).

It fits my usage scenarios quite well.

[RCFlyer]

I hear the support for both NAS and PC (with lots of HD drives) and carefully considered the options for both.

I have too have gone the NAS route. I have a total of 5-NAS drives running RAID with 2TB on each all hardwired to the network with MC21 on a MAC wireless connection. I have them dedicated to Movies, Music, Pictures, Software and backups and lastly general use. I use MC21 (MBP and an iMac) to play music and movies (not using it for pictures here at the moment as it does take some time to get the library setup).

I have TVs that support DLNA. This way the kids can access the NAS drives from the TV(s) directly (w/o MC21) and play or listen to whatever there is.

In the 4-5 years of running 4 NAS drives, I thought I had an issue with 1 of the NAS drives with 1 of the drives (RAID), so I replaced that 1- HDD and the NAS drive placed it back in service. After testing that HD drive using an external enclosure, so far it seems fine. So perhaps had I just used the repair function of the NAS drive I would have been ok, but this was the family picture drive and I did not want to risk loosing them. Hence the addition of NAS drive #5. Got to historically save those family pictures just in case that NAS did die. Now that NAS drive has become my general use drive.

I have just recently started to played with MC21 as a DLNA server to those same TVs and so far music and movies are playing just fine using my MBP as the MC21 server. I'm not sure what I will finally do here for MC21 as a DLNA server.