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[Dingman]

I have both a PC that runs 24\7 and also a couple of DLNA NAS devices.

I want to run jriver on the 24\7 PC as well as a couple of other PC's, and also access the music files from a new Marantz network device.

Currently, I've installed and licensed jriver on a couple of PC's and then point the library to the DLNA NAS device. Seems to work OK, but my Marantz network device doesn't play well with the cheapo NAS.

Would I have better luck and are there advantages to setting up jriver on the 24\7 PC, and setting that as the server, then use client mode on other PC's, and also point the Marantz at the JRiver server? Is that how that would be set up? I think I'd also move the music files from the NAS to the 24\7 PC.

I did try to find this info, but didn't quite get it. Feel free to steer me towards the proper documents.

Thanks.

[JimH]

Welcome to the forum.  It sounds like the Marantz is playing from the NAS by using UPnP or DLNA.

MC can serve files in the same way.  You could start here: http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Network

In MC, turn on Media Network and see if the Marantz sees it.

[Dingman]

Thanks for the reply.

I've looked again at the docs, looks like I will go for the client\server setup.

LOL, didn't realize this was my first post, I've been lurking and started a couple of other posts, but then was able to find the info I needed.

thanks for welcome. JRiver seems to be a fine product.

[MrHaugen]

A client/server setup gives you a lot of advantages and a few downsides. A couple of things you should consider is how you will use the client and servers. Changes on views and file names/images have to be done on the server. Importing stuff needs to be done on the server in most cases. You will not be able to differentiate play stats on several users.

If those things are really important to you, you might have to look at multiple client setups instead. Most of us have found ways around, or just lives with those few shortcomings.

[dtc]

If you are going to use the library server, I would suggest setting a fixed ip address for the server and connecting to it from the clients using the ip address, not the Access Key. Using the ip address seems quicker and more reliable. Also, on the clients in Media Network - Client Options - Audio turn off Convert if you have any high rez files. Otherwise it will downsample them.

[Dingman]

Ahhh, I see that I didn't realize the limitations.

At my job, I work on a daily basis with large, multi-application databases and so tend to assume some of the same functionality with this server\client setup. I know I shouldn't assume, so please do keep up posting those tips.

Hmmm, I'll have to think and read up on this some more. I certainly don't have a problem setting a static IP.

I do wish to have (as I'm used to having at work) any changes made on server or clients to show for both server\clients.

For example, if I add more music to my server folder that is watched, does the client need to watch that folder also, or does the client get it's music list from the server's database?

My usage I expect will be light, once I get things set up, all I'll do is add and rate music. Maybe add\manipulate some images related to the music. I'm not really intending on using it for anything else at this point, tho that might change in the future.

[MrHaugen]

If you set up a mapped drive, connected to a share, you can use this on both server and client. It's recommended this way, because the video playback is a lot faster if clients can directly access the media without using the library server for conversion.

If you have a watched folder on the server, the changes is synced to the clients within a minute or two. The only thing to remember is that everything else than strict tag updates on media, have to be done on the server for things to sync out to clients. Well, most of it at least... Things like views for example, will be pushed from server to clients. It will never be saved if it's changed on the clients.

[Dingman]

LOL, that's practically how I had it set up when I started thinking I needed a true server\client setup.

I'm a little slow, but still pondering...

So, you're saying I can set up a server to push changes to clients, but then direct clients to play\watch a mapped drive. Sure, I like that, sounds simple. And that media will exist on the server machine, so I'll just direct the server to that directory and all should be well in the shire.

Thanks guys!

[MrHaugen]

The big difference between server/client and multiple clients is that with multiple clients you have to maintain several libraries. But they can be connected to the same media. I find this to be a pain in the ***, as you have to do the same operations on multiple machines, or backup and restore to different clients. And you don't get sync of the play statistics like Number plays, which I use very much in view rules to sort out things already watched. Or to remove songs from playlists if they have been skipped x number of times, and so on. These things will be a lot simpler with a server/client setup. The downsides is that the configuration have to be done on the server, and you'll loose the ability to have different play stats for different users for example.

In a server/client setup, clients don't really need to see a share or mapped drive. Only the server needs full access. That's it. But the playback of videos will start a bit faster if the clients can see the same path to the media as the server does. MC will always try to access the media directly first, before it users the strange Server "URL's". Unless you have removed this option. It's under Options - Media Network - Client Options - "Play local file if one that matches Library Server file is found". At the same place you also have the option to auto sync with the library server. In addition to this, you'll need to enable Authentication on the server. Without these two, you'll not be able to sync.

Good luck with the rest