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[Hendrik]

Hi,

I have a setup like this right now:

- Library Server
- HTPC Library Server client, connected to my home theater system
- Desktop Library Server client

What i would like to do is sit at my Desktop, play some music or video, and have the HTPC play it back, using the home theater system for output.

All MC offers me on the Desktop is playback locally, or on the server. What i would like is playback on a separate MC client, connected to the same server.
Did i overlook a possibility for this, or is this just not possible right now?

Gizmo also only offers me to play locally or on the server, but i can't remote control any arbitrary client.
Can i setup a Library Server Client to also be a library server of its own, a proxy of sorts, so i can remote control it, without losing the connection to my main library server?

[JimH]

If I follow what you are asking, it's like this:

Server has two clients

You want client A to control playback, and client B to display it.

If that's it, you'll need to load the server content on client B by using Library Server.  Then connect to client B using Library Server, and choose to play on that client.

[Hendrik]

Server has two clients

You want client A to control playback, and client B to display it.

That's right.

However, client A or B cannot be the server for various reasons. The HTPC client doesn't have enough power to run the server, because it needs to be able to transcode for Gizmo, and that poor machine just isn't build for that.
Additionally, all the data is local to the server, and i would really prefer for the machine that manages the storage to also run the library server, and its on 24/7 anyway, while the others are not.

So i guess it isn't possible then?

[InflatableMouse]

I don't think it is.

You could use ultravnc (or something similar) and connect to the client you wish to play on from your desktop pc.

[glynor]

Hmmm....

I hadn't seen this thread before.  You can absolutely run multiple Library Servers and use them for remote control.  In fact, a machine can be both a Library Server and a Library Client at the same time.  This should accomplish what you need.

To give you a real world example, here's my usual setup at home:

1. Basement PC:  Main server.  The "real" library lives here.  The big media RAID is directly connected to this box and available to other machines via a network share.
2. HTPC:  In the Living Room.  Connects to Basement PC as a Client.
3. Laptop:  Has both a local library and also connects to a few different Library Servers, including the Basement PC.
4. Windows 8 VM:  Connects to Basement PC as a Client.
5. Mac Mini running MC under Parallels Desktop:  Has a Local (work-stuff) Library and also sometimes connects to Basement PC as a Client.

Every single one of these has Options > Media Network > Use Media Network to share this library enabled.  Even the HTPC, which essentially never uses its local Library.  Now, only the Basement PC and the Mac Mini (which run 24/7) are set with Options > Startup > Windows Startup set to run Library Server on startup.  But, when I launch the HTPC's copy of MC, it connects to the Basement PC's Library, but also runs its own Library Server (which, essentially, re-serves the Basement PC's Library).

Connecting to the HTPC with another machine (such as my Laptop or JRemote) while it is running this way, and playing to the Laptop/iDevice works fine, but that's pretty pointless because you can just connect to the Basement PC's server directly.

However, this allows you to remote control the HTPC, while its copy of MC is running, via another copy of MC or JRemote (or Gizmo, if I had an Android device).  It does even work just fine if I set the HTPC to run MC all the time via the Options > Startup > Windows Startup setting.  If the last-used Library was a network library, no problem.  It connects, and then re-serves it.

You just have to make sure that they don't all run on the same port inside your network, and they each have their own individual Access Key (if you connect that way, I don't).

Mine is set up so that only the Basement PC's server is poked through my firewall.  Others can only be accessed via machines on my local network or via VPN.  Essentially, the only machine I can't realistically use to "control" the other machines (by loading their Libraries) is the Basement PC (because it is the "parent server") and to do so, I'd have to switch it to a different library, which would make the whole thing stop working.  However, I can control any machine connected to it anyway because they show up as Zones automatically on that box, so even that works right.

[JimH]

I may not understand, but if all three machines are Windows machines, they can all be servers or clients.

Right now, you have Library Server running on the machine you call Server.

Client A is used as an HTPC and connects to Library Server on the Server.

Client B is the one you want to use as a remote control.

So why not run Library Server on the HTPC client as well?  You're saying that it doesn't have the power to do that?  Library Server is a fairly light load.  It should work.  Or is it that this machine isn't on full time?

I haven't tried it, but one machine should be able to load the library from another and then serve it to a third.

I need a picture.

[Hendrik]

I didn't know it could be a server and client at the same time, and then serve the same library the main server serves. But glynor seems to say it can do that, so that sounds great.
I'm going to test this now, that would probably work out just fine if it works.

[glynor]

I didn't know it could be a server and client at the same time, and then serve the same library the main server serves. But glynor seems to say it can do that, so that sounds great.

Yep.  Works just fine.  I use it extensively to control the HTPC with JRemote.

[Hendrik]

Neat, its working fine now. Thanks to ZoneSwitch i could even make it behave exactly the way i wanted it to.

[Matt]

I often connect to my client with Gizmo and control it.  It works great, and makes a lot more sense than connecting to the server and telling the server to control the client.

However, I've never connected to my client with another client.  I think control will work, but Library Sync might not totally work in that case.

I agree this area is a little hard to get your head around.  There are a huge number of permutations.  The distinction between DLNA and MC (ie. Library Server / Tremote) is also a challenge.  

In the past, Jim has championed a model where there aren't servers and clients, but instead everything is an equal.  It's an interesting idea, but also technically vexing.

[glynor]

However, I've never connected to my client with another client.  I think control will work, but Library Sync might not totally work in that case.

I have connected a client MC to a client often.  Works great for remote control.

I've never tried Library Sync.  Not even sure what that should do!

[csimon]

I've never tried Library Sync.  Not even sure what that should do!

I've been trying to get my head around that too - not sure where it fits in with Library Server. Am I right in thinking that, if you're connecting a client to a server to use the library's server, Library Sync is irrelevant?  But if you're using a local library on the client instead of the server's library, Library Sync then clones the server's library to the client?  Therefore Library Server can work in one of two ways: to serve to a client in lieu of a client's library, or to clone its library to the client's local library?

[bblue]

However, this allows you to remote control the HTPC, while its copy of MC is running, via another copy of MC or JRemote (or Gizmo, if I had an Android device).  It does even work just fine if I set the HTPC to run MC all the time via the Options > Startup > Windows Startup setting.  If the last-used Library was a network library, no problem.  It connects, and then re-serves it.

You just have to make sure that they don't all run on the same port inside your network, and they each have their own individual Access Key (if you connect that way, I don't).

That's an interesting approach to serving!  But why would the ports need to be different?  It's assumed that each machine has its own IP address, so there should be no confusion operationally.  Maybe it's just easier to see who is talking to whom?

--Bill

[glynor]

But why would the ports need to be different?

In theory they shouldn't, but I found in practice it seemed to work better with them each set to their own ports.  It might be something in the way my firewall is set up, though.

With the ports all set to the same port, I had trouble getting the remote connected clients to show up as Zones on the Sever.