Topic: What folder to backup? (Read 6816 times)

Captor · « **on:** October 19, 2011, 01:35:15 pm »

What folder do I need to backup in case of an unwanted accident? For doing the restore of playlists, albumarts
and, and.....
I mean besides the folder containing the mediafiles of course.

Vocalpoint · « **Reply #1 on:** October 19, 2011, 02:09:27 pm »

Quote from: Captor on October 19, 2011, 01:35:15 pm

What folder do I need to backup in case of an unwanted accident? For doing the restore of playlists, albumarts
and, and.....
I mean besides the folder containing the mediafiles of course.

MC has built in backup. See File->Library->Backup Library. Also see Tools-Options->File Locations->Program Files to choose a location for your backups.

For safety purposes - my backup location is on a different drive than the default location that MC places during install.

Once your library is backed up - all your settings, playlists etc are self contained into a single zip file. If disaster strikes - restore your latest backup and you are good to go.

Cheers,

VP

Captor · « **Reply #2 on:** October 19, 2011, 03:46:10 pm »

Hi VP
So I can move the backup library from inside MC from C: to D: then? Can I do that with the explorer inside MC?

And then the files are at another drive and I can backup that as well to an external drive.

Vocalpoint · « **Reply #3 on:** October 19, 2011, 04:03:23 pm »

Quote from: Captor on October 19, 2011, 03:46:10 pm

So I can move the backup library from inside MC from C: to D: then? Can I do that with the explorer inside MC?

Hmm..could be we are talking about two different things. This instruction is only to create a backup of your active library "files"...the ones MC needs to find all your tracks.

The option I mentioned - under "program files"...click the little "..." button - allows you to repoint MC on where to save it's library backup to. Then when you use File->Library-Backup Library - MC will open to that location.

Quote from: Captor on October 19, 2011, 03:46:10 pm

And then the files are at another drive and I can backup that as well to an external drive.

Yes. The above has nothing to do with your actual media files. Those need to be backed up using whatever backup methods you see fit. Also - you mentioned Cover Art - the above backup library routine does NOT backup any cover art etc. I always embed my art directly to the files so there is no need to worry about album art going missing.

Cheers,

VP

Captor · « **Reply #4 on:** October 20, 2011, 04:15:54 am »

Maybe, I just want to know what folder/files to backup in case my computer is stolen for example.
In order to restore the whole thing. JRiver I can download but all my music, playlist, album art, settings
and so on. To be home free with other words when starting from scratch with a new computer.

MrHaugen · « **Reply #5 on:** October 20, 2011, 04:41:56 am »

You should have backup of both your media files AND the library. The library only contains data about your media. Both is important, but the importance of the library is really all about how much time you've used to adding the data there.

The library will be placed under: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 16\Library Backups

Captor · « **Reply #6 on:** October 20, 2011, 05:36:58 am »

Thank you Haugen
Then I think I will do both. What VP suggested and place that files (Library Backups) on another drive
(D: in my case) + Syncronize that to my backup server (X: in my case) as well. And of course I will
sync the mediafiles to X as well too. Then I should be secured:-)
The mediafiles are on D already so if I have a windows crash it is no big deal to recover them. And should the computer be stolen I have X in worst case.

MrHaugen · « **Reply #7 on:** October 20, 2011, 05:45:53 am »

Sounds like a good deal. I have a similar setup my self. I'm synchronizing the library backups to my backup raid array, and all media is also synced from one array to another. So there is a 1 to 1 backup there on Raid 6 arrays, which should be pretty reliable by them self. In case of a disaster I'm backing up my most precious stuff like Music and documents to a external disk and storing it off site

It costs a bit for the discs, but with those really cheap and fault tolerant 2TB 5400 RPM disks (Samsung), you can get some really safe and sweet setups for a reasonable amount

Captor · « **Reply #8 on:** October 20, 2011, 05:56:31 am »

Yeah, of course raid is the best to use. And Samsung I believe are the most silent disks on the market right now. I use them myself but it is 7200 rpm in a small aluminium case (Asrock). It is so so.
My first media computer. We will see what it will be next. I am very interested in silent machines. Especially when i use it for movies. This Asrock is pretty OK. I use XBMC for movies. I like the layout.
Maybe I should try MC as well? I am sure it is good for that too.

MrHaugen · « **Reply #9 on:** October 20, 2011, 06:03:29 am »

It's getting there. Playback is excellent in MC. Layout... It needs some attention, but it works for sure. Metadata scraping might be the biggest shortcoming right now. We have some ok tools, but it's not automated.

The reason I run the Samsung 5400 RPM disks is because of the low bit read error rate. It's got an error rate of 10^15 instead of 10^14 for normal disks. That makes it 10 times less likely to encounter read errors while rebuilding arrays. It's very silent as well. Low RPM does not matter as long as there is no irritating spinup time.

Captor · « **Reply #10 on:** October 21, 2011, 12:05:41 pm »

Sorry. What is Metadata scrapping? Is it something about collecting information about the movies on the internet?

I see. I didn´t know that about the Samsung disks and the error rate. Nice to hear that. So then maybe I should invest in thoose next time instead. Is 2 TB the biggest of 5400 rpm disks?

JustinChase · « **Reply #11 on:** October 21, 2011, 04:27:47 pm »

Quote from: Captor on October 21, 2011, 12:05:41 pm

Is 2 TB the biggest of 5400 rpm disks?

No. Hitachi makes a 3TB 5400 rpm drive. I have 4 in an unRAID setup, and they've ben problem free so far.

I paid $109 shipped for each one. they might be available a bit cheaper if you look for sales, but the "normal" price is about $130 last time I checked.

rjm · « **Reply #12 on:** October 21, 2011, 04:38:29 pm »

I need to add capacity but have been waiting and waiting for 4 TB drives. I'm starting to think they've bumped up against some physical limit and are shifting R&D $ to SSD drives. Anybody know when I can buy 4 TB drives?

JustinChase · « **Reply #13 on:** October 21, 2011, 05:24:11 pm »

Now?

http://www.gizmag.com/seagate-goflex-hitachi-gst-4tb-hdd/19772/

Quote

On Wednesday, Seagate announced it was shipping the world's first 4TB external hard drive in the form of the 4TB GoFlex Desk Drive, which offers a high speed USB 3.0 interface. Obviously looking to steal a bit of Seagate's thunder - or should that be Thunderbolt - the very next day Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (GST) demoed its own 4TB external hard drives at IBC 2011 in Amsterdam

MrHaugen · « **Reply #14 on:** October 21, 2011, 08:04:45 pm »

Quote from: Captor on October 21, 2011, 12:05:41 pm

Sorry. What is Metadata scrapping? Is it something about collecting information about the movies on the internet?

I see. I didn´t know that about the Samsung disks and the error rate. Nice to hear that. So then maybe I should invest in thoose next time instead. Is 2 TB the biggest of 5400 rpm disks?

Yes. Metadata scraping is the ability to get data like tag info and images from online sources.
I think the Samsung disks is available in 3TB drives as well, but they are almost twice as expensive. Samsung 5400 drives is about the only drives I have found that have this low error rate. When you have about 10-12+ of this in each array, there is a high chance of encountering errors on array rebuilds. And that is not good. That's why I went for this type. Does not hurt that it's silent, cheap and power efficient too.

CountryBumkin · « **Reply #15 on:** October 22, 2011, 06:29:58 am »

Regarding the types of drives to use - if your data is really critical, you may want to consider Enterprise drives. See the attached article. They cost more (maybe up to 20% more), but they have features that desktop drives do not (well, maybe some do - if you look around).

Captor · « **Reply #16 on:** October 22, 2011, 07:37:11 am »

What is the name of the Samsung? Is it Samsung SpinPoint F4EG 2TB?
Maybe I have to change soon because sometimes when I jumping forward (or back) in the songs
there occures a strange "staccato" sound. It sounds like the music is stuttering or something like that.
Than I have to stop or pause for 10 sec or something and than start to play again. And then mostly
it sounds normal again. So I guess I need a new harddrive soon.

JimH · « **Reply #17 on:** October 22, 2011, 07:44:02 am »

The stutter is probably related to the driver. Are you using ASIO? If so, try the settings for it.

Captor · « **Reply #18 on:** October 22, 2011, 08:14:44 am »

No I am not using ASIO. I am using Wasapi, no resampling, 44,100 Hz and 16 bit.
Can the reason for that be in that settings?

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** October 22, 2011, 08:42:01 am »

Try both WASAPI and WASAPI Event Style.

Captor · « **Reply #20 on:** October 22, 2011, 08:49:34 am »

Wasapi Event Style don´t work at all. Something about that I can´t use 44,100 Hz and 16 Bit.
Do you have any suggestion about that?

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