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[jrdiandrea]

Trying to get my head around the pros and cons of doing one or the other.

Currently I have 2 dedicated media computers (caps Zuma per Computer Audiophile) each with JRiver installed. One is in my theater and the other in my living room. All media is on a NAS. Everything is hard wired to my hone network. On each unit I have a Library set up pulling from NAS. i do not sync.

I just ordered an ID for our bedroom and wonder if I should also set this up with its own library pulling from NAS or if I should consider a sync setup. Not sure of what advantages/disadvantages are inherent with each approach.

Appreciate any input.

[Matt]

Personally I like one master library and a bunch of clients.

[glynor]

Personally I like one master library and a bunch of clients.

+1

[mwillems]

From my point of view, the primary advantages of the server/client setup over the NAS/separate libraries model are:

1) Only having to configure or change views in one place; if you have a lot of custom views it can be nice to only have to change them once and have it propagate out to the rest of the house.
2) It's much easier to share library metadata that doesn't get written to files or sidecars.  Certain library fields aren't written to files (or can't be), so only exist in the library itself, see the chart on the wiki http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Tags.  Probably the most significant one of those that I run up against is the "number of plays" tag.  If you want to know how many times a given file has been played, or if you record a lot of TV (and want to know what's already been watched), sharing a single library is super helpful.  Otherwise I tend to lose track of what's been watched (and can be deleted) and what hasn't been watched.

Some disadvantages are:

1) The server must be on (or at least sleeping) in order for clients to have access.  If you have a PC that isn't super power hungry, or if you can get wake on LAN working correctly, this isn't much of an issue except after power outages.  I've had some wake-on-LAN issues with my hardware, so I just leave my server on.
2) Certain types of library maintenance activities can only be done from the server.  Changing library views or importing new files have to be done on the master library; Adding cover art or ripping CDs either have to be done on the master library or in special purpose libraries on clients, but the latter takes some fiddling.  Since you currently have a NAS-based system, this may not be that different than what you're already doing for library maintenance, but it's a definite limitation of the current server/client model.

For my part, having global play counts, and a single place to edit library views more than offsets the downsides for me.  

[Arindelle]

Personally I like one master library and a bunch of clients.

+1

+1 one library and sync

In saying that my friend has two libraries, and runs two pcs. All audio is on a NAS and shared. The second library is only Video and and the media is stored on a local machine which is in his basement behind the wall in his Home Theater room. He says he does this for speed and maintenance.

Other than maybe having a separate local "ripping/tagging" library. The only benefit I can see is not having the media server PC on all of the time. With something like team viewer the maintenance limitations are basically taken care of.

About that .. wonder if it would be possible to clone a library to a NAS on shut down and setup a way to copy it to a second client PC which would copy it and load it locally on startup?  

[jrdiandrea]

Thanks to all....very helpful.

Now I agree sync is the way to go. Especially as I will be adding a few more ID's or similar devises throughout the house.


So I don't mess things up......Since I have seperate libraries on both current units....what is the best way to eliminate the library on one and then begin sync on the other?

One thing....I originally set up the unit in my Theater which is my primary music room for just audio. Latter i added another machine with JR and set it up for video. I don't want to loose the audio settings and zones I have set in the theaster specifically..this adjustment won't effect that, will it?

Thx

[Matt]

One thing....I originally set up the unit in my Theater which is my primary music room for just audio. Latter i added another machine with JR and set it up for video. I don't want to loose the audio settings and zones I have set in the theaster specifically..this adjustment won't effect that, will it?

The library loaded is totally separate from other settings like DSP, zones, etc.

[jrdiandrea]

Thanks Matt. Don't need to worry about anything then except for setting sync up correctly.

So, should I dlete the library one what will be the client unit then make the settings found here on the unit that will be acting as the server?     http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Library_Server_Sync

[mwillems]

Thanks Matt. Don't need to worry about anything then except for setting sync up correctly.

So, should I dlete the library one what will be the client unit then make the settings found here on the unit that will be acting as the server?     http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Library_Server_Sync

Don't delete a library.  Just turn on Media network on the server, and load the server's library on the client using the provided access key.  The old library on the client will still be there if you need it for some reason, it just won't be loaded.  

I'd suggest turning off auto-import on the client, but otherwise it's harmless to have a duplicate local library.

[jrdiandrea]

Don't delete a library.  Just turn on Media network on the server, and load the server's library on the client using the provided access key.  The old library on the client will still be there if you need it for some reason, it just won't be loaded.  

I'd suggest turning off auto-import on the client, but otherwise it's harmless to have a duplicate local library.

OK. Will do. One last stupid question....why do you suggest I NOT enable auto import? And you suggest this for the client machine only, correct?

[mwillems]

OK. Will do. One last stupid question....why do you suggest I NOT enable auto import? And you suggest this for the client machine only, correct?

Yes, only disable it on the client machine.  I suggest doing that because there's a bug where currently the server library will pull in material based on the client's auto-import rules which can result in duplicate entries in the library.  Glynor reported it here on one of the mac builds: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=91737.msg631273#msg631273

I can confirm that I see the same issue in the windows version.  So until that gets fixed, better to leave auto-import disabled on client instances.

[jrdiandrea]

I made the changes remotely from my office. The new Library appears to be loaded. Didn't have time to check everything but i did notice on the client machine that my "Theater Views" are now different. I believe they are mirroring the server machine. Is there an easy way to get the settings and copy them over to what is now the server?