2011-04-25, 11:55
So not long ago I added an Ion-based net-top for the living room in addition to my HTPC in the 'cinema' room. It's great, my other half now watches things with me on the comfortable sofa and yet if I want to watch things on my own, I still have my old setup with the projector. Brilliant. I'm using the MySQL solution to share my library and everything syncs up.
The PSU on my main HTPC just died and I'm thinking of replacing that box with an always-on NAS, containing the four HDDs, and getting another Ion machine too. If I do this, I'd quite like to put my iTunes library on the NAS too for remote access. I'm thinking of the Synology DS411j.
Here are my concerns and I'd massively appreciate any answers...
- My HDDs are loaded with content split across the discs (no RAID etc). If I place these drives in a NAS will it be able to read them, or does it need to format the discs? I'm not planning on a RAID setup in the NAS either.
- My Windows 7 HTPC currently downloads, renames and organises my content ready for XBMC to detect. I don't use newsgroups and currently don't feel a need to start doing so. My current solution takes an RSS feed for movies from a folder on box.net, then downloads them, seeds, stops the download, saves the torrent and NFO to an archive folder, then passes the movie to TheRenamer which puts it in the right place with the right name. I also have an RSS feed per TV show. I'd really like to keep this functionality. Are there any similar automated setups for torrents and a NAS?
- I've not got round to troubleshooting it yet (was the plan for this easter break until my HTPC died) but the Ion-based TVPC (an Acer Revo) is much slower than my HTPC (Core2Duo, GeForce 9400) when browsing the library (it'll take many seconds to respond to remote commands or switch menus at times). I wasn't sure if this was because it was getting the library from my HTPC over the network, if it was because I'd set it up wrong, or if the Revo is just too weak for anything (beyond the Ion-accelerated video), so I guess I just wanted to check if people are happily running a setup like the one I'm proposing (Synology NAS, Gigabit Ethernet, 2x Acer Revo) with perfectly smooth menu and video performance? I also currently get very temporary glitches in my video on the Revo which aren't there in the same files played on the HTPC, and it occasionally has jittery playback, always solved by restarting the machine. Like I say, I've not properly looked into fixing these issues yet, but just looking for some reassurance that this setup should be potentially hitch free once I spend the time and money on it.
- For my iTunes content, I'd like to carry on managing my library, and syncing with my iPhone, through iTunes on my Macbook Pro. I don't really want to have to plug it in with a network cable every time, so I wondered what people's experience was of running such a setup wirelessly, including then streaming to Airport Expresses.
- What happens when I run iTunes when I'm outside the house, both when connected to the internet via wi-fi, and without an internet connection. Can I still connect to that server in the former instance?
- Will I lose any abilities I currently have? From memory, if I connect to my other half's iTunes share on my Macbook, I can play from it but not make playlists. Would the iTunes share on the server be limited in any similar way? I understand that if I want remote access to the music through a browser/iPhone app, I need to store it in a certain location on the NAS using iTunes Server, rather than just storing my library in a shared folder on the NAS.
The PSU on my main HTPC just died and I'm thinking of replacing that box with an always-on NAS, containing the four HDDs, and getting another Ion machine too. If I do this, I'd quite like to put my iTunes library on the NAS too for remote access. I'm thinking of the Synology DS411j.
Here are my concerns and I'd massively appreciate any answers...
- My HDDs are loaded with content split across the discs (no RAID etc). If I place these drives in a NAS will it be able to read them, or does it need to format the discs? I'm not planning on a RAID setup in the NAS either.
- My Windows 7 HTPC currently downloads, renames and organises my content ready for XBMC to detect. I don't use newsgroups and currently don't feel a need to start doing so. My current solution takes an RSS feed for movies from a folder on box.net, then downloads them, seeds, stops the download, saves the torrent and NFO to an archive folder, then passes the movie to TheRenamer which puts it in the right place with the right name. I also have an RSS feed per TV show. I'd really like to keep this functionality. Are there any similar automated setups for torrents and a NAS?
- I've not got round to troubleshooting it yet (was the plan for this easter break until my HTPC died) but the Ion-based TVPC (an Acer Revo) is much slower than my HTPC (Core2Duo, GeForce 9400) when browsing the library (it'll take many seconds to respond to remote commands or switch menus at times). I wasn't sure if this was because it was getting the library from my HTPC over the network, if it was because I'd set it up wrong, or if the Revo is just too weak for anything (beyond the Ion-accelerated video), so I guess I just wanted to check if people are happily running a setup like the one I'm proposing (Synology NAS, Gigabit Ethernet, 2x Acer Revo) with perfectly smooth menu and video performance? I also currently get very temporary glitches in my video on the Revo which aren't there in the same files played on the HTPC, and it occasionally has jittery playback, always solved by restarting the machine. Like I say, I've not properly looked into fixing these issues yet, but just looking for some reassurance that this setup should be potentially hitch free once I spend the time and money on it.
- For my iTunes content, I'd like to carry on managing my library, and syncing with my iPhone, through iTunes on my Macbook Pro. I don't really want to have to plug it in with a network cable every time, so I wondered what people's experience was of running such a setup wirelessly, including then streaming to Airport Expresses.
- What happens when I run iTunes when I'm outside the house, both when connected to the internet via wi-fi, and without an internet connection. Can I still connect to that server in the former instance?
- Will I lose any abilities I currently have? From memory, if I connect to my other half's iTunes share on my Macbook, I can play from it but not make playlists. Would the iTunes share on the server be limited in any similar way? I understand that if I want remote access to the music through a browser/iPhone app, I need to store it in a certain location on the NAS using iTunes Server, rather than just storing my library in a shared folder on the NAS.
