XBMC Backend

I would absolutely love to get a local XBMC client/server bit to work on my local network, where the library modes work. I've been reading the wiki and I'm going to be experimenting with the uPnP options this weekend, see if I can get it to work now that I reversed my mysql attempts...

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=UPnP_Sharing

Does this mean that this sort of local network XBMC server/client thing is possible? Could I use my main XBMC in the living room, with all the .nfo files and libraries already created - and then install XBMC with a light skin on my laptop - and access the living room (library and all) through uPnP?

Yes.

jmarshall Wrote:Yes.

Wow, cool that is great. Certainly seems nicer than the mysql approach!

It's not ideal as not everything is shared exactly as you may wish, but give it a go and let us know how it goes (I suggest starting with confluence).

MrCrispy Wrote:aptalca, I would be very interested in this. Sounds to me a lot like Plex Media Server though (except for the Upnp part).

To be honest, I wasn't too familiar with Plex before as I don't own a Mac, but a quick look into it reveals that Plex Media Server does most of the things I suggested such as centralized library management and adjustable transcoding and serving for remote mobile devices.

I guess running plex media server on unraid would be a solution for streaming to remote mobile devices and since plex is based on xbmc, I am assuming it should be able to easily populate its database from the same nfo's and metadata saved alongside the content.

But I don't think I would be able to stream that content to my windows laptop, it would only work on ios or android.

And it wouldn't help with the centralized but locally updating database issue with xbmc.

aptalca Wrote:To be honest, I wasn't too familiar with Plex before as I don't own a Mac, but a quick look into it reveals that Plex Media Server does most of the things I suggested such as centralized library management and adjustable transcoding and serving for remote mobile devices.

I guess running plex media server on unraid would be a solution for streaming to remote mobile devices and since plex is based on xbmc, I am assuming it should be able to easily populate its database from the same nfo's and metadata saved alongside the content.

But I don't think I would be able to stream that content to my windows laptop, it would only work on ios or android.

And it wouldn't help with the centralized but locally updating database issue with xbmc.

I don't know anything about Plex, but I have seen a plexxbmc plugin floating about.

aptalca Wrote:To be honest, I wasn't too familiar with Plex before as I don't own a Mac, but a quick look into it reveals that Plex Media Server does most of the things I suggested such as centralized library management and adjustable transcoding and serving for remote mobile devices.

And everything plex media server does is withing the media server:4 spec of upnp (but they choose to use their own protocol). I know many have bad (for no reason) thoughts about upnp but if you'd take the time and read the specs (nearly noone does, not even developers) you'd notice its more or less exactly what we (and they) want.

Obviously I still want it not tied to a single tech and I'm still very sad that we weren't selected for this years gsoc (where I would have hoped to have gotten the chance to do the server part of this), but hopefully we will have the time to do this during autumn (with me doing banshee GSoC (topfs2.wordpress.com) upnp this summer I'm very interested in doing the same for xbmc).

Anyways, I'm sure many devs would want it but the problem is mostly that almost no dev run more than a single machine for xbmc. When they do they will most likely have more time to devote for this project (as it is somewhat the future). We have great plans for doing this nicely though (partly with json-rpc).

Cheers,
Tobias

Tobias, you gave me plenty of reading material that will take me a while to go through :-)

I did not know plex was using upnp for their media server. Did they have to modify the protocol (or simply not abide by their rules) in order to allow streaming to remote devices and enable adjustable transcoding (for wifi vs 3G)?

In the meantime, I read more about plex media server and realized there were some people who were really interested in making xbmc compatible with it.

I do not think that would be the way to go for several reasons including xbmc team members clearly saying they are not in any way interested in it (due to plex being closed source), and xbmc library not being totally compatible with plex, etc.

I do not want to start another one of those discussions in this thread. But I would like to use plex media server as an example of how a competing media center software is evolving, and ask the question of what's in store for xbmc in the long run?

When I look at how people utilized their media in the past and how they are utilizing it now, I realize there has been a great shift towards digital media in the last few years fueled by faster and more available broadband connections and cheaper storage solutions. That was why xbmc was born in 2003.

Fast forward 8 years to 2011. Many people are moving their media out of their internal storage to NAS/FreeNAS/unRaid boxes and pairing it up with multiple xbmc boxes. There is also an abundance of mobile devices in houses, such as smartphones and tablets, some of which are capable of running xbmc, others can be used as xbmc remotes to control other xbmc devices.

So the question is, how is xbmc planning to connect these devices? Plex does it with their media server, Apple does it with AirPlay. Even satellite and cable companies are starting to do it with their newer receivers that communicate with each other, and can be controlled through mobile apps.

XBMC still pretty much offers individual systems with each having their own library out of the box. Dharma brought the mysql library option which helps centralize the library on a mysql server, but that still doesn't offer any communication between boxes other than sharing the bookmars in the library so you can stop a movie on one box (bookmark auto-created), resume on another.

One option would be to have a media server that handles the communication and library centralization as I explained in the original post.

Another way (tbh I think the xbmc team would be more likely to go after this than a server) would be to have the xbmc software identify other boxes on the local network and communicate with them directly to bring AirPlay like feature to xbmc. (This could also possibly be achieved through an addon using http or JSON-RPC)

topfs2 Wrote:Anyways, I'm sure many devs would want it but the problem is mostly that almost no dev run more than a single machine for xbmc. When they do they will most likely have more time to devote for this project (as it is somewhat the future). We have great plans for doing this nicely though (partly with json-rpc).

If the devs said they are interested I'm more than confident that a lot of people would donate to the cause. Look at the number of ATV2, iPad or users with mysql DB. They all would happy to have centralized easy manageable place for their media. And ATV2 is pretty affordable to buy devs as second machine.

However, last time there was a prevailing opinion that DB management should stay inside XBMC and that is a big deal breaker, as far as I'm concerned.

pecinko Wrote:However, last time there was a prevailing opinion that DB management should stay inside XBMC and that is a big deal breaker, as far as I'm concerned.

I actually prefer managing my database within XBMC, too. I only needed to use XWMM once to create movie sets (easier than manually editing nfo's), other times, imdb and tvdb scrapers and the logo downloader have been more than adequate.

However, I currently only use one machine with a bunch of external drives attached. (Started with only internal hdd, but had to add 4 more external drives as my library grew)

I have been meaning to build an unraid box for the past year and add a couple more xbmc boxes (possibly an atv for the bedroom and a 3d capable box for the 3D projector), I just haven't had the time (or money).

With an xbmc webserver, (pretty much a watered down xbmc version that doesn't have direct playback capability or fancy skins that do full frame refresh cycles even at idle, causing high cpu usage, but one that retains full library/DB capabilities) DB management *still* within XBMC could be accomplished.