Windows XBMC N00b NAS Build

Btw - as a side bar, just letting you fine people know about my frustrations over the past few days - my main machine (for the moment) %tonka% running Ubuntu was giving me the shits so I decided to rollback to Windows 7 Ultimate x64... I had NO idea how much work that was going to be.

I've got my MBR set to boot from my 60GB SSD drive (super fast and super pricey), during the installation, I didn't think twice when it asked me about GRUB being installed in the MBR, I thought "Ubuntu all the things!!!" I now regret everything I once thought.

I'm currently in hour 4 of the 24 hour process of using Darik's Boot and Nuke on the SSD so that I can attempt to run a Windows install on it again. Hopefully GRUB would've totally fu*ked off! It's caused mass amounts of swearing, inventive insulting and the occasional hissy fit where I give up and just log onto Xbox Live and kill some international 14 year olds in COD.

Hopefully this DoD Nuke process will work in removing GRUB from the MBR and giving me the ability to run Windows 7 again - failing that, I'll either jump to Mint (Lisa) or Ubuntu (11.10) on my main machine and live with 'terminal' being my besite forever!

XBMC supports file sharing through ALMOST any protocol, even http *shudder*

I think you're going at it the wrong way. I suggest you use windows install cd then select system rescue (or whichever name it's called). Or download and use Super GRUB disk for all your GRUB related matters.
Definitely not boot&nuke ;-)

(2012-04-26 05:29)tonka28 Wrote:  Thanks for that info mate - I've googled the static IP for the Xbox and will attempt after the working day is done.

The list of files that can be played is pretty up to date - it just seems that after my NAS is up - I'll just have to set some queues to convert all my media to the appropriate formats (yay -.-).

Please, someone in direct terms, explain to me the advantage of setting up raid. I know 'round about what it is, but I'm at a loss as to figure out why I would do it.

There are two reasons to setup RAID:

1. Speed. RAID can "stripe" data across multiple drives so that multiple pieces of data can be read and written simultaneously.
2. Redundancy. Raid can also mirror data across multiple drives, so if one drive dies, the data can be recovered from the mirror location.

Caveats follow:
1. If more drives die than the RAID setup allows for, all the data is lost, not just the data stored on those drives (because some of the data was striped on the dead drives)
2. Hardware based RAID setups require a RAID controller (commonly built into mobo's now). If this controller dies, it can only be replaced with the same model. The effect of this is that if your array lasts a long time and they've stopped making that controller, you're playing the ebay game or losing all your data
3. All the drives in a RAID array need to be the same size, and usually the same connection type (it's not common for RAID controllers to support SATA and IDE for example)
4. At least half the capacity of the total of the drives in the array will be used for mirroring and therefore unavailable for storage. For example, if you have an array with 2x 500gb drives, you will only be able to store 500gb of data

All of these problems are addressed by the various software based RAID solutions, such as unRAID, flexRAID, and from what I gather from comments above Greyhole. I've had the most experience with unRAID and only read up on flexRAID since I haven't needed to build one since it came out. I have no experience with Greyhole.

unRAID is designed to be the OS on a server with multiple drives connected, and runs from a USB stick so all connected drives are used for storage. It is linux based so any service that can be ran on a linux server can be ran on an unRAID server. Here's how it addresses the above problems:

1. unRAID doesn't mirror data. The simplified explanation is it keeps track of what data is in the same physical location on each drive in the array. If a drive goes down, the data can be repaired because it can "fill in the blanks" and determine what "should" be in that spot on the disk
2. unRAID can use and combination of number, size, and type of drive. If any piece dies, just replace it
3. The only size restriction in unRAID is that the drive which stores the repair information MUST be the biggest drive in the array
4. All the capacity of the drives in your array are available for storage, the only exception being an optional cache drive (a super fast drive which receives all the incoming information, then moves it to the array in the background), and the "parity" drive which stores the repair information

flexRAID's advantage over unRAID is that it's a program, not an OS. It can be ran on Windows, OSX, or Linux

(2012-04-27 00:24)Bstrdsmkr Wrote:  I've had the most experience with unRAID... unRAID is designed to be the OS on a server with multiple drives connected, and runs from a USB stick so all connected drives are used for storage.

Is there a video on how to install unRAID as an OS? I've had a look at Youtube and the only ones I can find run for about 9-13 mins and are 98% bloat about why they like it, not how to put it on and even more frustrating, there's a cool video transition during the installation steps so I don't actually see the setup procedure.

I think I'm going to be running 1x 1TB disk and 3x 640GB disks all up. So I'd like a solution that doesn't mean that 1/2 of my storage is lost in mirroring.

Will it run on as a headless machine running kTorrent and couchpotato/sickbeard - can I give it a static IP etc.

(2012-04-26 21:55)NeS_BCN Wrote:  I think you're going at it the wrong way. I suggest you use windows install cd then select system rescue (or whichever name it's called). Or download and use Super GRUB disk for all your GRUB related matters.
Definitely not boot&nuke ;-)

Well that's awesome information and I've since found an amazing method of clearing the MBR and removing GRUB, that would've taken <30 seconds... To bad I can't cancel the Nuke and I'm guessing I've still got hours remaining on that bad girl.

I've since found a few videos that state all I have to do is run an install disc of whatever OS I want (Windows 7 Ultimate x64 in this case) and run repair, cmd prompt, 'fixboot,' 'fixmbr' and restart and we should be good - I'll give it a crack after COB (3 long, long hours away!).

To say I'm pumped would be a lie right now!!!

I decided to throw away everything that I've said and load unRAID as my NAS O/S - after I figured out what the hell the logon and password was after I booted from a USB stick, it booted with an IP address, which I accessed from %Austreus% through Chrome and BAM!! WebGUI - pretty. Also accessing the drive through Windows Explorer, BAM! Super fast with no permission issues!

All I have to do now is get my NAS machine, HDD's and probably upgrade my switch to gigabit TP-LINK 5 PORT SG1005D - I can get it for $34AUD.

I'm pumped guys! All I need now is for someone to teach me HOW to use unRAID to do parity etc.

Ubuntu server/desktop for the win. Look up Webmin! Rtorent is better than deluge. Hard to install but I have a script.

You're going to live here: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.ph...ith_unRAID for a few days.

This should get things working and a few of the most common "extras:" http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.ph...n_Tutorial

Then for the Coup de Grace, find a friend with a similar need and setup Crashplan: http://www.lime-technology.com/wiki/inde...=CrashPlan
Now you have an automatic offsite backup.

Okay guys - when using unRAID in my new, purpose built NAS, I get an IP - go to that IP in my browser and it won't let me start the array because my 140GB drive is wrong? What the hell?

At this point, I'm taking adivce for FreeNAS as well - otherwise, I'm going to default to Windows Server 2008 R2 and try and set up PUBLIC shares that I can be accessed without credentials.

Help is needed in the form of a very, very simple walk-through of how YOU got your setup running or a video on how to setup and configure - I'm running it off a 4GB thumb drive fyi.