[bzowk]

Good Afternoon Guys -

Recently, I set up my network to use mySQL with XBMC instead of using XBMC standalone. The reasons for this was due to an extensive media collection plus the fact that I am primarialy running XBMC on Raspberry Pis which can be rather slow when indexing things. After integrating mySQL, I didn't get the results I thought I would so wanted to ask a few things.

Below are a couple of questions about how XBMC uses mySQL as well as methods I may use to get a better working system. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way!

1. What exactly does the mySQL database store for XBMC?
After creating my database, I installed XBMC (Windows) on the same local machine and added my sources therefore starting scraping. I monitored the database and saw it was being written to - but - the XBMC profile folder (C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\XBMC) went from almost nothing to over a gig. Will the images / fanart still need to reside on each local XBMC installation?

2. Is there a way to scrape media prior to adding it to an XBMC source to where XBMC will use existing metadata and each/the local instance does not have to scrape it?
When adding media to a XBMC source folder, I usually first scrape it with Ember Media or Media Center manager - with XBMC compatible options checked. Once done, I update my library and XBMC still seems to scrape it again excepts I believe it stores the data somewhere locally (Storage partition on SD card for Raspberry Pi) Is there any way to get around this - or - a way to make a central location such as mySQL database or share to save time, processing, and bandwidth?

3. What is the best protocol / method for sharing media over a network between Windows & Raspberry Pis?
I currently use have about 8 shares in Windows and connect from the Raspberry Pis using SMB. I know that there are other options, but don't know if using one of them may solve any of my issues.

Originally, I thought mySQL was the answer for all of my Library issues, but perhaps I had the wrong idea going in.

Here's what I have to work with:
Hardware
- x1 "Server" - Windows 7 x64 / Plenty or resources / Stays on 24/7 / Stores all media on 8 drives using SMB shares
- x2 Raspberry Pi's - One connected to server via switch, the other a wireless bridge
- x1 Roku - Currently using Plex (hosted on same Windows Server, but thinking of going to Rasberry Pi if I can get this worked out

Software
- XBMC for Windows (Newest Release) - Installed locally on server to help build database
- mySQL 5.5 x64
- openElec 3.2.4 on Raspberry Pis

I'm open for any suggestions - Thanks for your help!

[Ned Scott]

1) Just the database for videos and music. Thumbnails are saved locally on each client unless you use pathsubs (wiki), but that will slow things down more. The other good thing about saving thumbs locally is that the R-Pi clients will save smaller images that are more optimized for the r-pi, while beefer PC clients can save higher quality thumbs.

2) That's what local images and NFO files (wiki) do. If the media managers make those files first, then the NFO files get processed once in the MySQL database, and the images get cached locally on each "client".

3) I'd just use SMB between Windows and Pi's, but NFS (wiki) might be good too.


Depending on the SD card used, the speed might go like this

SD ≤ MySQL < USB

I would set one Pi up with a nice fast USB thumb drive and see how the speed compares to MySQL.

Be sure to check out the latest test builds for the Pi in the Raspberry Pi subforum for some really nice speed improvements, too.