[imported]

I am out of storage space... Again... I have come to the realization I need to reevaluate my current configuration.

Please let me say that I consider myself fairly technically competent, and on a scale of 1-10 I would place myself at an 8.. When I have a computer problem of some sort, there is only one other person I know AFK that I always trust knows more than me, but 99% of the time I turn to my fellow users, LIKE YOU, for help!

Before I dive into my current Storage debacle, please let me detail how I use XBMC currently and on what hardware, as well as how I wish to use XBMC.

My current XBMC installs include:

• 1 Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit Desktop
  
• 1 Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit Laptop
  
• 1 Pivos Xiso (running Linux)
  
• 3 Android Devices (HTC EVO, HTC EVO3D, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (p5113))
  

The Windows PC and the XIOS are on hardwired Gigabit and will not need to travel outside of the network.

The Win 7 Laptop and the three Android devices connect to my media over WiFi while I am at home, but I will also like to be able to access my library and media while outside the house.



My Windows 7 Desktop is functioning as my "Media Server".

I Have a DynDNS.org address that my router updates and I have added this DynDNS.org address to the DNS of a domain I own so that if my home IP changes, it updates the DynDNS address that my domain points to so I am always able to access my home network via a handy-dandy-easy-to-remember-custom domain.

All necessary ports are forwarded on my router (I use Trendnet products, and have no complaints about network speed or features) to my Windows 7 Desktop PC.

I am Running MySql on the Windows PC to manage my XBMC media library

In order for all of my media to be accessible outside my home network I have also configured a FTP server on the Windows 7 Desktop.

The XBMC install on the Win 7 PC has sources set up for TV Shows and Movies using my domain name in the FTP address: Here is an example of how the sources look

Code:

<sources>
    <programs>
        <default pathversion="1"></default>
    </programs>
    <video>
        <default pathversion="1"></default>
        <source>
            <name>TV 1</name>
            <path pathversion="1">ftp://UserName:[email protected]:21/TV 1/</path>
            <path pathversion="1">ftp://UserName:[email protected]:21/TV 2/</path>
        </source>
        <source>
            <name>Movies</name>
            <path pathversion="1">ftp://UserName:[email protected]:21/Movies/</path>
        </source>
    </video>
    <music>
        <default pathversion="1"></default>
        <source>
            <name>!Cleaned Audio</name>
            <path pathversion="1"> ftp://UserName:[email protected]:21/Music/</path>
        </source>
    </music>
    <pictures>
        <default pathversion="1"></default>
    </pictures>
    <files>
        <default pathversion="1"></default>
    </files>
</sources>

Why am I using FTP Sources? In short, it is the initial way I could figure out and wrap my head around what I am trying to do. And even though I know FTP is not the best protocol for streaming media, I do not know of a better way to enable some sort of secured remote access to my media when using XBMC outside the home network (without having to set up secured windows shares). Additionally, because I am using a MySQL DB to manage my library, I believe that it stores the full path to each media file; So if I didn’t use the public FTP in the sources, than the path stored in the MySQL DB would be a “local” path and therefore ne inaccessible to any device that connects to the MySQL library (via the AdvancedSettings.xml) remotely (from outside my home network) because it would try to play the media at the locally resolved location.

I have added MyDomainName.com to my hosts file in Windows to resolve to my local IP address so that when using XBMC on my PC it is not actually getting to my gateway on my router, but instead it is looking right back at my local machine to avoid utilizing internet bandwith.

On the Pivos Xios I use the following to configure the Hosts in the AdvancedSettings.xml, so that it too does not hit the internet while trying to source the local media. Here is the code I am using:

Code:

<hosts>
  <entry name="HOSTNAME">IPADDRESS</entry>
</hosts>

I also include this setting on my laptop and Android Devices and edit it depending on if I am on my home network or on an outside network away from home… This is a bit of a pain, I am open to recommendations of how to fix this..



So once XBMC goes through and scrapes all my media and adds it to the MySQL DB, and I am satisfied with the results, I then copy the AdvancedSettings.xml and Sources.xml to my other devices to ensure that the Sources and connection to the MySQL DB are the same.



I am 100% open to a better way to configure my setups, but before you give me advice, please let me continue with the rest of the question, as I believe it may help you make a more complete recommendation..


Current Storage:

• Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (STCA3000101) – TV 1
  
• Seagate Backup Plus 4 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (STCA4000100) – TV 2
  
• Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (STCA3000101) – Movies
  
• Seagate Backup Plus 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (STCA3000101) – Music (not added to XBMC yet)
  

These 4 drives are currently connected to my Windows 7 Desktop PC via USB 3.0, and the directories are added to the FTP Server running on the same machine.

My Disks Are FULL.. I am to the point of trying to decide on the best move that will give me all the functionality I need.

I also have a ton of hard drives laying around that I would love to utilize for storage, such as four 750GB internal SATA drives (three more TB right there), as well as five or six other hard drives all being 1 TB in size each that are either bare SATA drives, or External USB Hard Drives.


Things I would like to accomplish:

1. I would like to be able to access my files and library both inside and outside my home network. (Feel free to make other config recommendations. PLEASE!  )
   
2. I would like to remove as much of the file serving from my Windows 7 Desktop as possible, mainly to take it out of the equation as much as possible when trouble shooting, not to mention it would be nice not to have my production desktop PC tied to XBMC tasks. (I do understand that I may need to continue to run the MySQL server, and or the FTP server on this machine, but honestly I am running out of drive letters….)
   
3. I would love to utilize all, or most, of my current hard drives on hand, although I understand that each hard drive utilizes very valuable in-the-computer-case real-estate. If I have the bays to spare I will throw some of my smaller drives (like the 750 GB drives), but I will eventually end up replacing all of my drives with 3 TB or 4 TB drives to save on space and power consumption.
   
4. I am not only running out of drive letters on my Windows PC, but I am running out of physical desktop space and power outlets with all the external hard drives. That is why all of my other 1TB and below drives are currently not hooked up.
   
5. I currently do not have any sort of backup for my media files. This is a bit unnerving and it is opening my eyes to other options other than adding additional external hard drives.
   

I have looked at some of the NAS to USB Adapter devices, such as the Cirago NUS2000 CiragoLink+ USB Network Storage to connect all of my existing external hard drives to my network, but everything I have ready about this product points to a 2TB drive limit, and since my 4 drives I am using now are 3 TB and 4 TB drives I am afraid they will not work with this product.

I have read a little bit about unRAID and it does interest me, and is well within my technical abilities to set it up, but before I do it, I wanted to get the community’s advice on my overall setup, as well as on my current storage shortage. Since from what I have read, unRAID will allow me to mount external USB hard drives to it, but they will not be included in the Fault Tolerance and Reconstruction features that unRAID offers. These features are one of the big reasons I would want to go the unRAID route. With that said, I do not have an issue cracking open the cases on any or all of my external hard drives to gain access to the bare drives, as I am not that concerned with voiding the warranties in order to turn my external drives into internal drives..

I do have a few skeletal PCs laying around that I could use to build a dedicated file server, although if the file server requires all the drives to be internal, I may need to purchase a new case and power supply to accommodate all of the internal hard drives.

I think I have gone on enough, but if you have gotten this far in my request for advice I am sure that you have some opinions on the subjects I mentioned, or questions for me to further help explain what I am trying to do. I look forward to your input, and I thank you in advance for your response!

Sincerely,
Mr. Imported

[bznotins]

I'm certainly no expert, but I really like having my file server be a different box than my streamers/HTPCs.

I basically have mine set up as a dedicated Win8 box, with SMB shares for streaming to my network:

1x Samsung 840 500GB (OS/MediaCompanion/Apps/MySQL/Handbrake/uTorrent/FTP/AnyDVD/etc)
1x LG GGC-H20L BDROM (For ripping DVDs/BDs)
2x Seagate ST3000DM001 3TB HDD
2x Hitachi 2TB HDD

It's a Sandy Bridge PC (i3 2100) and it only consumes 30W at idle with all the HDDs powered-down (90% of the time this is the case). It's also my "junk drawer" PC -- I put my GPS software and anything else I don't want on my streamers or gaming rig.

It's great to have it always-on, because I can remote into it (I use TeamViewer) and manage my media/torrents/etc from anywhere. Then, my streaming HTPCs are just for streaming and can stay in S3 or S5 when I'm not using them. Even though two of them are PCs, they are dedicated to streaming and that gave me the option to install OpenELEC on them which I'm having a much better time with than Windows.

So I would recommend building a dedicated box (either using SMB shares or unRAID, whatever strikes your fancy) rather than having a dual-purpose streamer/server. If you can cobble-together some old parts and a case you should be able to do it reasonably cheap. Even a good Corsair 430W PSU can be found for around $25AR these days. As an added bonus, you could then have a den/kitchen/spare PC for supplementary use.

A string of external drives seems like a really inelegant solution as well, that's another reason to go internal. You'll get better power management and a cleaner footprint. Plus, I don't think those external USB boxes ever spin down the HDDs when they're idle and that increases heat/wear.

My two cents.

[Harro]

I had gone through the same situation as you with external drives and internal drives in my cases. What I did was discussed in this THREAD .
You seem to be a media collector and might find that thread interesting, since you will only need more and more storage as your collection grows. So my vote is for a Unraid server.

I can access all my media from my Iphone, tablet and or at anyones home with their computer through Plex. At home all my stuff has XBMC on and I can access it all through my wireless or wired connection.