[SpectreX]

Yup, another happy Zacate user here. I`m running mine with only 1GB of ram on Windows 7 32bit, and with only 768 usable by the sistem (since 256 are dedicated to the GPU) and XBMC runs fine even with the heavy duty Aeon MQ skin.
I`m waiting for Eden to come out with HD audio bitstreaming capabilities to take full advantage of the hardware.

As for storage, HDDs are cheap. 100$ for 2-3TB is a steal.

[Subliminal Aura]

There are two reasons I personally built a NAS - expandability and silence. As your storage needs increase you'll see that having a bunch of HDDs in your HTPC can get quite noisy. ... ...

I took the reverse route and decommissioned the NAS and moved the disks to the htpc. I have a one touch back up server which boots up, rsyncs local machines on my LAN and internet hosts, it then shuts down so at worst I'll lose a days worth of data which is not a biggie.

HTPC/NAS noise

The htpc needs to run 24/7 due to home automation, cctv and other chores but lets face it - mass storage itself and hence the disks do not to be spinning 24/7.

Disk 1 - OS, apps and scan folders for torrentfluxd / sabnzbplus etc - must be spinning 24/7

Disk 2 - Downloads current watchlist of tv shows and primary filestore - Spins down after 15 mins of inactivity

Disk 3 - Achive of movies - Spins down after 1 minute of inactivity

As expected Disk 3 spends most of its life asleep. Disk 2 also sleeps for very long periods of time. It wakes up only when I need files via a network share or a new torrentfile/nzb has been detected.

Going back to NAS ?

You've given me an idea of building a NAS that wakes up on demand.

If I change directory to /mass_storage the htpc wakes up the NAS and mounts it accordingly ... This I can script in linux easily but what about windows mounted shares ? ... I'll have to think about this

I mean I do already have shortcuts that wake up machines on my LAN but what would be very cool is if you clicked on the network share in explorer it would do that automatically. (edit : cheap solution - I could proxy through the htpc which will work but is a waste of bandwidth.)

Sorry for my jibberish ..... just thinking

[DavidT99]

I took the reverse route and decommissioned the NAS and moved the disks to the htpc. I have a one touch back up server which boots up, rsyncs local machines on my LAN and internet hosts, it then shuts down so at worst I'll lose a days worth of data which is not a biggie.

HTPC/NAS noise

The htpc needs to run 24/7 due to home automation, cctv and other chores but lets face it - mass storage itself and hence the disks do not to be spinning 24/7.

Disk 1 - OS, apps and scan folders for torrentfluxd / sabnzbplus etc - must be spinning 24/7

Disk 2 - Downloads current watchlist of tv shows and primary filestore - Spins down after 15 mins of inactivity

Disk 3 - Achive of movies - Spins down after 1 minute of inactivity

As expected Disk 3 spends most of its life asleep. Disk 2 also sleeps for very long periods of time. It wakes up only when I need files via a network share or a new torrentfile/nzb has been detected.

Going back to NAS ?

You've given me an idea of building a NAS that wakes up on demand.

If I change directory to /mass_storage the htpc wakes up the NAS and mounts it accordingly ... This I can script in linux easily but what about windows mounted shares ? ... I'll have to think about this

I mean I do already have shortcuts that wake up machines on my LAN but what would be very cool is if you clicked on the network share in explorer it would do that automatically. (edit : cheap solution - I could proxy through the htpc which will work but is a waste of bandwidth.)

Sorry for my jibberish ..... just thinking

Do you have you HTPC on a UPS? I have read that you shouldn't allow disks to spin down unless you are on a UPS as there could be data loss and damage to the disks should there be a power outage. This is what my ReadyNAS recommends.

David

[Subliminal Aura]

Do you have you HTPC on a UPS? I have read that you shouldn't allow disks to spin down unless you are on a UPS as there could be data loss and damage to the disks should there be a power outage. This is what my ReadyNAS recommends.

David

I'm guessing that a power cut at the exact moment when a disks start to spin up or down would be bad news ... Let me check my probability calculator.

Ziggy says 'No'

If the disks are already spun down then a power cut will have little effect

BTW Have you got a link to that article ?

[DavidT99]

I'm guessing that a power cut at the exact moment when a disks start to spin up or down would be bad news ... Let me check my probability calculator.

Ziggy says 'No'

If the disks are already spun down then a power cut will have little effect

BTW Have you got a link to that article ?

It's not an article, it is on the ReadyNAS config pages, if I select disk spindown after XX mins there is a warning about using spindown without a UPS. Hence I have not selected the option. I have my NAS setup to power up and down automatically at set times but would prefer to select disk spindown and leaving the NAS on.

David

[Subliminal Aura]

It's not an article, it is on the ReadyNAS config pages, if I select disk spindown after XX mins there is a warning about using spindown without a UPS. Hence I have not selected the option. I have my NAS setup to power up and down automatically at set times but would prefer to select disk spindown and leaving the NAS on.

David

Yeah, there are warnings on soft drinks too

Now you've got me googling, there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer

Check this thread out for people really confused by this
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic....18&t=19692

[DavidT99]

Yeah, there are warnings on soft drinks too

Now you've got me googling, there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer

Check this thread out for people really confused by this
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic....18&t=19692

Hmmm.....so now I think maybe I should leave the NAS on 24/7 rather than powering down every day. Spindown is inconclusive.

David

[Subliminal Aura]

Hmmm.....so now I think maybe I should leave the NAS on 24/7 rather than powering down every day. Spindown is inconclusive.

David

Well one things for sure, Leaving disks running is way more healthier than powering them down.

At the end of the day... Disks die whether it be after a few days or a few years - all you really have control over is your backup strategy

EDIT: ps I suggest you take a look at the topic title - it says something like ' Zacate Multi Tasking ' - So I'm guessing we're way off topic !