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2012-06-16, 03:16
(This post was last modified: 2012-06-16, 03:26 by newbie2012.)
I have an mac-mini connected to two external hard drives (one usb, another firewire) and will connect another usb hard drive and total will be 1.5T+1.5T+2T. If I were to set up unraid (that is a speciaiized computer with lots of memory connected to the network?), would it be faster?
I did experiment with a poor man nas earlier. I connected all those hard disks to a p4 running ubuntu and set it as a samba server. Well, I was not happy with the speed.
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2012-06-16, 03:31
(This post was last modified: 2012-06-16, 03:32 by poofyhairguy.)
Yes it will be faster except for the Firewire drive.
USB2 hooked straight into a computer isn't fast enough to play full (30gb) 1080p files. Unraid on my gigabit network is able to stream full 3D Blu Ray ISOs (50gb) on my HTPC. If an Unraid box is built correctly it will smoke anything plugged in via USB2.
The Ubuntu experiment was not a good comparison. First is the USB issue. Secondly in all my years of messing with Ubuntu (which was from the start, I was a forum moderator there a while back) I have never gotten my SMB speeds to match what Unraid does.
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Thanks guru. Lots of reading to do. If you don't mind a question for you. So, your unraid is sitting in another room(fan noise?)? Do you connect a monitor to it or do you control it with the HTPC or perhaps with a different lap-top computer. I am trying to visualize the whole thing.
Thanks
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You play back the content on a HTPC that hooks to a TV that is networked to the Unraid server. They can be on the other side of your house as long as they are networked.
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2012-06-16, 05:12
(This post was last modified: 2012-06-16, 05:12 by Dougie Fresh.)
My server is in my basement where it's 60F all year. It stays nice and cool and I don't have to worry about fan noise. If you have a spot like that in your place -- cool and out of the way -- it's ideal.
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2012-06-16, 18:53
(This post was last modified: 2012-06-16, 19:02 by poofyhairguy.)
The point of my last post is that I agreed with what you are saying basically. Blu Rays do only max at 56 (and most never come close) and as that graph showed USB 2 can do way better than a 100 network which is well beyond 56. What I am saying is that in my experience most USB2 drives I have come across have problems with Blu Rays that max the standard. Its sad, by all rights such technology should blow away that limit but I think hard drive makers cheap out on budget large drives and playback can suffer.
In fact I recently got access to a new external HDD, a USB3 2TB Seagate and I tested it before I posted again. Just like you say the USB3 drive plays my Blu Ray rip of Avatar perfectly, so it certainly can work. I agree completely with you that it can work.
The OP had a bad experience with USB2 + Ubuntu. I threw out two reasons why based on my experience- either the USB drives are like ones I have dealt with in the past or the standard Ubuntu SMB is not fast enough. Either could be wrong- OP could have high expectations (beyond even Unraid), other network problems, etc.
But in any case I don't think that test should be an indicator for the potential of a Linux server like Unraid. USB2 at its best as that graph illustrates is still below a gigabit network. I think except for Firewire and USB3 drives a network device can have the best speeds.
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I'll agree that using internal drives is better. If only for data transfers, sure you can do 20MB/s or more sustained over USB.20, but you can easily do 100MB/s on an internal drive. When you need to move a lot of data, that 5x improvement of speed can save you hours.
However, I don't think your experiences show that USB2.0 is insuffient for playback even of Blu-Rays (Agian, there are LOTS of external USB 2.0 Blu-Ray drives) and I think it's more likely that you have a history of buying REALLY crappy USB enclosures.