[BigCoolJesus]

Hey guys,


So.....after spending the last few weeks ripping and burning my entire HD-DVD collection to Blu-ray media, I just now decided it might be time to rip my entire movie collection to my computer and get a Dune HD Media player. Here is my thought process so far:


- Add (5) 3TB Hard Drives to my existing computer storage

- Use AnyDVD HD and ClownBD to rip every Blu-ray movie I have to M2TS format

- Store the movies on each hard drive until it is full, then move onto the next hard drive

- Purchase a Dune HD Smart B1 player that will sit out in my theater room

- Connect the Dune B1 player to my computer via my WIRED home network (Cat 5e cable)

- Voila!


Anything wrong with the above plan?



OK, now my questions:

1) Without using RAID, is there a way to have Windows 7 see my five hard drives as one big hard drive so that if I create a folder entitled "My Movies" it will fit 15TB worth of movies rather than spreading them across five different 3TB folders for each hard drive?

2) Is it OK if some of the hard drives are connected via SATA 6Gbp/s and some are connected via SATA 3Gbp/s? My motherboard only has (4) SATA 6Gbp/s connectors but (6) SATA 3Gbp/s connectors. This shouldn't affect playback at all should it?

3) What is the best user interface to use with the Dune HD players so that when I am out in my theater room I can see the cleanest/easiest-to-use movie library? Or can custom interfaces not be used with Dune players?



As you can tell, I have been giving this a good amount of thought and research, but there is still some holes I need filling knowledge wise. Any and all responses/help is appreciated!


Thanks.

 

[lockdown571]

1) I recommend Flexriad. It will pool your drives together so they look like one large drive and let you set up a parity drive for redundancy (so if one hard drive fails, you don't lose any data)

2) That should not be a problem

3) I know of two custom interfaces for the Dune: Zappiti and My Movies. Unfortunately you can't launch directly into the custom interface; you have to open it from the fugly Dune menu (although you could certainly configure a harmony remote to launch you directly to the custom interface).


Alternatively, to rip your blu-rays, you could use makemkv. It might be easier, but to each their own.


Honestly sometimes I wish I had gone this route because of how temperamental HTPCs can be. I hear good things about the Dune players. I just wish I they were available on amazon.

 

[Mfusick]



Quote:
Originally Posted by lockdown571  /t/1420480/am-i-headed-in-the-right-direction#post_22223238


1) I recommend Flexriad. It will pool your drives together so they look like one large drive and let you set up a parity drive for redundancy (so if one hard drive fails, you don't lose any data)

2) That should not be a problem

3) I know of two custom interfaces for the Dune: Zappiti and My Movies. Unfortunately you can't launch directly into the custom interface; you have to open it from the fugly Dune menu (although you could certainly configure a harmony remote to launch you directly to the custom interface).

Alternatively, to rip your blu-rays, you could use makemkv. It might be easier, but to each their own.

Honestly sometimes I wish I had gone this route because of how temperamental HTPCs can be. I hear good things about the Dune players. I just wish I they were available on amazon.

I also use flexraid and really like it.


+1

 

[BigCoolJesus]

My computer and the Dune player will be separated by three routers and about 250ft of cable (Cat 5e). Will this affect playback at all? The movies will be completely uncompressed/original video+ audio, so they will be big files to stream. If my family is using the Internet throughout the house and I go to watch a movie, will I experience any slowdown/skipping/buffering or anything like that?


Just want to make sure quality will not be an issue under any circumstances.


Thanks.

 

[lockdown571]



Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCoolJesus  /t/1420480/am-i-headed-in-the-right-direction#post_22223833


My computer and the Dune player will be separated by three routers and about 250ft of cable (Cat 5e). Will this affect playback at all? The movies will be completely uncompressed/original video+ audio, so they will be big files to stream. If my family is using the Internet throughout the house and I go to watch a movie, will I experience any slowdown/skipping/buffering or anything like that?

Just want to make sure quality will not be an issue under any circumstances.

Thanks.

That's not an easy question to answer, but theoretically you should be perfectly fine assuming everything is configured correctly. I would make sure everything is gigabit. I don't think the Dune's themselves are gigabit, but considering there will multiple connections throughout the house used by multiple users, I would want your "series of tubes" to be as wide as possible

. Again, I'm no expert on networking, but there's no reason why this shouldn't work.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

Well all of my routers are 10/100.....none of them are gigabit capable. I take it I should/will have to upgrade all of them to models that are gigabit capable to ensure maximum streaming capability?

 

[olyteddy]

Why three routers? You should have one router and two switches.

 

[BigCoolJesus]

I should clarify:

I have three wireless routers but two are configured as switches. My main router is located right next to my cable modem. I then have a wireless router out in my theater room (200ft away in terms of cable length) that is connected to the main router via Cat 5e and is configured to act as a switch. I also have a wireless router in the upstairs corner of my house (100ft away in terms of cable length) that is connected to the main router via Cat 5e and is configured to act as a switch as well. The main router and two wireless routers/switches are all 10/100. None of them are Gigabit (1000) capable.


The computer that would hold all of my movies would be connected to the wireless router/switch in the upstairs corner of the house and the Dune HD Player would be connected to the wireless router/switch in the theater room, so they would be separated by two switches, one actual router, and 300ft of Cat 5e cable. Will I need to upgrade the main router and the two subsequent routers acting as switches to ones that are 10/100/1000 capable in order to ensure proper streaming to the Dune player? Or will 10/100 be fine even when others are using the Internet (whether it be through wireless or wired connection)?

 

[lockdown571]

Upgrading to gigabit would not be too expensive , and it sounds like you already have Cat 5e cable. I can't tell you if this would be absolutely necessary though.

 

[Mfusick]

The problem I have is that I need two switches.


I have a router. I have a single gigaswitch.


Currently what I did was steal the gigaswitch from my AV closet in my theater because my router is not gigabit and only 10/100.


So now my hook up is:


CABLE MODEM TO ROUTER

ROUTER TO GIGASWITCH

GIGASWITCH TO SERVER, PC and HTPC all wired.



it works just fine.


But I only have a single wire running from my office where the cable modem is to the AV closet where my HTPC is. SO currently that LAN cable is hooking up my HTPC to the Gigswitch so it can access the network and server to stream movies since it is SSD only internally.


But my AVR, TIVO HD, Blu Ray, and XBOX 360 all need internet acess too.




Prior they all had it by going to the switch I removed which was hooked to the router and internet via the only cable I have from that room under the floor into the office router source.



I have since finished my basement and running a wire would be a PITA. It's possible but a project I would like to avoid.




WHAT IS THE BEST SOLUTION?



Can I run a switch off a switch?


I mean if the cable I have run now comes out of my first giga switch that wires directly my desktop and server- if I bought an additional switch and then from that hooked all my AV closet stuff up would that work ?


What if not all of them are gigacapable ?? Would it downgrade my speed to my HTPC ???


I need gigaspeed for the HTPC to steam movies and stuff from server.


HELP ?

 

[dksc318]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mfusick  /t/1420480/am-i-headed-in-the-right-direction#post_22226765


...Can I run a switch off a switch?

I mean if the cable I have run now comes out of my first giga switch that wires directly my desktop and server- if I bought an additional switch and then from that hooked all my AV closet stuff up would that work ?

What if not all of them are gigacapable ?? Would it downgrade my speed to my HTPC ???

I need gigaspeed for the HTPC to steam movies and stuff from server.

HELP ?

Yes, this is called cascading switches. In your case you need two gigabit switches, one on each end of the long cable run. Since the cable internet speed is below 100Mb, the router not being gigabit is ok. The only drawback is that WiFi will be limited to 100Mb. Most WiFi are operating below that anyway, even "N".


I have a long cable run between upstairs and downstairs with a gigabit switch on each end. Just make sure all twisted pairs are used to get gigabit line rate.

 

[Mfusick]

How can I tell ?


The cable is old.


It has been there a while.


In fact my wife ripped the end off it with a floor sander when we sanded and refinished our hardwood floors last year. It was poking up in the corner and she ran a belt sander over it- ripping off the end.


I just wired it back on matching color for color with electrical tape.


I own a crimper and ends and know how do do it- but for some reason when I tried putting an end on it - it did not work.


So I just did that it it has worked flawless ever since.


I am assuming I could just run a LAN speed test on the HTPC to test the connection speed from the server ???



I plan to soon change the tip on the cable run- but I will change both ends at the same time so I know I get it right.



For now it seems to work great and it's an AV closet so while it is not pretty- it's quite functional.


I stream 1080p over the line last night. That's really all I care about. Internet connects fine as well.

 

[dksc318]

A RJ45 cable tester is about $12 or so. I need to test my run too. I have a switch that flash different color for 100Mb and 1Gb rate. Most RJ45 keystone jacks are color coded on the jack.

 

[Mfusick]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dksc318  /t/1420480/am-i-headed-in-the-right-direction#post_22227156


A RJ45 cable tester is about $12 or so. I need to test my run too. I have a switch that flash different color for 100Mb and 1Gb rate. Most RJ45 keystone jacks are color coded on the jack.

Anyone have a link for a good RJ45 tester?


Good value mostly ... That works well.