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Ask Slashdot: Easiest Way To Consolidate Household Media?

Posted by timothy on from the one-way-data-transfer-is-much-simpler dept.

First time accepted submitter Lordfly writes "The wife and I have started looking to buy a house. In the spirit of that, I've been giving away books, CDs, and DVDs to 'downsize' the pile of crap I'll have to lug around when we do find the right place. That got me thinking about digital files. I'm perfectly okay with giving up (most) books, CDs, and DVD cases. The only music I buy are MP3s anyway, and we stream most everything else if we wanted to watch a show or movie. That being said, I have a desktop, my wife has an old Macbook, we both have tablets, and I also have an Android smartphone. I'd like to set up something on an extra Windows box shoved in a closet that lets me dump every digital file we have (photos, music, ebooks, movies) and then doles it out as necessary to all of our devices. Unfortunately my best computer geek days are likely behind me (photography and cooking have consumed me since), so while I CAN schlep around a command line, I've lost most of my knowledge, so go easy on the 'just apt-get FubarPackageInstaller.gzip and rd -m Arglebargle' stuff. Something easy enough for my wife to use would be a major plus. So: What's the best way to make your own personal 'cloud'?"

22 of 272 comments (clear)

  1. An ultimately simple concept... by jedidiah · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...you just have a fileshare. Create two if you want to be fancy. One is read only and is a media horde and the other is a scratch and play area that everyone in the house can use.

    Use any tech you want. Use any OS you want.

    Just create two samba shares and have at it.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    1. Re:An ultimately simple concept... by Psicopatico · · Score: 3, Informative

      Agreed.

      Basically set up a BIG container where to put the digital stuff, plus number of network shares and you're done.

      BUT

      In any case do not forget about redundancy and back-up.
      Even in the tinyest case, that would mean a single HD, with its twin in RAID-1, plus another as offline backup. Total: 3HDs.

      Going up with sizes will add complexity.
      Let's say you target a 10TB container, made of 2TB drives. That translates into 5+5 drives for a RAID-0+1, or 7 drives for a RAID-6 (which one is more suited, is another discussion). Plus the back-up (another minimum 5 drives).

      For any choice but the absolute minimal one (the three drives example), be absofuckinglutely sure about airflow.
      Cramming a lot of drives in a box probably not engineered for this task and putting it into a closet is the perfect recipe for a disaster.

      --
      Mastering the English language is fucking easy: all you have to do is to put an f* word in every fucking sentence.
    2. Re:An ultimately simple concept... by jcoy42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Agreed. And in the spirit of K.I.S.S., I'd suggest you use external storage like a drobo. You can grow the disk as you see fit, no technical expertise needed. Just add/swap drives as you go. Braindead simple.

      No, I don't work for them, but for simple self-maintaining medium sized storage they work pretty well. I've got 4 (3 at work, one at home), and the only problem I've had was when I put a bad WD drive in a unit and it fried the slot.

      --
      Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
    3. Re:An ultimately simple concept... by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I would probably just ignore RAID for a home backup solution. Just have a job run nightly ( or ever couple of hours) to copy off the files to a backup drive. Once in a while purge files off the backup that no longer exist on the first drive. For home purposes, it's probably not terribly important that every file is mirrored instantly, and the added cost and complexity of RAID probably isn't worth it for most people.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  2. Just buy a NAS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just buy a NAS box and start copying files. It's easier, less time consuming and less likely to break. Toms hardware has reviews. Get a decent one and it'll stream media to your digital devices without configuration. Suggest a static IP on your router if you have the inclination, but I've not gotten around to it. Similarly, suggest registering it with merge so you get software updates, but probably unnecessary. Other slashdot terms will give a lot more specific advice, but the best buy level NASs already have the compatibility you think you want froma windows box.

    1. Re:Just buy a NAS by rawket.scientist · · Score: 4, Informative

      This! I Asked Slashdot about cloud storage for our small office a while back, and we ended up getting a four-bay QNAP NAS. That's probably overkill for home use, but we've been completely satisfied, and I'm seriously considering a lighter-weight edition for personal use.

      --
      John Hancock wuz here.
    2. Re:Just buy a NAS by StillAnonymous · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I picked up a Synology DS1812+ earlier this year. It's expensive (~$1000 without drives), but I couldn't build anything in as small a form factor as they could. It's got an Intel Atom CPU, so it uses very little power. It's been reliable so far and the GUI is excellent.

      It's just a Linux-based system that uses mdRAID/ext4 under the hood, but I got tired of maintaining so many systems and just wanted something simple that was small and worked. If you'd rather roll your own, you can obtain the same functionality and reliablity as any of the commercial offerings. Form factor, simplicity, and GUI are really what they are providing.

  3. Router and HDD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Lots of routers are now coming with USB3 connections that let you mount an external hard disk. It's cheaper than a file server and faster than cloud storage. At a $200 price point for an external hard disk and router I think this is a solid bonus. In addition, most external hard disks will sleep after a few minutes when they aren't being used, which is a 'greener' option than a server. You can also have multiple computers adding media to the hard disk at the same time via network to aid in your archival efforts.

  4. owncloud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    seems ready for what you ask ...
    http://owncloud.org/

    tom

  5. Many options by Bearhouse · · Score: 4, Informative

    Most simple - buy a NAS box

    Or...

    http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-i-set-home-file-server-free-review-freenas.htm

    http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/replace-windows-home-server-great-free-tools/

    Better yet set up your own 'home cloud'...

    http://www.extremetech.com/computing/101441-create-your-own-personal-media-cloud

  6. Legality? by TheLink · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you going to keep the receipts of purchase around? If not, how are you going to prove all your digital copies are legal? Particularly the ones from physical media that you no longer possess.

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    1. Re:Legality? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Even with a receipt, if he gives or sells a DVD then he gives up the license for that movie. He could give/sell the boxes away and simply keep the original discs inside a tower like you get when buying 100's of blank discs. That way he would still be legal and still own the licenses but cut on the space required for them.

      Another idea: apart from those stupid printed-directly-on-cardboard boxes, most DVDs come in plastic boxes so he could keep the printed sleeves in a binder and the discs in a tower.

      --
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    2. Re:Legality? by Nerdfest · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Why should he have to? "Innocent until proven guilty" should still apply until the copyright mafias completely buy out the government.

    3. Re:Legality? by hab136 · · Score: 5, Informative

      "Innocent until proven guilty" and "reasonable doubt" is for criminal cases.

      "Preponderance of evidence" is the standard in civil cases (lawsuits), which basically means whichever story is more likely.

    4. Re:Legality? by Immerman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Does it really matter? If you're ripping DVDs or Blu-rays you're already violating the DMCA, even if you keep the original discs in spindles/binders/etc. in the attic. Whether you face legal ramifications depends entirely on whether anyone notices and cares, and as long as you're not publicly sharing the media online that's pretty unlikely.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  7. Synology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I got another Synology DS212J this year. It has a lot of click-to-add packages like photo, audio, media shares. Works with Win/Mac/Lin/I/And (everything I have is Linux/Android).
    Great browser based setup/admin, built in RAID, Network Attached Storage. Best home NAS I have used.

    Here is their live demo page:
    http://www.synology.com/products/dsm_livedemo.php?lang=us

    1. Re:Synology by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      How is your CPU usage? I added a bunch of packages and once i did that my CPU was pegged at 100% for months, limiting transfer speed to 15 MB/s. I finally wiped it and went with the standard packages and it works great now.

      --
      Good-bye
  8. Re:Software side... by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Costs money, phones home, and they are desperately trying to monetize it. Avoid Plex.

    --
    Good-bye
  9. Cheaper too. Eventually. by Immerman · · Score: 3, Informative

    And more environmentally friendly as well. Any halfway decent home NAS will spin down the drives when not in use, and probably use only a few watts while in standby (which will be most of the time, assuming you sleep, go to work, etc.). A desktop may well consume a hundred watts or more in standby. That's a MWh a year, about ~$100 at $0.10/kWh. As such an entry-level home NAS could pay for itself in the first year, a higher-quality one would take a few more.

    --
    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  10. itunes by um...+Lucas · · Score: 3, Informative

    For myself, I've got a computer running iTunes with a big external drive attached for all the media. A couple of Apple TV's scattered around the house make streaming movies shows music and audiobooks a synch. The "Automatically add to itunes" directory is shared, so any other computer can add media to the library for everyone to watch. On top of that, I'd recommend Handbrake for ripping your old DVD's to your library.

    The reason i'm pointing out the apple solution is because of the Apple TV's. Admittedly, once I came upon this, I stopped looking for other solutions, so I don't know if there is anything else comparable for streaming media to multiple TV's from a single repository at home, with a simple remote (as opposed to a wireless keyboard or what not... been there, done that, not at all preferable).

    If you use any idevices, you can stream from your phone or ipad back up to your TV as well, using the Apple TV. Or from your wifes macbook, supposing she updated to the latest OS.

    Commence the Apple bashing now... No, I don't work for them. I'm just pleased with the experience.

  11. Plex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Plex media server on your storage server
    Plex client for windows and a new one for metro
    Plex client for OS X
    Plex client for iOS, android and windows mobile
    For everything else, use a browser to get to plex web service on the media server.

    Plex will index and fetch metadata for the files, play anything anywhere.

  12. Re:The OP needs a NAS with ZFS! by ottothecow · · Score: 4, Informative
    except you can't simply expand a ZFS system by adding more disks or swapping in larger HDDs into an existing array.

    For a home user who is probably going to grow the system (rather than just add new systems or depreciate and replace like a company might) this seems like a pretty key feature.

    Unraid is also pretty great about managing data and shares--makes it super easy for someone who doesn't want ot worry about it. A single parity disk and no striping means you can eat a single disk loss, and since the drives don't have to match, you can build it with a bunch of different brand drives from different systems which makes a multiple disk loss in a short time span less likely. Also, it fully supports spinning down the individual disks in an array that are not in use. Streaming a movie will only require a single disk to be spinning in a 5 drive array.

    And really...if you are not a typical /. nerd...you are not going to watch that video.

    --
    Bottles.