Emby Server with External Storage

[Captainslow 0]

I'm not 100% sure if this is the right forum to ask this question but here it goes...

 

I absolutely love Emby! It's one of the very few applications our family uses on a regular basis. Here's my setup...

 

- I have Emby server running on my main PC

- I have 2 x 4TB hard drives attached to this PC via internal sata

- I have an Intel NUC attached to our primary TV that has Kodi

 

When we are streaming to the NUC, Emby does direct streaming/play (don't remember which one) as the NUC can transcode on its own. When we stream to iOS devices the Windows server will do the transcoding.

 

So I recently upgrading my computer with a more powerful processor and a new case. The problem is that I'm positioned the case in such a way that I can now hear my hard drives and they are quite loud. Can I remove the drives and put them in some sort of standalone external enclosure and have emby server access those drives via the network and serve devices like I do now? If so, what hardware would I need? I looked at NAS devices but they seem far too complex (and expensive) for what my needs are - I just want the hard drives out of my new PC and in a different room but have emby still see them. I don't know if you can purchase non-NAS devices that can just be standalone or if they have to always be plugged into a computer via USB. I would assume that putting the drives in an enclosure and attaching them to my PC via USB would not eliminate the noise problem.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Captainslow

[mastrmind11 722]

I'm not 100% sure if this is the right forum to ask this question but here it goes...

 

I absolutely love Emby! It's one of the very few applications our family uses on a regular basis. Here's my setup...

 

- I have Emby server running on my main PC

- I have 2 x 4TB hard drives attached to this PC via internal sata

- I have an Intel NUC attached to our primary TV that has Kodi

 

When we are streaming to the NUC, Emby does direct streaming/play (don't remember which one) as the NUC can transcode on its own. When we stream to iOS devices the Windows server will do the transcoding.

 

So I recently upgrading my computer with a more powerful processor and a new case. The problem is that I'm positioned the case in such a way that I can now hear my hard drives and they are quite loud. Can I remove the drives and put them in some sort of standalone external enclosure and have emby server access those drives via the network and serve devices like I do now? If so, what hardware would I need? I looked at NAS devices but they seem far too complex (and expensive) for what my needs are - I just want the hard drives out of my new PC and in a different room but have emby still see them. I don't know if you can purchase non-NAS devices that can just be standalone or if they have to always be plugged into a computer via USB. I would assume that putting the drives in an enclosure and attaching them to my PC via USB would not eliminate the noise problem.

You need an external hard drive enclosure.  They're pretty cheap, but you do get what you pay for.  Just pick one that fits your HDD connection type:  https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Enclosures-Computer-Add-Ons-Computers/b?ie=UTF8&node=160354011

[TheTabman 6]

A simple Network Attached Storage device, without any drives, will cost you between 60$-120$ for 2-4 bays. And yes, such a NAS can be used in your network as a media storage for the Emby server on your PC.   

 

Though, maybe consider getting an old PC (Intel Dual Core 3GHz with 4gb is good enough) from a friend or Ebay to permanently house your Emby Server. It's much more convenient that way.

Edited October 25, 2016 by TheTabman

[legallink 187]

If you want the drives separate from your computer, you need a NAS.  That being said, how complicated and what equals a NAS are very different for different people.  There are those WD Live Drives that are essentially network attached drives on their own, there are a bit more complex structures like Thecus, Synology NAS's which are quite robust and offer a lot of different things.  You can setup a NUC or raspberry pi with drives attached via usb or sata in a different room.  There are a lot of options, and you can fit most needs in most budgets if all you want is network accessible storage, its how reliable, concerned about drive failure, etc. are you that makes it expensive.

 

As posted above, a drive enclosure may solve your noise problem a little bit.  Getting different drives may solve some of your noise problem as well.  A 7200 rpm drive and a 5400 rpm drive have very different sound signatures.   Also, how are the drives mounted?  Do you have rubber grommets between the drives and the hard drive enclosures? Obviously putting the drives in a different room is almost guaranteed to solve your noise issue, however, in my location, the server and the drives all sit in the living room.  Since they are all near silent, we never hear a thing (that and I live in NYC, which provides more ambient noise that I don't really know what silent is anymore).

[dcook 299]

If you connect via USB then that will be your bottleneck, I would not recommend it.

 

Better to have a proper NAS or simply make your existing computer a headless server and put it somewhere further away from your TV

[ebr 16171]

Are you positive you are hearing the drives and not fans?

[Captainslow 0]

They are Seagate 5400rpm drives. 

 

You need an external hard drive enclosure.  They're pretty cheap, but you do get what you pay for.  Just pick one that fits your HDD connection type:  https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Enclosures-Computer-Add-Ons-Computers/b?ie=UTF8&node=160354011

 

Thanks, I'll have a look!

 

A simple Network Attached Storage device, without any drives, will cost you between 60$-120$ for 2-4 bays. And yes, such a NAS can be used in your network as a media storage for the Emby server on your PC.   

 

Though, maybe consider getting an old PC (Intel Dual Core 3GHz with 4gb is good enough) from a friend or Ebay to permanently house your Emby Server. It's much more convenient that way.

 

Thanks for the link. With living in Canada my Amazon electronic options are limited. The store does not offer a roboust offering compared to the US site.

 

I actually purchased an old time Dell that I wanted to use for storage and emby. However, every time the computer rebooted, Windows would no longer recognize the large hard drives and it would show them as empty. It just became so frustrating that I added the drives to my main PC.

 

If you want the drives separate from your computer, you need a NAS.  That being said, how complicated and what equals a NAS are very different for different people.  There are those WD Live Drives that are essentially network attached drives on their own, there are a bit more complex structures like Thecus, Synology NAS's which are quite robust and offer a lot of different things.  You can setup a NUC or raspberry pi with drives attached via usb or sata in a different room.  There are a lot of options, and you can fit most needs in most budgets if all you want is network accessible storage, its how reliable, concerned about drive failure, etc. are you that makes it expensive.

 

As posted above, a drive enclosure may solve your noise problem a little bit.  Getting different drives may solve some of your noise problem as well.  A 7200 rpm drive and a 5400 rpm drive have very different sound signatures.   Also, how are the drives mounted?  Do you have rubber grommets between the drives and the hard drive enclosures? Obviously putting the drives in a different room is almost guaranteed to solve your noise issue, however, in my location, the server and the drives all sit in the living room.  Since they are all near silent, we never hear a thing (that and I live in NYC, which provides more ambient noise that I don't really know what silent is anymore).

 

I actually have a NUC that sits below my TV. I was thinking about using that but it's currently running OpenELEC and I wasn't too sure if there was any sort of way I could manage attached storage. Even if there was a way it seems like getting emby to see everything might require a bit of extra work. What I liked about having emby and the drives on the same PC is that it was very easy to get up and running. I figured that having a NAS or external storage would be just as easy. 

 

If you connect via USB then that will be your bottleneck, I would not recommend it.

 

Better to have a proper NAS or simply make your existing computer a headless server and put it somewhere further away from your TV

 

The more I research and the more posts like this I see makes me think that a NAS might be best.

 

Are you positive you are hearing the drives and not fans?

 

Yeah, I'm 100% positive it's the drives. Granted, to most people this "loudness" would not be an issue. In fact, some would so it's nothing. But this new PC I built is a silent PC with silent fans so the sound the drives make, while not extremely loud, are evident.

 

I was thinking of perhaps getting this:

 

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01BNPT1EG

 

One question...not really emby specific but pertaining to a NAS. If I were to get one is it as simple as taking the old drive and putting it into the NAS? Will I be able to see all of the content or will I have to format the drives?

Edited October 26, 2016 by Captainslow

[PenkethBoy 2068]

No - Synology/Qnap etc will want to format your drives (they need to be partitioned and formatted to ext3/ext4 format) - the best way to add an "old" drive to these devices is to delete all partitions and level the drive "raw" and you will not be able to read the drives after they are configured in windows or mac - without external software and even under linux it will not be straight forward

 

One other thing to consider is that as these drives will likely run 24/7 - desktop drives generally do not like this and usually this shortens their life (Seagate DM class drives were/are especially bad for this) - if this is a possible issue for you get some NAS class drives. Also any sort of Raid is not a backup solution you will need to backup the NAS as well.

 

Not trying to put you off - just warning you - that a NAS is not a consumer black box that you set and forget - oh and the NAS will not be silent if thats an issue for you - i would read up a bit on their forums on what issues come up often and how people find the NAS software - depends how much you want to play or use the numerous extra functions a NAS can give you - i have three of various ages and have been using them for more than 5 years - but i am going away from them for my main storage back to windows.

 

Have fun and hopefully choose well - if you have more NAS questions i would post them on the NAS forum and see if you get the answers you need - if its QNAP i will see you there

[Starlionblue 82]

I've used a NAS with Emby for years, since well before it was Emby or even 3.x. MediaBrowser 2. MB2 was a bit of a hassle with a NAS but it worked.

 

MediaBrowser 3, which became Emby, made using a NAS pretty transparent. Separating storage to a NAS is definitely the way to go for larger libraries. My NAS is on a shelf in the basement staircase where no one cares if it makes noise or heat.

 

My current EMBY architecture is

• An aging 4-bay Netgear ReadyNAS. Back in the day, this was the bee's knees. When I replace it I'll probably go QNAP instead.
• My rather powerful desktop constantly on and running EMBY server.
• A NUC by the TV running Emby Theater.
• Various Emby connected devices such as iPhones, iPads and Android tablets. These are also used to cast to TV through Chromecast dongles.
• A router, various switches and access points.

For the past year or so, the whole thing has been very stable and reliable. Emby content is on a NAS share which the Emby Server desktop sees as UNC paths (always, always, always use UNC instead of mapped drives with EMBY).

 

If I replace the NAS I will either run EMBY Server natively on it, or continue with the desktop. I'd need to fiddle and see.

 

As PenkethBoy notes, remember that while RAID gives protection against drive failure, it doesn't save you from file corruption, flood, fire or theft. Backup your important data, preferably offsite. I've used iDrive for a while and it works very well.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Curious why the warning re mapped drives?

[ebr 16171]

Curious why the warning re mapped drives?

 

Because they can be very unreliable and are completely unnecessary in today's environments.  Pretty much everything that can understand a drive can understand a UNC network path. 

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Still curious do you have specifics as have used mapped drives for years with no issues

 

yes you can use unc paths but the average user probably does not know about them as windows still gives you the default option of using mapped drives with letters

 

any issues i have had are 99.99% something wrong with the network setup rather than a mapped drive

[Starlionblue 82]

TBH I haven't tried with mapped drives since MB 2.x, where they made a total mess.

 

Mapped drives do have several issues that, granted, may not be apparent in a Windows only environment. First off they are user specific, meaning if you elevate a command prompt it will/may not have the drives mapped. Secondly, I've had issues with a mixed Mac/Windows environment.

 

UNC paths are simple, transparent and the vast majority of devices can handle them. There's no reason to add an extra layer of abstraction with mapping. That's asking for trouble.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Ok thanks

 

I have used mapped drives with windows/linux even netware for a long time without issue - i dont see the elevated command prompt issue but i suspect thats because i would login as an "admin" user to do maintenance.

 

Maybe its the added mix of Apple that causes the issue - never used a Mac for every day use - so cant comment

 

"UNC paths are simple, transparent and the vast majority of devices can handle them" - could say the same thing about mapped drives   

 

Sorry but dont agree with your last statements but experience varies and without the detail its not possible to compare.

[CharleyVarrick 283]

With living in Canada my Amazon electronic options are limited. The store does not offer a roboust offering compared to the US site.

I'm from Canada as well, Amazon.ca holds a decent deal, but you can look elsewhere tigerdirect, ncix, newegg to name a few. I always begin purchase process by going on shopbot dot ca to give me an idea where to shop, who's got a sale on. Also need to be much aware of cdn currency.

 

I too suggest having a separate pc somewhere far from the TV, doesn't need to be a powerhouse but lots of hdd space (think ahead) and good cooling.

Edited November 21, 2016 by jlr19

[Starlionblue 82]

 

"UNC paths are simple, transparent and the vast majority of devices can handle them" - could say the same thing about mapped drives  

 

Sorry but dont agree with your last statements but experience varies and without the detail its not possible to compare.

 

The big difference is that UNC paths work for every device without any changes. Mappings is device and often even user specific, as in one machine doesn't know the mappings of another. Using UNC paths thus simplifies your ecosystem.

[ebr 16171]

The big difference is that UNC paths work for every device without any changes. Mappings is device and often even user specific, as in one machine doesn't know the mappings of another. Using UNC paths thus simplifies your ecosystem.

 

Also, mapped drives have to be "connected" by the underlying OS and Windows can decide to disconnect or not connect them at times making them unavailable.

 

In short, the concept of mapped drives was created when networks were brand new and that was a transparent way to expose network locations to apps and devices that only understood drives. These days most all devices understand networks which makes mapped drives an unnecessary extra point of failure and complication.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Interesting view points - having had a read of a few articles to refresh my memory it appears there are two camps as i remembered 

[Tuner 0]

I like the idea of having occasional drives.  Places you can archive your films etc.  And just plug them in when needed.  Seems to me it's slightly daft having large drives spinning away all the time for very occasional access.  So any inroads into working with something like an occasional share would be welcome.

Edited January 16, 2021 by Tuner
Wall of noise. I don't know why I entered it.