Media Server
Hi,I currently have a Rpi3Band 8tb seafate powered HDD. It currently acts as a server for my movies and music via OSMC Kodi. It is connected to a switch which is also wired to a nvidia shield which I use to watch my movies via Kodi. Works quite well. I also have a powerline adapter connected to my bedroom connected to another nvidia shield using Kodi. I have the occasional audio drop out of hi res wav files but only for a split second.
After discussions with my wife, we May look at relocating to somewhere smaller. What I would like to do is I have about 200 movies that I have ripped to MKV but have kept the bluray set also. I am considering that with downsizing I may need to drastically downsize my bluray collection. I have considered it after ripping my movies originally to MKV but I do like having the option of watching bonus features etc and having the menus etc. I have considered making a ISO copy of the disc and then pass/sell on the blu ray set. My understanding that an ISO rip of bluray would be 20gb or more. Just wondering if there is a better setup I should use than the Rpi and 8tb setup? I also like the idea of having dual hard drives in case one dies that I have a back up.
p.s I have considered Plex but had issues with Seinfeld metadata working and lost patience with it so would like to avoid it but open if someone could give me a solution to that problem...
Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Kurt Ripping your movies and thence disposing of the originals (whether for money or not) would be clear case of copyright theft. Technically, so is any kind of "ripping"(which is why everyone uses that term instead of saying "copying") and I don't think it's covered under "fair usage" yet. In the unlikely event the copyright rozzers knock in your door, if no longer possess the original media, you have no way to prove you "own" the titles.
ISO's would indeed be bigger as you are imaging the whole disc (including any ROM, meta data, photos, white space and all) and not just the content you are interested in. A good storage solution that can handle "sparse" files will take care of the white space, but everything else will require additional storage over ripping just the titles you are interested from each disc. There might also bea bit less compatibility with fewer media players that can read ISO.
A single 8TB disc is of course a huge "single point of failure." With all the original discs in hand you already have a "backup" in that when he HDD dies (they all die in the end) you can rip the discs again, albeit that it will cost you some time.
A second disc would enable to rip two copies, though obviously it's a greater cost and little other benefit. If you are thinking of some kind of "RAID" solution, for example a disc mirroring (RAID 1) array, then we should rehearse the AVF Mantra the "RAID is not backup" (repeat 3 times.) RAID avails continuous access to data in the event of a disc failure which is not the same as a backup: Viz: if you stick the wedding video on a RAID1 solution, then accidentally delete it, RAID won't save you - it will be "gone" from both copies. We can get into the details of that is you wish. mickevh. Thanks for your response. What would be your recommendation? Is there a way to iso the disc and pick and choose what I want from the disc? I do have a portable hard drive that also has the movies on there that I currently use as an unofficial back up... do I just use makeMKV and pick the parts off the disc to copy? I have decided it would be best to keep the movies in a box in the garage for unforeseen visitors... lastly Kodi or Plex? Make mkv allows you to choose the bits you want, so for example the main movie with say the DTS master hd track and subtitles for the foreign parts.That way you keep the size down a bit.The time taken to recompress further won’t necessarily be worth it compared to buying a bigger disk but that would your choice.
I am a fan of Kodi and if you are already using it and are happy I would stay stickwith it. That’s kind of you making it easier for them data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 Not really - ISO is about making an image of the "disc as a whole" not the "content." ISO images have other uses as well as media - we use them "in the (IT) business" to create images of all sorts of things - for example as a "master" image of an computer we need to turn out by the dozen instead of doing an "install" each time (it's much quicker to do.)
About the only way to do it I can think of would be to use something like a Blu-Ray "burner" tool to "author" a new disc c/w the content you want and the write the image to an ISO instead of burning to a physical disc (some BD/DVD/CD "burners" tools can do this.) However, in my opinion, this is more hassle and work that it's worth.
I suspect that most of us who want to keep some of the "extras" as well as the "main movie" do what ChuckMountain advocates and use MakeMKV to pick out the bits we want, thence use folder structure on the storage to keep the main title and the extras for each disc together. One does loose the DVD/BD menus this way, but some of us see that as a "good thing."
That's no bad thing - I keep mine in boxes under the bed! Though the thought occurs they might get a bit mildewed over time in a garage/shed/etc. and I'm not sure ifthe heat differentials (below freezing in winter, hot in summer,) in a garage might degrade the discs. They can "go bad" over time - I had a couple of (20 year) old discs that refused to rip when I did mine and on examination you could see the disc had literally fallen to bits. I thought I saw in CloneBD that you can create an ISO and can pick the main movie and pick and choose potentially other parts of the disc you may like. Whats the best way moving forward regarding storage and running it all? Can I stick with the raspberry pi or buying a nas? It's probably something of a value judgement I'm afraid. It somewhat depends on how much you have to spend, what risks you wish to mitigate and whether your prospective purchase has any "other" features over and above you incumbent solution you might desire.
I don't have a NAS (I run a Micro-Server with a full fat Linux OS on it) but plenty of others here know the NAS marketplace and will doubtless chime in with their advice and experiences. I guess I can advance that a modern NAS solutions is more likely to have everything you need integrated into a "turnkey" consumer oriented solution, esp. if you look for one with Plex built in or easily add-able from an App store. (Though Plex is by no means essential and it seems to be well liked here, but plenty, including me, don't use it and stream media just fine.) All you'll (probably) need to do toNAS is add discs, set up RAID (if you want it,) create some shares and you're done. IIRC some NAS's are now bundling things like backup agents that can push copies of your personal data (ie your none media stuff - Word, Excel docs and so forth) out to cloud based backup.
I suggest a way to proceed is to continue as you are doing and think holistically about want you want to achieve (make a list in order of priority if you like) then have a look at the technology that can avail that (and it's cost) - you'll doubtless get plenty of recommendations here. As you are looking around the market place you're bound to see something in "oooh that looks cool, I hadn't thought of that" category and add that to your wish list. However, try to be a bit pragmatic about any "new toys" 'cos if your not careful, you can talk yourself into things (expenditure) you don't really need. (Yes, I need a new car, and a Ferrari looks nice, but do I really have to have a 600hp engine and kick ass stereo? etc.) Just to give examples.
Saving Private Ryan 1080p Bluray (Movie only) - 38GB
This is certainly one of my larger movies
ISO of movie - 46GB
John Wick 3- 28GB
ISO - 41GB
It's a lot of extra space for stuff you may only watch once. I don't bother.
The other issue you'll possibly have is ISO playback and menus. Most players don't support that. Amazon.com: Atlantic 80 Disk Storage Manager - Protect and Organize Media, Durable Hard Plastic in Black, PN85012055: Home Audio & Theater Buy Atlantic 80 Disk Storage Manager - Protect and Organize Media, Durable Hard Plastic in Black, PN85012055: Media Storage & Organization - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases www.amazon.com
Curious, are you having to downsize because you spent all your money on buying movies? data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7