Who is using a NAS to play MKV files. (1 Viewer)

This is why I prefer unraid to raid. The array doesn't need to be rebuilt when a drive fails. Only the stuff on that drive is in danger (not the whole array). The parity drive then rebuilds the contents of the failed disk. Of course if two or more drives fail you're stuck but I don't store anything on my media server that can't be replaced or isn't also backed up in the cloud.
I'm confused. Isn't this also what a RAID array does?
 
I'm confused. Isn't this also what a RAID array does?
There are several different types of raid arrays but usually Raid arrays are striped such that your disks are combined into one logical drive. When you save a file part of it might be on one drive and part of it might be on the other. This is usually done for performance reasons in order to give You the combined speed of both drives at once. The problem is that if one drive fails now you have only half of a file which is as good as having no file at all. Some versions of raid include a parity drive which is used to reconstruct the missing drive when one drive fails but if something happens to the parity drive or the remaining drive during the rebuild process you are borked. With unRAID your drives are pooled but the files are all saved on one or another drive in their entirety. So my movie folder will span all of my drives but any one individual movie will be on one drive or another in the pool. If a drive fails only the contents of that drive are in jeopardy not everything in the array. But unRAID also has a parity feature which allows you to rebuild the failed drive from the other drives in your pool if you have a drive designated for the parity function. Again though if something happens during the rebuild process you still lose the data but only on the failed drive. All of the other drives remaining in the pool are fine so all of their data is preserved.
 
There are several different types of raid arrays but usually Raid arrays are striped such that your disks are combined into one logical drive. When you save a file part of it might be on one drive and part of it might be on the other. This is usually done for performance reasons in order to give You the combined speed of both drives at once. The problem is that if one drive fails now you have only half of a file which is as good as having no file at all. Some versions of raid include a parity drive which is used to reconstruct the missing drive when one drive fails but if something happens to the parity drive or the remaining drive during the rebuild process you are borked. With unRAID your drives are pooled but the files are all saved on one or another drive in their entirety. So my movie folder will span all of my drives but any one individual movie will be on one drive or another in the pool. If a drive fails only the contents of that drive are in jeopardy not everything in the array. But unRAID also has a parity feature which allows you to rebuild the failed drive from the other drives in your pool if you have a drive designated for the parity function. Again though if something happens during the rebuild process you still lose the data but only on the failed drive. All of the other drives remaining in the pool are fine so all of their data is preserved.
My RAID array has a parity setup. It is allocation as a percentage of the total volume across all drives. I have 4 6TB drives, and it holds back something like 1.5TB worth of space for the parity allocation. I had one drive fail a couple years ago and just swapped it out. I didn't lose any data at all.
 
Until you reach that critical threshold where the array can no longer be rebuilt. Murphy's law - if shit can happen, it will happen. While you are rebuilding, the other disk (or one more disk from the degraded array) you are rebuilding from fails. Boom, data loss. (Since you are likely to add multiple hard disks to the array in one go at the beginning, these all will roughly equally degrade. It's not so uncommon for two drives in the array to die in rapid succession.)

Or if you want to repeat my case, you yourself accidentally destroy your array out of imprudence/ignorance. It absolutely does not take a complete idiot to achieve this.

If the data on it is worth anything to you (and most likely it is, else you wouldn't have thrown it on a RAID) then you should have a copy of it somewhere else. If you feel like sharing your private data with the world and many three-letter orgs, cloud is fine. Another way are external hard disks or, for people with a really huge collection and deep pockets, LTO tapes - stored in a remote location.

Usually, RAIDs run with mirroring or parity as it already is in the acronym: Redundant array of inexpensive disks. The striping thing you were describing usually only comes in combination with a parity RAID mode, to improve its performance. E.g. RAID 0+1.

UnRAID may have an advantage in regards to minimizing data loss if the array crashes after too many drives in it fail at once. However, you are a) bound to a single proprietary closed-source operating system of which you have no idea how robust the software is, while RAID, if done in software as it is usual nowadays, has been in use in all kinds of environments for a very long time, b) it is likely to encourage many people to not set up a proper backup strategy even more than regular RAID does.
Oh, and apparently it doesn't support data scrubbing. Your data can slowly degenerate and you will not even notice it until you happen to open one of the damaged files. By that time, the damage may already have been transferred to your backup.
 
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I wouldn't be excited to lose the data on my NAS, but for everything that I'd be devastated to lose, we also back it up to the cloud.
 
I've never heard of 'UNRAID' before, but sounds interesting, seems like there's a software level in there...
I run and support many RAID systems at my work, and I have users that are so paranoid (for good reason) over data loss that they have me run their systems in RAID6 (Double Parity protection, in other words, 2 of the disks are used for failure redundancy) AND a full mirrored RAID6 system as an RSYNC backup.......
So to lose data, the user would have to have 3 disks fail (2 is ok and can be rebuilt) across 2 fully independent systems for complete data loss, or 6 disks total.
They take a loss in storage capacity (one user has a 12-bay system with 6TB disks at RAID6 give him roughly ~50TB usable space after formatting, so a lot less than the full "JBOD" would yield ~70TB), but with drives now hitting 14TB+ at "reasonable" prices, it doesn't really matter.....

I take a bigger risk with my home ReadyNAS 516 unit with just RAID5 (single parity redundancy), but have an external backup that I can use in case of emergency.
The worst case scenario is when a disk fails in a RAID5 and you have to hope it finishes the rebuild before ANOTHER disk fails, and since the rebuild stresses the disks, and if all of the disks are similar age, the chances can be high for another failure and complete data loss.....

Moral of the story, BACKUP BACKUP and then BACKUP again if the data is unique or irreplaceable.......!
 
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I've been using a DS1817+ for several years and I love it. All 8 bays are filled with 10tb & 12tb drives and I run SHR2. I have the Synology backing up everything to spinning rust HDDs connected to my PC in case the NAS fails for whatever reason, plus I back everything up to single layer and dual layer BDR's. I have something ridiculous like 15 HDDs connected to my PC. I'm very careful in trying to protect my data. I use this as my media server for everything from 24/192 flac files to UHDBDR rips in MKV format. I use my PC for playing everything using foobar for music. Kodi with DSPlayer & MPC-HCx64 in conjunction with madVR for HD videos in MKV container.

Here's some info that might be useful for some people if trying to stream video at home or off-site through a browser...

Often I will be at my girls house and we want to stream a movie or TV show from the NAS that is back at my house and this is where problems have risen. I can't remember when but Synology changed the Video Station app and stopped allowing the streaming of certain videos through the browser. I started getting errors like "Failed to play the video because the file format of the currently selected audio track eac3 is not supported...". If you're running into this error I have a solution for you. Even if you don't use Video Station you have to have it running. I never use the app itself as I could never achieve the results I wanted and it was terrible at sorting my extensive library. Plus I can't passthrough HD audio. That's what I use Kodi for anway. So, typically I use File Station to browse to a video I want, right click on it, and then press play and play it through the browser. If you're getting the error above or something similar, here is a workaround for you.

You have to use an older version of Video Station, specifically (VideoStation-x86_64-2.3.4-1468.spk). So, you'll have to uninstall and re-install the old version. In addition to that you need to install FFmpeg package from the SynoCommunity (https://synocommunity.com/). After that, you should have no problem playing videos through the browser or on your phone.

This article here also touches on it...
 
Also, I know the information above might not pertain to your specific situation, but I can't highly recommend enough to just build yourself a HTPC which can be done inexpensively. There's nothing better than a PC for playing all your media, IMO. Get a wireless keyboard like the Logitech K830 and you're golden. There's also a nifty device called Flirc you can use to program any remote to use for keyboard functions. I've been doing it for 12 years and don't even have cable, just internet.
 
Also, I know the information above might not pertain to your specific situation, but I can't highly recommend enough to just build yourself a HTPC which can be done inexpensively. There's nothing better than a PC for playing all your media, IMO. Get a wireless keyboard like the Logitech K830 and you're golden. There's also a nifty device called Flirc you can use to program any remote to use for keyboard functions. I've been doing it for 12 years and don't even have cable, just internet.
I used to use an htpc but android frontends have gotten so much better in the last 10 years and plex plays everything just right through a $30 firetv 4k which can handle hevc. Not to mention the power savings vs running an htpc front end all the time. Now if you're gaming on the TV that is another story...
 
I used to use an htpc but android frontends have gotten so much better in the last 10 years and plex plays everything just right through a $30 firetv 4k which can handle hevc. Not to mention the power savings vs running an htpc front end all the time. Now if you're gaming on the TV that is another story...
Yep, I hear you. Gaming is a consideration and the ability to passthrough HD audio like DTS-HD, DTSX, Dolby Atmos etc to my received over HDMI is another. I've used a single PC for everything the last 12 years so that's where my mindset is at and where I always go to.
 
Here's some info that might be useful for some people if trying to stream video at home or off-site through a browser...

Often I will be at my girls house and we want to stream a movie or TV show from the NAS that is back at my house and this is where problems have risen. I can't remember when but Synology changed the Video Station app and stopped allowing the streaming of certain videos through the browser. I started getting errors like "Failed to play the video because the file format of the currently selected audio track eac3 is not supported...". If you're running into this error I have a solution for you. Even if you don't use Video Station you have to have it running. I never use the app itself as I could never achieve the results I wanted and it was terrible at sorting my extensive library. Plus I can't passthrough HD audio. That's what I use Kodi for anway. So, typically I use File Station to browse to a video I want, right click on it, and then press play and play it through the browser. If you're getting the error above or something similar, here is a workaround for you.

You have to use an older version of Video Station, specifically (VideoStation-x86_64-2.3.4-1468.spk). So, you'll have to uninstall and re-install the old version. In addition to that you need to install FFmpeg package from the SynoCommunity (https://synocommunity.com/). After that, you should have no problem playing videos through the browser or on your phone.

This way however, you're stuck with an old version of the VideoStation package that is unable to auto-download video metadata and doesn't get any new features.

There is a better workaround that allows you to use the most recent version, but it is a little more complicated to set up: https://gist.github.com/BenjaminPoncet/bbef9edc1d0800528813e75c1669e57e
 
This way however, you're stuck with an old version of the VideoStation package that is unable to auto-download video metadata and doesn't get any new features.

There is a better workaround that allows you to use the most recent version, but it is a little more complicated to set up: https://gist.github.com/BenjaminPoncet/bbef9edc1d0800528813e75c1669e57e
When I'm home, I use Kodi as a front end for my video playback with meta data and all the pretty artwork and such. It's only when I'm away from from home that I use File Station to browse for a file and playback where only stereo audio is necessary. I was never able to get HD audio passthrough working with File Station or Video Station.

I'll have to look into that link you posted thanks :)
 
I've tried just about every setup out there, and hands down the best and easiest to use is Plex. I have a home server running FreeNAS which uses the ZFS file system. ZFS is a software RAID that is far superior to any hardware RAID solution already discussed. The only drawback to ZFS is that it requires a lot of RAM. You will need to have at least 1GB of RAM for every 1TB of storage. With FreeNAS you get all the features of an enterprise server, snapshots, replication, encryption, backup services, VMs, and the ability to use jails and/or containers.

Once the server is up and running it is easy to spin up Plex, Sonar, and qBitTorrent in their own jails. It is admittedly a little more work to setup permissions so that these applications can communicate with one another between jails, but if your still reading this thread, it's nothing you can't handle with some google searches.

To answer the questions about audio passthrough. If your TV and Receiver both support eACR, then you can pass most audio formats including DTS-HD and ATMOS. However, the easiest solution is to plug a roku stick into the back of your receiver and use it to run plex. If you use a high end roku stick, you'll get better performance from the Plex app than you will through your smart tv.
 
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Also, I know the information above might not pertain to your specific situation, but I can't highly recommend enough to just build yourself a HTPC which can be done inexpensively. There's nothing better than a PC for playing all your media, IMO. Get a wireless keyboard like the Logitech K830 and you're golden. There's also a nifty device called Flirc you can use to program any remote to use for keyboard functions. I've been doing it for 12 years and don't even have cable, just internet.
I have flirc as well as that keyboard. But with a Windows HTPC you are still going to want to run a front end like Kodi, unless you are happy with just using File Explorer. But on Windows, kodi sucks at switching from netflix back to kodi--it does that flawlessly on android. That's why I use an nvidia shield instead now.

I use a flirc so that I can have a keyboard for my nvidia shield as well as use my logitech universal remote with the shield.
 
I have flirc as well as that keyboard. But with a Windows HTPC you are still going to want to run a front end like Kodi, unless you are happy with just using File Explorer. But on Windows, kodi sucks at switching from netflix back to kodi--it does that flawlessly on android. That's why I use an nvidia shield instead now.
Yep, I use Kodi for 75% of all my video material on my television, along with MPC-HC and CyberLink Power DVD for playing actual blu-rays if I need to. I don't use Netflix or any other streaming service really and I'm so use to just using my TV as a PC it doesn't bother me. You do raise an interesting point though, because if you use a streaming service like Netflix on your PC I don't believe you can do audio passthrough, or get true surround sound audio like Dolby Atmos. I haven't looked into this enough but I do think you need some sort of dedicated box, like a Roku, Shield, etc...
 
I'm a fan of Synology + Plex + Roku. Pretty easy to manage, and I like the parental controls so I can have everything in one place but my kids can't listen to Slayer or watch Kill Bill.
You can set up different accounts in plex an implement parental controls.
 
You can set up different accounts in plex an implement parental controls.
Yep, and it's pretty easy to do. I have the parents account locked with a pin and tag stuff that the kids can see on their account. They know how to use the Roku to watch their stuff and the interface is easy, just like another streaming channel.
 
Bought a Bluray drive that plays UHD 4k discs, looking to back up my 4K collection to store on my synology NAS to play with plex.
I've done the same thing. Even using the highest h.265 compression, those movies push 20GB. Since I'm more interested in the Dolby ATMOS audio stream on the 4K disk, I usually scale the 4K down to 1080p during the transcode and let the TV scale it back up to 4K. I have to be very close to the TV to really notice a difference. Saves me close to 10GB of storage.
 
Started backing up my 4K UHD discs with MKVmaker, steaming the from my Synology NAS thru my Oppo 203. Performance is unreal. Just like putting a disc in the player. Very impressed. But at 50-60Gigs per movie its gobbling up space super fast!
Its amazing how fast I filled up around 60TB :eek:
 
I'd consider myself having fairly good eyesight, and I certainly am someone who can't stand pixelated video - it distracts me. DVD quality is avoided whenever possible and so is 720p (except for older movies/series where the source material wasn't very sharp/detailed to begin with).

That said, I absolutely see no reason for myself to "upgrade" from proper, sharp 1080p video to higher resolutions. The difference is barely recognizable in normal usage (where I look at the screen from a distance of at least a half meter). 1080p even at "only" x264 is only something around 10-12 GB for a full movie in very good quality or 6-10 GB in good quality. If your devices have the horsepower to handle x265, they take even less space. 435 movies = 4.03 TB. 2328 series episodes = 4.63 TB.
 
We have a 75" 4k TV in the living room and a 120" projector in my man cave. I have pretty good eye sight, and I pretty much never download any content above 1080p, and often just get 720p. The added value that a better picture brings is pretty close to zero for me. Certainly not worth the storage space or requires.
 
I'd consider myself having fairly good eyesight, and I certainly am someone who can't stand pixelated video - it distracts me. DVD quality is avoided whenever possible and so is 720p (except for older movies/series where the source material wasn't very sharp/detailed to begin with).

That said, I absolutely see no reason for myself to "upgrade" from proper, sharp 1080p video to higher resolutions. The difference is barely recognizable in normal usage (where I look at the screen from a distance of at least a half meter). 1080p even at "only" x264 is only something around 10-12 GB for a full movie in very good quality or 6-10 GB in good quality. If your devices have the horsepower to handle x265, they take even less space. 435 movies = 4.03 TB. 2328 series episodes = 4.63 TB.
Well I guess until you see it in person you will never know! But I have been ripping Blu Ray movies for say the last 8 years or so, just started into 4K UHD in the last 2 years. Use Plex for around 250 HD 1080p movies and they are good on my LG OLED panel. But, it is a noticeable improvement to me when you see them in 4k resolution, I don't care how close or far you are to the TV.
 
I remux all of my 1080p blu-ray movies to save on some space. I just leave the English HD audio in and the PGS English subs. Over several hundred movies it adds up.

4K does have a noticable improvement, but I'm still using a Sammy 1080p from 2008 and until that thing dies, I'm avoiding 4K like the plague lol. I have several 4K movies and even downscaled to 1080p with madvr in MPC-HCx64 there is a noticeable improvement in quality over the native 1080p counterparts, in some cases. Not exactly enough to justify re-buying everything in 4K. For me personally, 1080p is just fine. I just with I had HDR :(
 
I remux all of my 1080p blu-ray movies to save on some space. I just leave the English HD audio in and the PGS English subs. Over several hundred movies it adds up.

4K does have a noticable improvement, but I'm still using a Sammy 1080p from 2008 and until that thing dies, I'm avoiding 4K like the plague lol. I have several 4K movies and even downscaled to 1080p with madvr in MPC-HCx64 there is a noticeable improvement in quality over the native 1080p counterparts, in some cases. Not exactly enough to justify re-buying everything in 4K. For me personally, 1080p is just fine. I just with I had HDR :(
At this point we're 1-2 years til Mass Micro-led Tvs. The HDR on those will be insane. The future is bright!
 

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