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Storage Solutions for our OUT-OF-CONTROL iTunes Libraries

My music, which is the only thing all household computers need to access, is stored on a USB external drive that is connected to one of my AEBSs. We don't share the library. We share the media, but all 3 computers in the house have their own libraries. Obviously "let iTunes manage..." is turned off. I back that drive up to a portable hard drive maybe once a month when I add music.

Movies are another story. I've just started ripping all my DVDs. Right now I'm storing them on a LaCie 2big Triple (hardware RAID 1) set to "mirrored". The enclosure houses 2 750 GB drives, and it's connected to my Mac Pro via Firewire 800. Once this fills up, I'll pick up another and daisy-chain them together. I'll probably get the 1 TB x 1 TB next time. I thought I'd save a little money the first time out.

Does anyone know how many of these drives I can daisy-chain together via Firewire 800?

Thanks.
 
paduck said:
As I find myself entering the Apple video world...
Click to expand...

If I was you, based on the information provided, I would take the simplest route possible. I would get your 1TB iMac, just like you said, and then back it up via Time Machine with a 1TB Time Capsule or 1TB drive connected through an Airport Extreme.

I personally wouldn't worry about drive failure redundancy past 2 drives (original and time machine backup). The odds of losing 2 drives at once, due to drive failure, is definitely not good. However, getting that third 1TB drive would be a great idea. Keep it at a friends' or family member's house and back it up every month or so. This is a great protection against fire and other natural disasters.

Good luck!
 
Heres what i got. Still a work inprog.
some later addons to be made:
MacBook Pro
a 32in Samsung TV
and a 2nd :apple:TV
Library Stats
464 Movies (Grows EVERY DAY!!)
1637 TV Eps (SAME!)
 

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dieseltwitch said:
Heres what i got. Still a work inprog.
some later addons to be made:
MacBook Pro
a 32in Samsung TV
and a 2nd :apple:TV
Library Stats
464 Movies (Grows EVERY DAY!!)
1637 TV Eps (SAME!)
Click to expand...
What enclosures are you using? I have a very hard time finding a reasonably priced dual-bay USB 2 enclosure. Also will it accept PATA drives? I'd like to combine my old 500 GB Western Digital PATA drive with a new SATA 1 TB in one enclosure.
 
anyone holding out hope for a big hmtc on sept 9th?

Silently, with wishful thinking, I'm hoping part of Apple's big ipod related announcement tomorrow is a home theatre media device.

I know it's very hopeful thinking b/c there's been no rumours, but maybe...just maybe - who knows - maybe a new media focused mac mini? or something?

I know there are tons of ramifications of such a device, but one has to think they'll bridge the gap b/n the mini and atv. Both are great in their purpose, but you know Apple....they like to innovate :)

cheers,
keebler
 
refulgentis said:
What enclosures are you using? I have a very hard time finding a reasonably priced dual-bay USB 2 enclosure. Also will it accept PATA drives? I'd like to combine my old 500 GB Western Digital PATA drive with a new SATA 1 TB in one enclosure.
Click to expand...

mine are really Black Metal Gear Box Galaxy Dual Bay SATA RAID Bays (couldn't find a good picture of them) not knowing what PATA is i have no idea if they will take them or not. i got both my bays on eBay for 80$ a piece.
 
I just finished my 2TB RAID5 project. I am using a dual 1Ghz g4 server with a RocketRaid2220 with 4x750gb drives. Gives me just over 2TB of usable space. I use Leopard server to share the content to my xbox (connect360) and my iMac. The iMac is connected via gigE and the 360 is 10/100. Right now i am at about 25% capacity.
 
Glad I found this thread, as I have a couple of questions for when I decide to upgrade my itunes/time machine storage and backup.

1.) Am I right in asuuming that if I buy a drobo to store an Itunes library and serve an Apple TV/PS3 it needs to be hooked up to a computer that is permenantly on?

2.) If the above is the case and assuming I do not want my iMac on constantly, can anyone suggest a better alternative than either...
a) using a hacked apple tv running osx so that it can serve itself or
b) using a macmini with a hacked version of frontrow to mimic the apple tv OS

Both options can be done with abit of hacking but I just wondered if there is another alternative to the drobo that can serve the itunes library itself? I may have read that the HP Media servers can do this but am not sure if they are mac compatible?

3. If I encode my DVD's using handbrakes appleTV option are these playable on a PS3?

Thanks for any advice
 
My personal setup is a macmini 1,83 C2d running leopard, and i use frontrow for accessing my DVDs (converted).

For now, I have two Lacie Mini drives underneath (320go each) mirrored Raid1 and they hold all my movies and hence all my itunes library.
They power off when the mini is off.
Simple, no hassle, quite cheap (got a good deal on the lacie drives on ebay), silent.

Yes, i had to encode all my DVD,s but it rocks now..

The macmini is a slightly better solution than AppleTV because i do all the handbraking on the Macmini itself...
I can still rent and watch movies on itunes of course so i'm not missing much..i think..

just my 2cts.
 
I also like the mac mini. but i also love my apple TV. my next up grade is to take my 2TB worth of HD's and move them to a mac mini running Lep Serv. and let that do the dirty work. That way i can just keep the MacMini in a the closet (cooled) with the hard drives and the AirPort Ex. and only have the apple TV on the actual TV
 
dieseltwitch said:
I also like the mac mini. but i also love my apple TV. my next up grade is to take my 2TB worth of HD's and move them to a mac mini running Lep Serv. and let that do the dirty work. That way i can just keep the MacMini in a the closet (cooled) with the hard drives and the AirPort Ex. and only have the apple TV on the actual TV
Click to expand...

I've thought about leopard server on a mini but couldn't find anything useful that it does that normal leopard will for these tasks. what extra features will you be using?
 
.mark. said:
I've thought about leopard server on a mini but couldn't find anything useful that it does that normal leopard will for these tasks. what extra features will you be using?
Click to expand...

You know you make a good point. Lep runs just fine i will probably just stick with that. never really thought about it till now. lol
 
Still can't rent HD movies from another other than an ATV.


What's the lowest spec Mac Mini I could use for serving media to an ATV?
 
A question for those running a Drobo: How fast is it over FW400, connected to a mini? Can you watch HD media with it?
And how is it over GigE? (the mini beeing the server with the Drobo)
 
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