Network Hard Drive to view media on my Vu+ Solo2 and Vu+ Uno

[Andy_Hazza]

Hi peeps,

I am looking to get a Western Digital or Seagate Network Hard Drive or any other suggestions so I can drop my films/tv shows into the network hard drive and then be able to view from my Vu+ Solo2/Vu+ Uno. Can anyone recommend a good Network Hard Drive and also can you advise on how to set this up please? And what plugins I would need? Ideally I would like a folder structure setup like this within the hard drive;

(Network Hard Drive)

> Movies (within the movies folder have different Genres folders as shown below)
> Action
> Comedy
> Sci-Fi etc etc

Is this possible? And would I need XBMC/TsMedia installed to view my media content?

In both my boxes I have internal hard drives installed to record programs so want to keep that as it is, just want to be able to have a media hub, networked so I can watch films and tv shows etc from it. Both boxes are running ViX, Apollo Build 073, Solo2 running the HD version of Apollo.

Any info/guidelines and comments would be greatly appreciated.

Andy.H

[rossi2000]

I bought a hp n54l for this purpose. Runs Linux and can add more hdds if need be.

Samba or nfs are the protoccols you are likely to need/use.

You could even remove tje hdds from tje boxes and have them both record to the nas. So everythimg is available to all devices

[Andy_Hazza]

I bought a hp n54l for this purpose. Runs Linux and can add more hdds if need be.

Samba or nfs are the protoccols you are likely to need/use.

You could even remove tje hdds from tje boxes and have them both record to the nas. So everythimg is available to all devices

Have you got an operating system on it? Can it be networked up to an existing computer as I don't want hassle of another monitor etc.

[rossi2000]

yes it runs ubuntu
just needed a monitor to set it up and thats it, sits on the top of a wardobe in a spare room here

using the linux os enables me to setup some other services like http, NFS, plex, oscam, openvpn which u couldnt run on an external hdd.

[Andy_Hazza]

Ubuntu from the off or did you have to install that? Do you have a WD Red HDD installed?

[rossi2000]

i have 4 x 1tb in mine (raid 5) with space for 2 more hdds.

installed ubuntu myself, it doenst come with an os

[Andy_Hazza]

mmmm I'm really interested in getting one of these. If I get stuck with anything would you help me out ppppllllleeeeaaaasssseeeee? I'm pretty good with stuff but never done Ubuntu os before and the network/sharing side of things I am probably 50/50 so any help would be greatly appreciated, if I get stuck that is!! lol

[rossi2000]

there are other stuff you can put on it dependant on what u want really.

have a look at things like xpenology, freenas, openmediavault. these have nice guis where u can control what you want.

you could even put esxi on it and run multiple os, many many options avaialble.

[Andy_Hazza]

Hi Rossi,

Got myself one of these beauts, did you install the desktop or server Ubuntu os?

[rossi2000]

i run server on it

[Andy_Hazza]

Hi Rossi,

I am in the process of setting up my HP N54L, had a spare 60gb solid slate hard drive (ssd) so fitted that to run Ubuntu server os on it. I have a Red WD hard drive (server hdd) and was wondering what format that has to be in, as for now I want to put my collection of mp4, mkv container films, tv shows on it.

I've installed DreamPlex on my Vu+ Uno/Solo2, would you recommend installing Plex on my HP N54L too, and do the films have to be in any particular order, as in folder structure etc?

Can you think of any other good tips for me to try out?

Thanks for your help so far buddy.

[rossi2000]

the ubuntu installer will install and format the hdd for you, it will format it to ext4.

i use plex server aswell which my boxes connect too to watch things. i just use a simple folder structure, Movies, TV, Music thats it.

[Andy_Hazza]

Hi Rossi,

I tried putting Ubuntu Server on a ssd over the weekend, but could I heller's get it to work. Its an intel 80gb one I had knocking about. It kept failing on the Boot bit. When it asked about partitions etc, I didn't set a partition, do you think I should have? I tried 2 or 3 times to get it on but gave up in the end. lol.

[rossi2000]

yes you must setup the hdd during the install wizard.

select "guided partitioning" and this will partition and format your drive

[Andy_Hazza]

Yeah, sure I did that. I was wondering if I needed to partition the hdd, or if the sdd isn't compatible? I've ordered a WD Red 1tb hdd, and was hopeful that was gonna arrive today but it hasn't.