looking to add more storage-but need external

[mockware]

Originally Posted by nanook105

I want to try this - are you saying that you have a disconnect issue if you reboot your NAS device without rebooting your BTV server ? I almost never reboot my FreeNAS server so I don't know if I've ever hit this condition.

That's exactly what happens. I mount the drives via //servername/sharename. When I bounce the server that shares the drive, BTV/BM is unable to open any files on that drive. Going to the My Computer, I see the drive listed as disconnected. Double click on the drive and it will reconnect and I'm back in business.

[Bigbird999]

mockware
I think this is what happens. When you start up Windows on your BTV server it detects the NAS drives, connects to them and displays them as windows shares. If you reboot the NAS server, it disconnects the drives and since your BTV server isn't rebooting, it doesn't detect them. Soyou have to tell windows to reconnect. Like nanook says, the NAS should 24/7 so this should not be an issue.

BB

[mockware]

Originally Posted by Bigbird999

mockware
I think this is what happens. When you start up Windows on your BTV server it detects the NAS drives, connects to them and displays them as windows shares. If you reboot the NAS server, it disconnects the drives and since your BTV server isn't rebooting, it doesn't detect them. Soyou have to tell windows to reconnect. Like nanook says, the NAS should 24/7 so this should not be an issue.

BB

Exactly. I realize this and people should just be aware about it.

[nanook105]

Well, I just tried this and BTV still sees my NAS device. Here is what I did:

• Started the FSI on one of my BTV servers
• Went to Recorded Shows by folder and opened one of the folders from the NAS server to validate that it could see the recordings
• Backed out to the main menu
• Rebooted the NAS server (up for 32 days which is the last time I added disks)
• Went back into Recorded Shows by folder and opened one of the folders from the NAS server. Could still see all of the recordings

From what you've described, it seems like the only difference is that I do not create mapped drives to the NAS server/folder in windows. I just add the UNC path when I add the folder to BTV.

[Bigbird999]

nanook

I use my NAS as a backup drive as well as storage. With NASLite+ the drives normally show up in My network places/entire network/microsoft windows network/workgroup/NASlite servername/disc1 etc. I just get tired of mining down that deep so i mapped disc 1 as Kdrive etcto allow easy access from my main computer. My BTV server does not have the drives mapped

So I just tried the same as you and when I rebooted the NAS server I cannot connect to it from either computer tried mapping again, double clicking et it just tells me it cant find the server and that I might not have permission. but I can ping it and connect via telnet. So it must be a windows issue. Going to log out and see if it picks it up on login

BB

Edit so as soon as I posted the above. I decided to check one more time before rebooting and guess what? Both computers were now connected. It probably took 4 or 5 min. Anyway it worked like nanook says. In addition, I did not back out of viewscape. When the NAS was offline the folder still showed up but when I clicked on it it was empty. After the NAS reconnected, the shows in the folder were once again visible.

[nanook105]

Originally Posted by Bigbird999

nanook

I use my NAS as a backup drive as well as storage. With NASLite+ the drives normally show up in My network places/entire network/microsoft windows network/workgroup/NASlite servername/disc1 etc. I just get tired of mining down that deep so i mapped disc 1 as Kdrive etcto allow easy access from my main computer. My BTV server does not have the drives mapped

So I just tried the same as you and when I rebooted the NAS server I cannot connect to it from either computer tried mapping again, double clicking et it just tells me it cant find the server and that I might not have permission. but I can ping it and connect via telnet. So it must be a windows issue. Going to log out and see if it picks it up on login

BB

Edit so as soon as I posted the above. I decided to check one more time before rebooting and guess what? Both computers were now connected. It probably took 4 or 5 min. Anyway it worked like nanook says. In addition, I did not back out of viewscape. When the NAS was offline the folder still showed up but when I clicked on it it was empty. After the NAS reconnected, the shows in the folder were once again visible.

I have that same mining issue. Instead of creating a folder, I just create "favorites" to those levels

[cosiz]

I too have been struggling with my ever-growing storage needs. Seems like I add a new drive every couple of weeks and it's getting old swapping them out all the time (especially since I have to exit completely out of BTV to swap any drive with an active BTV video folder).

I recently discovered a company that buys out old lease hardware then resells it, and after wandering around there for a while, my current dream is to get a rack and build myself a custom solution. My ultimate rack setup would have one server that records the shows and then moves them over to a second server which squeezes and stores them. Then I could add more rack storage enclosures as needed and still have complete control over the online storage running at any given time. I'm still trying to work out the most efficient, and least expensive way to accomplish all of that.

P.S. It seems like you could set up some sort of script with "net use" commands to overcome any disconnect issues with NAS.

[cosiz]

Here is a link for the computer reseller if you're interested:
http://www.pmount.com/server_specials.asp

The listed prices are higher than an individual would probably want to pay for technology over 3 years old, but when I visited I got the idea I might be able to "make a deal." I only plan to use them for the rack and chassis' so anything else that seems like a good deal will just be a bonus.

It is likely that I will have to piece that setup together over a long period of time, so I am looking at some alternative retail external storage options here:
http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_enclosures/
http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_raid_controllers/

Cheers,
Bryan

Edit added 18SEP:
I'm still researching my shorter term solution, but I found that my existing PCIe x1 SATA card supports port multipliers (http://www.cooldrives.com/sapciexsaii3.html), so now I'm looking at some different SATA enclosure options like this one: http://www.cooldrives.com/firemorasaii.html