Which RAID for multimedia

[Jeff Gaines]

In our discussion about Blu Ray "Sump" said "have plenty of disc space!".

OMG ain't that the truth! I am about 80% through "The Newsroom" which is
on Blu Ray. Close to 230 GB so far for 1 x TV series of 26 episodes.

I need to try and get the best mix between space & security on my QNAP
NAS, it seems to offer most RAID varieties.

I really can't afford to buy yet more SSDs - I can make 4 x 2 TB available
with some shuffling and that will allow me to back up to a second NAS
fitted with the last of my spinners + one more backup on a single SSD in a
PC.

What sort of RAID would give me the best balance?

It worries me with the QNAP that the first drive is flagged "system disk"
and I don't know what happens if that is the disk that falls over - any
thoughts? I'll try the QNAP forum otherwise.

Thanks!

[Sump]

Post by Jeff Gaines
In our discussion about Blu Ray "Sump" said "have plenty of disc space!".
OMG ain't that the truth! I am about 80% through "The Newsroom" which is
on Blu Ray. Close to 230 GB so far for 1 x TV series of 26 episodes.
I need to try and get the best mix between space & security on my QNAP
NAS, it seems to offer most RAID varieties.
I really can't afford to buy yet more SSDs - I can make 4 x 2 TB available
with some shuffling and that will allow me to back up to a second NAS
fitted with the last of my spinners + one more backup on a single SSD in a
PC.
What sort of RAID would give me the best balance?
It worries me with the QNAP that the first drive is flagged "system disk"
and I don't know what happens if that is the disk that falls over - any
thoughts? I'll try the QNAP forum otherwise.
Thanks!

I would use RAID5.

Just found this Seagate online calc....

https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/products/nas-drives/raid-calculator/

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Sump

Post by Jeff Gaines
It worries me with the QNAP that the first drive is flagged "system disk"
and I don't know what happens if that is the disk that falls over - any
thoughts? I'll try the QNAP forum otherwise.
Thanks!

I would use RAID5.
Just found this Seagate online calc....
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/products/nas-drives/raid-calculator/

That's a neat calculator, thank you :-)

I got a reply from the QNAP Forum. Reading between the lines, sadly a
necessity in most forums, the first disk is only flagged "system disk" if
the NAS is set up as JBOD so I shouldn't have an issue with RAID 5 -
thanks for the recommendation!

I wonder why the patronising dickheads who are the first to answer on the
manufacturer's forums are always called names ending in "man"? The one who
replied to me is dolbyman, another forum I use it was badgolderman. Their
replies always end with remarks like "you do have backups don't you".

[Sump]

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Sump

Post by Jeff Gaines
It worries me with the QNAP that the first drive is flagged "system disk"
and I don't know what happens if that is the disk that falls over - any
thoughts? I'll try the QNAP forum otherwise.
Thanks!

I would use RAID5.
Just found this Seagate online calc....
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/products/nas-drives/raid-calculator/

That's a neat calculator, thank you :-)

No worries.

Post by Jeff Gaines
I got a reply from the QNAP Forum. Reading between the lines, sadly a
necessity in most forums, the first disk is only flagged "system disk" if
the NAS is set up as JBOD so I shouldn't have an issue with RAID 5 -
thanks for the recommendation!

All good then.

Post by Jeff Gaines
I wonder why the patronising dickheads who are the first to answer on the
manufacturer's forums are always called names ending in "man"? The one who
replied to me is dolbyman, another forum I use it was badgolderman. Their
replies always end with remarks like "you do have backups don't you".

Well, I can understand their reasoning.... and them saying "RAID isn't a backup solution...." all singing from the same hymn sheet.

Elsewhere, as you already have the physical blurays, do you actually need to store copies on the the NAS?

Perhaps consider using an external USB drive, and if it goes bang, then get another and re-rip? And you don't have to burn CPU on Handbrake to data reduce either.

Will the Qnap DLNA or SMB a USB external device?

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Sump

Post by Jeff Gaines
I wonder why the patronising dickheads who are the first to answer on the
manufacturer's forums are always called names ending in "man"? The one who
replied to me is dolbyman, another forum I use it was badgolderman. Their
replies always end with remarks like "you do have backups don't you".

Well, I can understand their reasoning.... and them saying "RAID isn't a
backup solution...." all singing from the same hymn sheet.

I just find it a bit patronising but hey ho :-)

Post by Sump
Elsewhere, as you already have the physical blurays, do you actually need
to store copies on the the NAS?

The NAS streams them to my home network and makes a good job of it too! It
means I can sit with my feet up and watch what I want without having to
dig out a DVD/Blu Ray.

Post by Sump
Perhaps consider using an external USB drive, and if it goes bang, then
get another and re-rip? And you don't have to burn CPU on Handbrake to
data reduce either.
Will the Qnap DLNA or SMB a USB external device?

The QNAP can back up to a USB device but not stream from it. The key thing
about backups is the time I have invested in getting the stuff off DVD/Blu
Ray, including some TV programs with loads of series containing loads of
episodes. I doubt I could be bothered to do it again. It's interesting to
see how it works - especially as I am now trying AnyDVD feeding into
Handbrake and tinkering with settings but I wouldn't want to do it for a
living!

[Sump]

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Sump
Will the Qnap DLNA or SMB a USB external device?

The QNAP can back up to a USB device but not stream from it. The key thing
about backups is the time I have invested in getting the stuff off DVD/Blu
Ray, including some TV programs with loads of series containing loads of
episodes. I doubt I could be bothered to do it again. It's interesting to
see how it works - especially as I am now trying AnyDVD feeding into
Handbrake and tinkering with settings but I wouldn't want to do it for a
living!

That is a pity about the streaming limitation.

I normally rip locally on my PC then copy across to my router that has an external USB SSD which can DLNA to VLC on a firestick. Not particularly fast, 30MB/s... But no stuttering - so good enough.

And Handbrake? been playing with the latest github copy built from source - the build instructions miss one library out.... libgtk-4-dev

My 6C+HT Intel CPU has been toasty at 80degc for 2h05min converting Bluray (Main title) to 1080p30...

...but... 36GB down to 2.8GB ... Now a visual test!

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Sump

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Sump
Will the Qnap DLNA or SMB a USB external device?

The QNAP can back up to a USB device but not stream from it. The key thing
about backups is the time I have invested in getting the stuff off DVD/Blu
Ray, including some TV programs with loads of series containing loads of
episodes. I doubt I could be bothered to do it again. It's interesting to
see how it works - especially as I am now trying AnyDVD feeding into
Handbrake and tinkering with settings but I wouldn't want to do it for a
living!

That is a pity about the streaming limitation.
I normally rip locally on my PC then copy across to my router that has an
external USB SSD which can DLNA to VLC on a firestick. Not particularly
fast, 30MB/s... But no stuttering - so good enough.
And Handbrake? been playing with the latest github copy built from source
- the build instructions miss one library out.... libgtk-4-dev
My 6C+HT Intel CPU has been toasty at 80degc for 2h05min converting Bluray
(Main title) to 1080p30...
...but... 36GB down to 2.8GB ... Now a visual test!

I just did one for Red2 - mp4 -v- mkv. Interesting, I think the mp4
version is better as the mkv version seems to be a bit jerky sometimes, I
wonder if the Roku or the network can't keep up with the mkv?. I will have
a closer look tomorrow, I have rebuilt my NAS and my DAS today (I
discovered my NAS was ALL spinners, 2 x 2 TB and 2 x 3 TB so I shuffled to
make it 4 x 2 TB SSD and then had to shuffle the DAS) and started moving
data around and starting backups so will probably fall asleep in front of
the TV!

[RJH]

Post by Jeff Gaines
In our discussion about Blu Ray "Sump" said "have plenty of disc space!".
OMG ain't that the truth! I am about 80% through "The Newsroom" which is
on Blu Ray. Close to 230 GB so far for 1 x TV series of 26 episodes.

That sounds like a very low level of compression - I've honed mine down to
400MB/hour using Handbrake. It's a barely noticeable from the original
compromise. Of course, YMMV . . .

[Gordon]

Post by RJH

Post by Jeff Gaines
In our discussion about Blu Ray "Sump" said "have plenty of disc space!".
OMG ain't that the truth! I am about 80% through "The Newsroom" which is
on Blu Ray. Close to 230 GB so far for 1 x TV series of 26 episodes.

That sounds like a very low level of compression - I've honed mine down to
400MB/hour using Handbrake. It's a barely noticeable from the original
compromise. Of course, YMMV . . .

While RAID is a consideration in this case it is not really the first point
of call. Raid is about safety and speed.

Compression is the factor to consider first. Handbrake is your choice of
compression. x265 takes alot longer than x264 but it only needs to be done
once.

[RJH]

Post by Gordon

Post by RJH

Post by Jeff Gaines
In our discussion about Blu Ray "Sump" said "have plenty of disc space!".
OMG ain't that the truth! I am about 80% through "The Newsroom" which is
on Blu Ray. Close to 230 GB so far for 1 x TV series of 26 episodes.

That sounds like a very low level of compression - I've honed mine down to
400MB/hour using Handbrake. It's a barely noticeable from the original
compromise. Of course, YMMV . . .

While RAID is a consideration in this case it is not really the first point
of call. Raid is about safety and speed.

Agreed - and a consequence of decent RAID setups is a greater investment in

Post by Gordon
Compression is the factor to consider first. Handbrake is your choice of
compression. x265 takes alot longer than x264 but it only needs to be done
once.

I'm sure there's a bunch of variables I'm not considering, but for me (2020
iMac i5 with a T2 chip) a 4GB 2 hour video file compresses to 800MB in about
10 minutes using H265/Handbrake.

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Gordon

Post by RJH

Post by Jeff Gaines
In our discussion about Blu Ray "Sump" said "have plenty of disc space!".
OMG ain't that the truth! I am about 80% through "The Newsroom" which is
on Blu Ray. Close to 230 GB so far for 1 x TV series of 26 episodes.

That sounds like a very low level of compression - I've honed mine down to
400MB/hour using Handbrake. It's a barely noticeable from the original
compromise. Of course, YMMV . . .

While RAID is a consideration in this case it is not really the first point
of call. Raid is about safety and speed.
Compression is the factor to consider first. Handbrake is your choice of
compression. x265 takes alot longer than x264 but it only needs to be done
once.

Many thanks RJH and Gordon :-)

In my case I am pushing the limit of a 2 TB drive so RAID gives me more
contiguous space (if that's the word, I mean I can treat it as one).

The file are mkv and are brilliant quality and MakeMKV seems to be able to
keep the chapter markers which is useful.

I do wonder if I would notice the difference between mp4 and mkv since
they are both displayed on the same TV screen?

[RJH]

Post by Jeff Gaines
I do wonder if I would notice the difference between mp4 and mkv since
they are both displayed on the same TV screen?

I don't think I do - it's a decent TV (55" OLED) but I sit a fair distance
back. I'm far more suggestible with audio - I've got a half decent stereo and
*think* I can hear differences between decent compression and lossless.

Try the H.265 method on Handbrake - I think I use the same frame rate and
audio as the original, 1000kb/s, and 720P. It's good to get it right early on!
You can let it run for a couple of minutes, pause, and view the clip that's
been encoded, or preview in real time.

https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php

[Andy Burns]

Post by Jeff Gaines
I do wonder if I would notice the difference between mp4 and mkv since
they are both displayed on the same TV screen?

Both mp4 and mkv are simply containers, they say nothing about the
format or level of compression of the streams that are within them ...

[Jeff Gaines]

Post by Jeff Gaines
I do wonder if I would notice the difference between mp4 and mkv since
they are both displayed on the same TV screen?

Both mp4 and mkv are simply containers, they say nothing about the format
or level of compression of the streams that are within them ...

Thanks, this is way beyond my level of understanding!

For example I ripped "Red" from a Blu Ray and the mkv file details are:

Length: 01:51:11
Frame width: 1920
Frame height: 1080
Total bitrate: 33750 kbps
Frame rate: 23.98 frames/second
Video Tracks: H264 (High @ L 4.1)
Contains chapters: Yes

The file is 27 GB!

I will have a look at Handbrake.

[RJH]

Post by Jeff Gaines

Post by Jeff Gaines
I do wonder if I would notice the difference between mp4 and mkv since
they are both displayed on the same TV screen?

Both mp4 and mkv are simply containers, they say nothing about the format
or level of compression of the streams that are within them ...

Thanks, this is way beyond my level of understanding!
Length: 01:51:11
Frame width: 1920
Frame height: 1080
Total bitrate: 33750 kbps

1000kbps (Video tab)

Post by Jeff Gaines
Frame rate: 23.98 frames/second

Keep 'as source' (Video tab)
H265 (this shold be selected from the preset)

Post by Jeff Gaines
Contains chapters: Yes
The file is 27 GB!

Should give you a c.750MB file.

Post by Jeff Gaines
I will have a look at Handbrake.

These suggestions are from Handbrake. I realise of course a fair bit must be
stripped from the original, but as I say, good enough for me.

[Chris]

Post by Jeff Gaines
It worries me with the QNAP that the first drive is flagged "system disk"
and I don't know what happens if that is the disk that falls over - any
thoughts? I'll try the QNAP forum otherwise.

It's because raid is for primarily for speed and safety of access to data
drives. You don't want the OS to be on the stay in case of a failure and
rebuild. The OS needs to be still available independently of the data
drives.

If the system disk fails you swap it out and restore from backup.

Post by Jeff Gaines
Thanks!