linux experts

enfield_freddy

some of you might have read my previous post , regarding building a home theatre system based on the xbmc programme .


I used the stand alone version (stripped down Linux) called openelec.


I have the machine set to boot from a ssd drive , and have added a 2t wd drive for storage (mapped and readable/writable from a PC) this drive is in ext4 ,


because of the motherboard and CPU , this is proving to be a blistering quick NAS drive , speeds in/out well in excess of my dlink nas drive.


I would like to ditch the dlink and use the 2 x 4t (red) drives in a raid format (4t showing) .


all the forums state that openelec was never designed to cater for raid drives.


as a "windows user" , I would like to set up a Linux base with the XBMC on it as a programme (only programme)


I need


1:fast boot
2: ability to quickly set up a pair of drives in a raid format
3: ability for the XBMC prog to auto start


can anyone suggest a direction or version of Linux I should be chasing.


thanks


AB

tavernman

Read here https://www.google.com/search?q=mdadm+and+lvm&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+and+raid&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

gjchester

Are you putting this is the media room? Have you considered the noise issue? I'm not sure if you want this somewhere to stream to a silent TV mounted box or not?


Streaming from a NAS located elsewhere will be quieter than having the three drives spinning in the case by the screen.


Generally speaking raid is best done in hardware if possible to save putting any more work on the CPU and IO subsystem, in this case the OpenElec does not need to see the drives directly
as the raid card will handle the raiding and supplying the data to the OS as if it's one drive, its possible in software but as your going for speed that couild be counterproductive.


That said Open Elec is a stripped down Linux install, you can add raid drivers in, but it won't be as stripped down and there's no guarantee the drivers you need to see the hardware raid will be present.


Why do you want to RAID it? If its just mirroring for backup just use one as an external copy drive you back up to now and again. If its to speed things up by splitting the data, I suspect your bottle neck will be the network, not the output from the disks. Raiding may not speed up if your have a bottleneck on the network.


I suspect Ubuntu has raiding at least in the server version but what hardware it can support I don't know however XBMX (or Kodi as it is now) can run on Ubuntu, but you may have to pare the install down to get the same spend as a the stripped down OpenElec install.

tavernman

Another thing

all the forums state that openelec was never designed to cater for raid drives.

Yes and no, on your box it will cope admirably I would think

gjchester

tavernman wrote: »

Read here https://www.google.com/search?q=mdadm+and+lvm&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+and+raid&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

I thought OpenElec didn't have the mdadm and dmraid subsystems present by default. You can add them if you have the Linux knowledge and want to compile everything I guess.

tavernman

gjchester wrote: »

I thought OpenElec didn't have the mdadm and dmraid subsystems present by default. You can add them if you have the Linux knowledge and want to compile everything I guess.

Yes you can but it's not beyond anyone with fairly competent computer knowledge

enfield_freddy

I thought OpenElec didn't have the mdadm and dmraid subsystems present by default. You can add them if you have the Linux knowledge and want to compile everything I guess.


possably , however I havn,t got the Linux capability




Are you putting this is the media room? Have you considered the noise issue? I'm not sure if you want this somewhere to stream to a silent TV mounted box or not?


the openelec system accepts wireless cards , so locating in the lounge , whilst working in the office would not cause problems


Streaming from a NAS located elsewhere will be quieter than having the three drives spinning in the case by the screen


1 x ssd and 2 x wd red (24x7 drives) those 2 drives are not noisy in the dlink , why should they be noisy in a nice large case




another option might be changing to a z87 chipset , this has raid , but is it for Linux or just for windows ?

enfield_freddy

all the google links refer to setting Linux up with raid , I want to boot from a small ssd , with the programme on it and have 2 drives located , that I can access as a raid configuration


with the openelec I am running at the moment , I can format a drive (on PC in a caddy) to ext4 name it , insert it in the openelec sys , and it is seen


I can then copy films/music over via Ethernet and openelec finds it and adds it to the library

prowla

Why do you need super-fast NAS for a HTPC?

enfield_freddy

I don,t , but as stated in my first post , this machine (h81 chipset / g3240 cpu / 8g ddr3 ) allows access to files (as well as music/vid) at speeds greater than 3 times that of a dlink dns 320s , so as its sat there running all day (streaming radio or TV in an evening) it might as well be used as a NAS


starting a film or accessing music on the cabled dlink typically took a second or two , with onboard drive(s) it is instant

esuhl

I don't know anything about Openelec, but I found the forum discussion below. It sounds like Openelec doesn't support FakeRAID on motherboards, and to get it to use software RAID you'd have to re-build/compile the OS...

http://openelec.tv/forum/65-storage/36359-noob-question-to-see-raid-drive