dd Smart Server

[CW Jewell]

Ok, this might be a series of dumb questions, but I can't seem to find definitive answers and my dealer doesn't have experience with the products. I'm presently having a C4 system installed in my home. I would like to integrate DVD and Blu-ray movies into the system. I have an extensive collection (north of 2500 DVDs and a couple hundred Blu-rays presently). I hate having to dig through the collection to find a particular movie to watch and storage for that many disks is getting crazy. So, I'm looking at options for storage. Kaleidescape systems are just way too expensive. I've looked at Fusion Research players as well, but if I can find a more cost effective alternative, I'd rather go that route.

It appears that the Diamond Design Smart Server will work when paired with the Popcorn Hour A400 (since I would like to retain ability to play 3D movies). I guess my main concern is about design and support of this system. Particularly, how easily does it integrate into C4, and who can help if things don't work. Again, my dealer has no experience with the product and I certainly don't know how to trouble shoot the product. It sounds like there are a lot of moving parts, but if everything works well together, it could be a great product. Anyone have experience with the product?? I've exchanged a few emails with Mr Graley, but haven't really gotten all of my questions answered. I haven't been able to reach him on the telephone to speak in person about these issues either. I'd say from the email replies at midnight or later, he's a very busy man.

Also, does anyone know how easily the storage on the server can be replaced and/or extended?? i.e. Can I swap a drive if one crashes or do I have to call Diamond Design? Can I add an additional NAS server for storage when I fill the 24TB on the initial server?

Additionally, how does the server handle music storage? I have a sizable collection of CDs that I'd like to integrate as well. I was planning to use Apple TV as the music player. I have a first generation ATV that will host most of my music if that would be the best option.

Thank you for any guidance. Total C4 newbie and my personality doesn't allow me to do things blindly...

CWJ

[IHateC4]

^ why dd smart server? Unless you want to waste money on paying electronic bill, synology ds1511+ or later model will do the work...

[wappinghigh]

I've got the DD NAS. One of the 12 bay setups.

I don't have the server.

I think the whole overall DD concept is to use the server as a simple and easy backup and store of the movies (it's based on Mymovies), and the DDNas as a backup to the server. DD has set this up with something called RSync (available in Freenas)..which is built into the NAS and mirrors what's on the server.

The problem with all this NAS and backup movie stuff is data loss. It would be such a pain to have to redo such a large library!...so I gather that is the *ideal* DD set up. A DDserver<>DDNas. You could even set up the NAS to mirror offsite if you want.

If you don't want to go down this extremely secure high redundancy route, James does let you 'wing it' a bit.

So the DDNas will 'serve' up movies as well to a Popcorn. (I use a Dune). It appears as a 'share' in the Control4 media library- so that is the downside. ... you have to use the Dune GUI directly to navigate to the movies or play them from the Control4 media library (watch>movies>etc etc), which is not nearly as cool as using the Mymovies library interface. The Control4 library is also a PITA to get metadata and cover art....all of which you can lose in a C4 system crash..Of course the other problem with my setup like this right now, is potential data loss. So I have additional backups on the Dune's HDD which I swap out straight from the Dunes. So What I do is use the DDNas as a backup. Turn it off. And play straight from the Dunes. However sooner or later I'll run out of space doing this, so I'm looking for a better way..

Doing it the way I do at the moment has redundancy but takes alot of time!!!!

So I think that is where the full DD pitch is...to save time and still be secure.

I gather from reading other posts on the server specifically, it's a bit noisy and big ATM, so it would need to be tucked away in the Rack or somewhere and any direct HDMI out would need to have a long run. This of course is not a problem if you have a matrix setup. So you can use it to actually play movies in it's own right, or out to the periphery via the Matrix.

But yes, you have to leave all this gear on for it to work..

James has hinted he is releasing another movie player (very soon..he's working on a youtube demo I believe this weekend) so I would hold off any overall decision until we see what "he is up to" with that

Hope this helps

[Nitro_X]

DD server puts all the drives in the case, it limits you to expand. My HTPC uses SSD's and then this design allows you to use Thunderbolt. (I have my main pc as my server now, because the Areca ARC-8050 wasn't available in the past). I don't hear my HTPC at all. Boots in seconds. I say 3 seconds. Never timed it.

Another option is to build you own HTPC. I posted a thread for members to use an alternative option. I don't use Control4 for music or DVD anymore though. I use J River Media Center.

Control4 media handling is limited, so I just gave up on it. I have requested for Control4 Driver Developers to develop a driver, but that never happened. I am Nitro in the thread, but your cost will be much lower. Cost For DD server is high and it doesn't meet all my needs. So, I am into all media formats including SACD, which only software player that works is J River Media Center. Just test out the J River Media Center. The biggest feature that I wanted was be able to pick by cover art the media via Ipad or Iphone. I can do that now. My HTPC uses the Asus Thunderbolt Pro. Thunderbolt allows you to expand hard drives with the Areca. For Bluray, then you need to get a better video card that internal HD4000 with Ivybridge. (i would try the HD4000 First but I use Sony 7000ES changers for Bluray)

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gt640/specifications That is one option

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-650ti/specifications Another option.

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga.html

Artic makes some great fans to lower the vidoe card noise. Stock fans can be noisy.

The reason that I chose Nvida over AMD is that it will allow you to go to Mac OSX in the future. J river is developing that option, and audio only version is supposed to be released at the end of the year for Mac OSX.

http://www.c4forums.com/viewtopic.php?id=12592

Here is some specs of a company that makes them now. You can just use their specs and build your own for less cost.

Original poster on J River had a need for firewire. Asus doesn't have option in their motherboards, but Gigabyte has that option.

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std … ss_pc.html

Asus Thunderbolt Pro or the Premium doesn't have 1394 (firewire), so substitute it for this Thunderbolt motherboard.

Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH (Intel certified for Dual thunderbolt ports. Allows up to 12 thunderbolt devices to be attached to those ports)

As far as case design, there is lot of options. Wap, you have to look at Hfx and see who is the distributor in Australia. http://www.hfx.at/

hfx site lists the cooling options. If you chose that option.

I recommend looking at Lian Li cases, but you have to look at what is available. http://www.lian-li.com/v2/index.html

The main reason that I like Lian Li cases is that it is all aluminum design. They go to great lengths in making a good case for not lot of money, but add options

to take the side off rather easy without tools.

A member over on J River built the case rather unique. Not sure where you can buy this brand of case. Supposed to be released soon. http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=74186.0

"He used the VFD from Soundgraph(prouduct name: IMON VFD). This module provides SDK (Software Development Kit) for customization. The SDK includes a dll, header files, sample source files(VC++). he programmed the function that communicate with J River Web Service with.NET Framework 4.0. The tray program UI and VFD control function are programmed with VC++."

1) Passive power supply options. (Kingwin - Passive Power Supply is 600 Watts overclock.)

a) Passive Power supply from Silverstone only has 2 different watts available 400 or 500 watts http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/mor … 06387.html Kingwin has a silent power supply that is 500 watts at endpcnoise.

Endpcnoise offers some other options for more watts. http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std … plies.html

2) SSD only use 3 watts (No noise from a SSD)

a) Areca has nice Thunderbolt case, if you need lot of drives. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151134&Tpk=Arc-8050 Areca doesn't include drives. It is highend and fast. Just gives you a way to expand your collection in the future. I am 18TB for my collection right now. Includes, DVD, CD, Bluray (I have about 80 on the server), SACD, etc. The best audio quality is ripped to uncompressed audio format.

Sumitomo Electric Optical Thunderbolt cables http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/ … BW20120417

1) Possible suppliers will be Belkin or Amazon in the USA.

3) Cpu Choice depends on your needs. Here is the one that I bought and it fits your 65 watt requirement.

a) Intel Core i7-3770S Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 65W (Actually, I am using the Intel 4000 for video at the moment, but I will eventually get a new video card in the future.)

4) If you plan a bigger video card in the future, then make sure your case has the length to fit the card. Intel HD4000 is fine for 1080p, but you might develop the need for UHDTV with 4k video. (This will be coming out in 2013).

a) Nvidia will work fine on Gigabyte motherboard.

5)Sound Card is Asus Xonar Essence ST with H6 Option. To get the H6, then you need to buy it from England. It is not that expensive, but it allows you to do multichannels. Shipping from England with (2) H6 for me was only $9.

Alternative option is a DAC. J river just uses the sound cards hook directly to the amps. B&K amps do have a Control4 driver, but that would work great. (eliminate the preamp and go straight into the amp)

6) USB audio - Exasound e18 DAC. This DAC was reviewed by J River and highly recommended. http://www.exasound.com/e18DAC/Features.aspx

Has MAC OS X driver.

Nitro

Here is my Backup device. It works great. A sever or NAS is not Backup. Putting on hard drive is not a backup device. Your CD, DVD, Bluray needs to be ripped to the server. So this device does it. http://www.acronova.com/product/auto-blu-ray-duplicator-publisher-ripper-nimbie-usb-nb21/9/review.html

This company here did my CD's, because when you rip. You need a way to look up the titles. http://www.getdigitaldata.com/ I just bought the CD/DVD nimbie from that company, and used their lookup to meta tag the media.

The negative thing is that it takes time to rip the CD's If you got DTS CD, then do WAV. rename them as dts. I am around 2000 CD's, 1300 DVD's, 220 SACD's, 1100 Blurays.

I have My Movies as well, but My Movies is mainly my collection management.

[wappinghigh]

^Well yes. This is another (very good) option. And there is a thread on building a HTPC if the OP is interested in going down that route, but he asked specifically about the DD Server- DD setup, and how that worked.

Nitro my problem is time

[Nitro_X]

^Well yes. This is another (very good) option. And there is a thread on building a HTPC if the OP is interested in going down that route, but he asked specifically about the DD Server- DD setup, and how that worked.

Nitro my problem is time

Locally, I have MicroCenter that can build an HTPC for $80 labor costs in 2008. I just selected out the components. I used this MicroCenter for my first DIY computer back in 2008. [http://www.microcenter.com//url] You can go there and buy the components. Works nicely. Microcenter is in several cities in the USA. Although, in the USA. We have Newegg and Amazon. So, we can buy the components from them as well.

[pstuart]

Also, does anyone know how easily the storage on the server can be replaced and/or extended?? i.e. Can I swap a drive if one crashes or do I have to call Diamond Design? Can I add an additional NAS server for storage when I fill the 24TB on the initial server?

Additionally, how does the server handle music storage? I have a sizable collection of CDs that I'd like to integrate as well. I was planning to use Apple TV as the music player. I have a first generation ATV that will host most of my music if that would be the best option.

I'll try to answer your questions, since I work with James... Try to ignore the noise from Nitro_X...

Anyway... What you would be buying with the dd smart server is basically a souped up WHS (Windows Home Server) computer that has been optimized for media playback over a network.

As for swapping drives, technically you can do it, but it is a raid config, so you will want to make sure you have a matched drive and get the bad drive replaced under its manufacturer warranty.

You can always add NAS storage in addition to this box. Since the dd smart server is your media storage library, you just point MyMovies and/or Control4 to monitor that NAS location for content.

System will handle music just fine. Have control4 index its preset music folder and all is good. Just get the Apple TV to see the location for music and you should be fine there as well.

The beauty of the dd smart server is it is a all in one media serving solution for control4, combined with the EV MyMovies driver and a popcorn hour and you have a monster media stream server.

There are plenty of other cool additions you get with the dd smart server over a home built server, like integrated control4 remote control of the server via keyboard and mouse emulation over IP (not IR) and if you opt for the touchscreen version, you get an extra touchscreen for control4 in the rack (or where ever you put the server)...

Hope that helps...

[Nitro_X]

Also' date=' does anyone know how easily the storage on the server can be replaced and/or extended?? i.e. Can I swap a drive if one crashes or do I have to call Diamond Design? Can I add an additional NAS server for storage when I fill the 24TB on the initial server?

Additionally, how does the server handle music storage? I have a sizable collection of CDs that I'd like to integrate as well. I was planning to use Apple TV as the music player. I have a first generation ATV that will host most of my music if that would be the best option.[/quote']

I'll try to answer your questions, since I work with James... Try to ignore the noise from Nitro_X...

Anyway... What you would be buying with the dd smart server is basically a souped up WHS (Windows Home Server) computer that has been optimized for media playback over a network.

As for swapping drives, technically you can do it, but it is a raid config, so you will want to make sure you have a matched drive and get the bad drive replaced under its manufacturer warranty.

WHS is just $50, it is stripped down version of Windows. Nothing special about it. Also, RAID cards are rather picky on the brand and model of drives. So, to swap one in. You need to match it to that RAID card. DD went with Hitachi drives. Hitachi was bought out by Western Digital. So hopefully, DD is using the latest version or you are out of luck. Currently, I recommend people to buy Seagate drives. The reason is that Seagate drives have proven to be more reliable than Western Digital. My Seagate drives have lasted longer than 5 years, but I can't say that about Western Digital.

You can always add NAS storage in addition to this box. Since the dd smart server is your media storage library, you just point MyMovies and/or Control4 to monitor that NAS location for content.

Again it is limited to only one NAS. Thunderbolt always you to daisy chain the ARC-8050. The cool thing about Thunderbolt is that you can put the drives away from you. There is optical thunderbolt cable. It is available up to 30Meters, but eventually it will be available to 40 meters.

System will handle music just fine. Have control4 index its preset music folder and all is good. Just get the Apple TV to see the location for music and you should be fine there as well.

You are limited on file formats, and you are limited on the Khz. Say if you have SACD ISO, then don't expect Control4 to do that file format. Actually, don't take my word for it. Try it for yourself free. Now you can't do that with DD sever. J River Media Center gives you 30 day free trial.

The beauty of the dd smart server is it is a all in one media serving solution for control4, combined with the EV MyMovies driver and a popcorn hour and you have a monster media stream server.

Can't do SACD file format. Oh, that is nice. There is lot of other formats that dd can't do. Just that it is rather expensive for the money.

There are plenty of other cool additions you get with the dd smart server over a home built server, like integrated control4 remote control of the server via keyboard and mouse emulation over IP (not IR) and if you opt for the touchscreen version, you get an extra touchscreen for control4 in the rack (or where ever you put the server)...

Again more money!

My specs you can buy anywhere,so you just try to get the best deal.

Also, if you want to go a cheaper option. Then Apple has nice setup. http://www.apple.com/mac-mini/ I recommend getting the AMD video card with it. Then get the Areca ARC-8050. J river media center will have the audio only version coming soon. For bluray there is VLC or XMBC. Eventually J River will have the full version.

[pstuart]

Again, try to ignore the fact that Nitro_X refuses to answer the basic OP questions... Sorry about him, he probably also makes his own clothes, much cheaper as well.

Every post Nitro_X does here mentions J River. I've tested J River and it just isn't a stable platform meant for HA environments, in my opinion. In my test environments, it crashed multiple times due to various reasons and does not restart gracefully. It also lost its library and I had to rebuild from scratch. I've worked with the devs, and they are trying to re-write the application from the ground up. Maybe some day it will pass the "wife and kids" test...

You can add as many NAS's as you want to control4, there is no limit, dd only sells one type, but any NAS will work.

Again, the dd Smart Server is a great solution if you are looking for an out of the box solution that is the ONLY solution that integrates directly with control4 for media playback.

Since the OP NEVER said he wanted to build (or have someone build for him) and that he probably doesn't want to spend the 100s of hours testing and configuring a control4 experience out of the box you will get... Please, on behalf of the control4 user and dealer community, accept our apology for Nitro_X.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[CW Jewell]

Yikes. I opened a can of worms. Sorry for that... LOL

I'd rather not spend hours trouble shooting something. Money is easier to come by than time right now. I enjoy tinkering with stuff though, and I'm doing most of the wiring and leg work on this project. I can't see paying someone $125/hr to do work that a trained ape could do. Plus, if I do it myself, I know that it's done right. It might take me longer because I can only work a few hours per week, but I'll get it done. So, I'm not interested in re-inventing the wheel, but I don't want to leave thousands on the table if I can build something that's equal. I have built computers in the past and I'm not afraid to do that part if needed.

Maybe I should wait to see the next version from dd before purchasing...

What about the popcorn hour player? Good deal??

Thanks...CWJ

[cashmoney]

Personally, at this price point for a DD Server and NAS I'd go Kalesiscape.

[diamonddesign]

FYI the dd Smart Server has now been C4 Certified. Our IP driver will be on the online database soon. It just hasnt been announced yet because we are working on some other things to announce together. FYI also you can add a nas down the road to expand if you run out of room and C4 cant tell the difference.

Pre CEDIA we moved to NAS rated hard drives away from Hitachi.

Our server can server 10 sreams over dual gigabit connection. Its the only certified mymovies solution from one of the top mymovies integrators. We can copy 100 discs back to back which is cool I think.

You can use any media player $129 popbox even.

Most of our sales are to repeat dealers who have switched from other solutions.

My crazy busy days are almost over hoepfully as we are about done with 2 new products that will complete the lineup.

They all come with a domain ftp now from us for cumulus weather and remote access and will have c4 caller id for both home phone cell phone vonage and ooma soon4

You dont need a nas for backup if you set the email warnings up for the server with hardware raid but its great redundancy if you do.

[diamonddesign]

To clarify, certifaction means your dealer can also call c4 tech support on it too.

[IHateC4]

Come on people,

How long do you spend on watching movie per day? let's say 2 hour per day and you pay 22 hours of non-watching time, accumulate 22 hrs x 365 days = 8030 hrs/year sucking your electric and doing nothing.

Contrarily, Control4 and others home automation try to sell their product and advertising their product of being GREEN. THIS IS A JOKE, this sound like people ordering a double cheese burger with a diet coke.., or spending 45 min everyday of exercise and not want to walk up to the tv and press the power button. :lol:

WAKE UP PEOPLE, THESE C4/MOVIE/AUTOMATION ARE JUST TOYS, NOT WORTH THE SPEND SUCH $$$, AND (THESE TOYS MAKE YOU FAT, BALD, AND UGLY, IF YOU DON'T TAKE MY WORDS FOR IT, LOOK AT YOU IN THE MIRRORS)..

GO FOR CHARITY a lot of people hungry out there.

Again this is just IMO.

P.S: I do own hundreds of C4 gears, but I never pay single piece of my C4 over dealer's price and never pay a penny to dealer for service

btw, i'm also running latest 2.2.4. WHO SAY VERSION 2.X WAS BLOCK?

[diamonddesign]

You are correct they run 24/7. However, if it makes you feel a tiny bit better our's runs the core i-5s (green HTPC more expensive processor that runs a fraction of the watts of the regular core i-5). Its one of those things I pay extra for in the build that no one ever really notices and I don't get a return on investment for but you don't loose hardly any horsepower and it saves signifcant energy. That being said the, its still running 24/7.

[cashmoney]

James, can you address how your solution differed from the DVD solution provided by Kaleidescape that lost a key legal battle this year as in inception they seem identical. Also how do you plan to avoid similar injunctions against your solution?

This is an expensive purchase for an item that you oils be forced to stop selling and or supporting.

[Nitro_X]

Just to compare specs vs mine.

Intel Core-i5 2400S Special Edition Media Server Version Processor (the “S”)

8GB RAM

Five Cooling Fans

LSI/3Ware Hardware RAID Card

Eight SATA Western Digital RAID Hard Drives with Anti-Vibration Technology, not desktop drives. Note that due to the nature of the RAID 5 technology, the actual storage space is approximately 19.1TB.

Media Adapter for movie and large file transfer support in both front and rear of enclosure

Analog and Digital Audio and Video (HDMI, DVI, Display Port, Optical Audio, Analog Audio)

Dual Gigabit LAN with Link Aggregation Capability (IEEE 802.3ad)

PerfectDisk for Windows Home Server 2011 Installed and Licensed (due to complex hard disk cluster system we have implemented)

Extra Vegetables MyMovies Driver

Rack Mount Hardware (Optional)

Programs Disc and System Restore Disc

$6750

1) Passive power supply options. (Kingwin - Passive Power Supply says 500 Watts, but is actually 600 Watts overclocked.) Amazon $159.95)

2) SSD 120Gig Boot Drive(brands to use (SanDisk, Corsair, or Intel) (SanDisk Extreme SSD 120 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-120G-G25) Amazon $99.95

3) SSD 480 Gig for music (SanDisk Extreme SSD 480 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-480G-G25) Amazon $354.95

4) ASUS P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $219.99 includes 8Gig of ram (Newegg)

5) Here is the Ram that i recommend - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM ($89.95) Newegg (16Gigs of ram)

6) Intel Core i7-3770S Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 65W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I73770S (Amazon) $304.99

7) Don't buy WD drives at all. I lost them in less than 2 years. Never again! Seagate only. Seagate Constellation 3TB ($244) Amazon (This drive is approved to work with Areca Raid cards)

8) Areca has nice Thunderbolt case, if you need lot of drives. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … k=Arc-8050 Areca doesn't include drives. It is highend and fast. (This is get a cable and plug it in) $1499.99

You can daisy chain more drives to thunderbolt or displays etc. The problem with bluray is that it takes lot of hard drive space. Acreca has been certified for Mac OSX and Windows 7 & 8.

Areca has built in RAID, it is the best on the market. This was designed for 4k video. (Areca has a list of drives to use with their raid, so go by model numbers)

9) Case design is based on your needs. Don't put the hard drives in the case, that is poor design. Hard drives tend to generate heat, so it is best to put them outside the case or use lot of fans. ($250 case)

10) WHS 2011 is like $50 or Windows 7 Professional Or Windows 8. (OS not included in the price) (If you have an old version of Windows, then you can get the upgrade.) I use at least Professional on Windows 7, because it allows you access more ram.

Total 4931

Optional sound cards. This depends if you have a receiver (Sound cards) or amps.(DAC)

**Sound Card is Asus Xonar Essence ST with H6 Option. To get the H6, then you need to buy it from England. It is not that expensive, but it allows you to do multichannels. Shipping from England with (2) H6 for me was only $9.

Alternative option is a DAC. J river just uses the sound cards hook directly to the amps. B&K amps do have a Control4 driver, but that would work great. (eliminate the preamp and go straight into the amp)

** USB audio - Exasound e18 DAC. This DAC was reviewed by J River and highly recommended. http://www.exasound.com/e18DAC/Features.aspx

Has MAC OS X driver.

I am currently lower in price that DD server, and I am using better equipment. Better cpu, ram, hard drives, thunderbolt. I based it on 24TB setup. Any computer can run 24/7, but you do use more electricity. The best way is to setup is wake on lan.

If you want a company to build it for you, then here is a silent music server. http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/hfx_classic_fanless_pc.html

Or the Mac Mini option there is ways to do sounds cards with Mac Mini. Just that it will cost a bit more, but I do a DAC.

Nitro

[wappinghigh]

You are correct they run 24/7.

James why don't you write a little app to help this problem..?

You know the DDNas will power itself up and down from a web browser via the separate motherboard IP as we discovered...

I little app running in navigator would solve this issue

Sure, it would take a minute or so to power it up but so what?

With logic we could also power it down at certain times when nobody is in the house as well..

Cheers

Wap

[wappinghigh]

James, can you address how your solution differed from the DVD solution provided by Kaleidescape that lost a key legal battle this year as in inception they seem identical. Also how do you plan to avoid similar injunctions against your solution?

This is an expensive purchase for an item that you oils be forced to stop selling and or supporting.

That won't happen with the NAS. How can it? It's basically running FreeNas and folks have been independently backing up to Nas drives now for years..*Lot's* of folks...

[wappinghigh]

^Even *if* there was any legal battle.. and heavens forbid DD was taken down, you could still load up Freenas onto the NAS or WHS onto the Movie server box, and presto, you'd be good to go...

[wappinghigh]

So what will they do.. start running legal battles individually on pretty much every citizen in the entire population of the world that back's up Movies after purchasing the original content? On high Court Judges?, Control4?, Dentists? Politicians?, Walmart? China and Russia? France? What if AVSForums was taken down... sure nobody would notice this little blog.. But everybody luv's AVSForums.. There would be an international outcry... Still I suppose JRiver would be finished.

[wappinghigh]

That's one of the reasons I've started up C4 Users on facebook. (there are others..the main one being it has the potential to spread our hobby to an entire new demographic, and geee...it's even fun )

..but that's one of them.

As kind of an insurance against unpredictable "things" happening. Unknown Unknown's...

So we can carry our beloved hobby on in to the future if any unforeseen event should happen..

What if this forum was ever to die? ....or bleed with slow terminal disease..

What will they do?>..close down facebook..

Or say CytexOne went under. Even Control4...

Come on guys, think beyond the square.. and help a mate out... like up the page guys!

[IHateC4]

You are correct they run 24/7.

James why don't you write a little app to help this problem..?

You know the DDNas will power itself up and down from a web browser via the separate motherboard IP as we discovered...

I little app running in navigator would solve this issue

Sure' date=' it would take a minute or so to power it up but so what?

With logic we could also power it down at certain times when nobody is in the house as well..

Cheers

Wap[/quote']

Why not plug in your NAS to the C4 outlet switch? and set a button on screen to turn on/off ?

Synology has power recovery option which means when the power recovery occur it automatically turns on.

I don't know how C4 dealers helps their clients to minimize the electricity cost, but that's how I do mine.

[wappinghigh]

Sure. But isn't it cleaner to power on/off via software?..and ordered shutdown..

[wappinghigh]

^ and no I'm not starting up C4 Users as some evil plot to bring down and destroy Control4, it's business model, this site, dealers, the planet, the US Government, to spread piracy and illegal copyright infringement around the world, to make a fortune then flog it off to some merchant banker, or any other reason you think I might have..

It's all about having fun. And bringing back the passion !! Facebook is is a hoot. It's fun to use.. That's why the kids and chicks all luv it..

What's life for, if things get so serious.... that we all can't have a bit of fun?