Using Recorded TV From a Network Share in WMC

[mpatnode]

Just as a data point.  I’ve been running my HTPC off a 128G SSD for the last two years and I move ALL my recordings to a ReadyNAS NV+ on a nightly basis in the same DVRMSToolbox pipeline that detects the commercials.   

I did have to debug a problem I ran into after doing a W7 re-install with writes of large files failing, but I got those all worked out.   I typically see around 20-30Mbs write speeds and 30-50Mbs reads (enabling Jumbo packets is important).   I’m sure an NVX would do even better.

The only time I’ve experienced playback issues is if DVRMS is in the process of pushing a show back to the NAS.   I used task scheduler to do this during the wee hours of the morning, and haven’t had a problem since.

 

[santanan]

Make sure both devices are negotiating at 1gb.  PCs in general have tendencies to not refresh network mappings unless  you are constantly accessing the NAS/WHS. 

I currently have two ReadyNAS Business Pro, and although the sequential write/read speeds are sustained at 85Mb/s, I currently finished building my HTPC/NAS.  Does your NAS/WHS have dual NICs? If so, you should bind them so you can get more bandwidth.

[mpatnode]

Yes, BP is a much beefier box than my poor little NVX.   I max out the CPU when reading, so I know there’s not much I can do to get better performance.

Are you using the iSCSI support built into the BP?   This would allow you to record directly to the drive (though there’s lots of other reasons to not want to do that).   I tried a third party iSCSI plug-in on the NVX.   Unfortunately it didn’t talk directly to the device, so it was significantly slower than Samba.

[santanan]

iSCSI is great, but “home” NAS devices aren’t built to sustain high traffic loads.  Keep in mind that the peripherals installed, in home NAS devices, are designed to create a simple RAID solution to share files, basic multimedia streaming and maintain backups/redundancy.

They are great for users that have small home/office networks and do not stream multiple large multimedia files. Home NAS and WHS are designed for basic file sharing and a basic multimedia experience, with a few nice features to make it more interesting.

My home network is wired CAT6, i’m not a big fan of wireless, so i have great performance.  And forget about streaming multiple large multimedia files over wireless, then you will definitely experience connection breaks and lack of refreshes.

 

 

[mpatnode]

Not sure what your point is, but the bottom line is that you shouldn’t have any problem using SMB shares (Linux or Windows) to store and playback your recordings on a wired network.    You might find some challenges with simultaneous playback on multiple clients, but on a 1Gb wired network with jumbo-packet support end-to-end, I suspect you could get 2-3 streams going with today’s hardware.

(Correction, I have an NV+ not an NVX, the latter I suspect has enough horse-power for 2-3 streams)

(Finally, Mike & crew are reviewing my blog post which goes into detailed network settings for optimal SMB/NAS settings)

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