How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced

How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - Printable Version

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How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - ReneZ - 18-01-2014 14:30

Hi, maybe a strange question, but I operate a server from my QNAP NAS and from a RaspberryPI set-up.

I would like to keep the music directory on the QNAP and on the USB harddrive attached to the RBPI sinced (basically make sure that what I add to the one gets copied to the other). There is no 'master drive' and meantime both drives have different bits of music on it, so simply copying one onto the other would not work.

Does anyone has ideas or experience dealing with this?

Thanks, Rene

PS If I have to do two steps (first ensure both drives have the same content, then create a set-up to have updates applied to both volumes, that's OK.

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - DavidHB - 18-01-2014 19:29

It's not a strange question; there are a number of good reasons to keep music on separate volumes.

I keep my 'master' music folder (the one into which I rip CDs and on which I do all the metadata work) on my main Windows PC, with MinimServer running when needed on the PC to access the music directly. But I keep the folder I normally use for listening on my NAS, with MinimServer running all the time. I use the (free) Microsoft Synctoy to mirror changes in the master folder over to the folder on the NAS. SyncToy can of course be used with any folder on the network that the Windows PC can see, so could be used with your setup if you have a Windows PC on your network.

The 'mirroring' approach has the advantages (1) that it provides a backup of the music files and (2) that you can be working on the 'master' folder while using the folder on the NAS to listen to the music. But some users may prefer, for reasons of disk space, music organisation or family preference, to keep different music on the different drives. In fact, quite separately from the arrangement I have described, my daughter has a copy of MinimServer on her laptop, so that she can play the music stored there to my renderer. Sometimes, therefore, my control point can switch between any one of four servers (my NAS also has a DNLA server) which are simultaneously on line.

These different approaches are possible because separate instances of MinimServer can co-exist on the same network, though not (I think) at present on the same device. Typically, control points make it easy to switch between servers (though you do need to know which server is hosting the music you are looking for ...).

The bottom line is that either of the approaches you are considering could work well, depending on your precise requirements. But I would advise that you need a separate, local instance of MinimServer to serve each music volume. Simon advises that trying use use MinimServer on one machine to serve music on a network folder elsewhere in the system is likely to degrade performance significantly.

I hope this helps.

David

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - ReneZ - 18-01-2014 19:51

David, great, got it at the SyncToy ref - I have a very similar situation as you and with two kids (well - 21 and 19...) using the system as well I have Twonky (Pictures and Video) and two instances of MinimServer running its a chalange to keep all up to date.

Just a quick one, with the one action (Drive A to Drive B) overwright all on the second drive (Drive B) or does it just add/overwright?

Thanks, Rene.

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - Andre Gosselin - 18-01-2014 20:03

(18-01-2014 14:30)ReneZ Wrote: Hi, maybe a strange question, but I operate a server from my QNAP NAS and from a RaspberryPI set-up.

I would like to keep the music directory on the QNAP and on the USB harddrive attached to the RBPI sinced (basically make sure that what I add to the one gets copied to the other). There is no 'master drive' and meantime both drives have different bits of music on it, so simply copying one onto the other would not work.

Does anyone has ideas or experience dealing with this?

Thanks, Rene

PS If I have to do two steps (first ensure both drives have the same content, then create a set-up to have updates applied to both volumes, that's OK.

GoodSync (http://www.goodsync.com) is a great tool if your volumes are accessible on Windows. Not free however. I have used it for more than 4 years now without problems.

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - DavidHB - 18-01-2014 21:15

(18-01-2014 19:51)ReneZ Wrote: Just a quick one, with the one action (Drive A to Drive B) overwrite all on the second drive (Drive B) or does it just add/overwrite?

As with any file copying program, you have to read the instructions very carefully!

For each defined task (which it calls a 'folder pair'), SyncToy has, as it were, three modes or actions, Synchronise, Echo, and Contribute. In the action selection dialog, each action is fully defined.

Exclamation

If, before you start, you can make a full backup of each music folder to a safe location, you will at least have a fall-back if things go disastrously wrong.

For the first stage of copying, if you are producing identical copies in both music folders (which I will call A and B), the safest option is probably to use Contribute, as this does not perform any deletions. You would run 2 folder pairs, both with the Contribute action, which (obviously) would be A to B and then B to A.

Exclamation

Note that you can run a preview, to see what SyncToy is going to do before it does anything problematic.

In the ideal world, this process would produce 2 identical and correctly populated music folders. But files with slightly different names or in different folders can produce unwanted duplications. This is why I have a 'master' folder, where I make all the changes; I then 'Echo' the master to my 'listening' folder. To get to the point where you can do this, you may need to go through whichever folder you choose as the master to delete any spurious files and re-organise as necessary. It can be a bit of work, but, in my experience, it is worth the effort.

David

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - DavidHB - 18-01-2014 21:44

(18-01-2014 20:03)Andre Gosselin Wrote: GoodSync (http://www.goodsync.com) is a great tool if your volumes are accessible on Windows. Not free however. I have used it for more than 4 years now without problems.

I looked up Goodsync for interest. It is multiplatform, which is a big plus. It also has a wider range of facilities than SyncToy. But I can do everything I want with SyncToy, and at $39.95 I could not justify the cost, which is pretty much the same as my ripping software.

David

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - ReneZ - 18-01-2014 22:42

Got it downloaded and its running now (SyncToy that is). Will be interesting to see what comes out at the other end :-)

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - magister - 19-01-2014 17:13

Several years ago I settled on allway sync (http://allwaysync.com/). For some reason I preferred it to Goodsync, can't remember why at this point. It has worked very well for me (Windows, but deals fine with syncing to my Synology NAS). I didn't know about SyncToy. If for some reason SyncToy doesn't work out, check allway sync. It's free for personal use, but if you start start dealing with very large amounts of data (like terabytes of music files . . . ) they want you to buy the pro version. This is all spelled out on the web page; it's a tad cheaper than Goodsync.

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - ReneZ - 20-01-2014 02:14

Thanks team, I think SyncToy eventually did it after having a run-around with access authorisations. Took a loooong time :-)

RE: How to keep two different volumes on a network sinced - DavidHB - 20-01-2014 15:07

(20-01-2014 02:14)ReneZ Wrote: ... after having a run-around with access authorisations.

Sadly, this is all too common when running different OSs on the same network.

Quote: Took a loooong time :-)

It would do. With the Pi, you are working with a fairly slow processor and a USB 2 (rather than main bus connected) drive. Also, if your network is 10/100 Ethernet (and even more if it's wireless), large data transfers will take a while. I am gradually converting the whole of my multi-node wired network to gigabit, and already have the connection between my master music folder and the listening folder at this speed.

David