I've setup XBMC on a windows based htpc and a couple of pivos Xios decvices. MySQL db is on unRaid.

 

What protocol should I use to connect to unraid ? SMB or NFS ? Any recommendations  of is it all much of a muchness ?

 

I should I ask in the xbmc forums ?

I use SMB. The impression I get reading over this forum there's a problem using NFS and that seems to be one of the things holding up finalizing V5. With the XBMC installation I have, SMB and unRAID work well together.

 

Smb is really easy, no problems with permissions and even though nfs is faster is does not matter with media playback imo.

  I also would recommend SMB.  It just works very well.  I have not had any issues with SMB on any of the XBMP -> XBMC versions on various hardware from old Xbox through Raspberry PI.  SMB also works well for other Media Players like the various WD Live boxes over the years, and the neglected Asus O'Play.

 

  I have also found, after MUCH searching, some SMB utilities/players that also work VERY well on Android with SMB shares!

 

  Just make sure you have unRAID set to be a browser master for SMB.  That way if it is the only computer active on  the network, your XBMC will be able to browse for it.  Also, with some players/software versions, you will want to have everything in the same workgroup too, but with XBMC, you do not need this.  XBMC easily browses through multiple workgroups.  So I also have one workgroup specifically for my unRAID boxes, to keep my computer/folder views organized more easily and easier to find things on a computer vs unRAID when looking for media... :-)  It also helps when creating new compressed media on my computers that then gets transferred to unRAID...

 

Although I have stale nfs file handle problems when writing to nfs shares from desktop machines, using nfs on my xbmc (OpenELEC) players is not a problem.

If you drop back to RC10 the stale NFS file handles will go away or at least be reduced significantly.  May not be the direction Tom wants to go, but works until the next RC is out that would hopefully address this.  My WDTV devices worked fine with NFS on 12a, but my Xubuntu 12.10 64bit was dead stick on NFS.  Going back to RC10 solved the issue for me.  NFS is faster than SMB (+20-30MB/s for me), but if speed is not critical then SMB is more stable than NFS in 12a.