Hello everyone,

 

First let me say - I am working with the three disk version of unRAID and I am all smiles - definitely a GREAT product with a very small learning curve (especially for the inexperienced like me).  However, after spending a fair amount of time researching my best options I have a few basic questions I am hoping to find assistance with.  I have read much of the unRAID Wiki (very informative) as well as numerous posts in the forum and on Google, but am hoping to learn more from user experience.

 

My quest for an expandable storage solution brought me to unRAID due to my recent purchase of two Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB hard drives.  I am currently running a two disk Ubuntu 8.04 file server (Samba) that is configured with software Raid-1 on a Dell SC440.  I have run this system for the past three years without any issues, including several power outages due to blown transformers in my neighborhood.

 

My original intention was to simply add the two new drives in another raid-1 (mdadm).  However, after learning that Western Digital removed TLER from consumer drives, I realized I had better do some more research (TLER = Time-Limited Error Recovery which can conflict with error handling when using a raid card, and I *believe* mdadm).  I don't believe TLER has any affect on an unRAID system.

 

My Questions (any insight is GREATLY appreciated):

 

1.  I use the server as file storage for personal files, music and video, and business files.  However, many of my business files change on a daily basis.  I do a lot of work with 25MB+ Photoshop files, Dreamweaver etc and often update multiple files throughout the day.  I also re-arrange folders and folder names as well as file locations within directories, and sync my laptop to the server using BeyondCompare .  With this in mind, is unRAID suited (considering the parity changes required) to the way I use files/folders?

 

2.  I have tested the speed of unRAID and am very impressed - I don't see any issues with writes/reads over a Gigabit LAN (I was able to copy a 6.4GB DVD ISO in 4:15 ~ 25MB/s - from Windows Laptop >>> unRAID Server).  I have read information regarding the performance benefits of Raid-5 or 6, however, I am not certain how that would come into play over an inexpensive Gigabit network such as mine. As a quick "read test" I simultaneously streamed 6 DVD ISOs to my laptop without any issues - and could have opened more.  With this in mind why WOULD a typical user such as myself need a Raid-5 or 6 solution?  (With only 1-3 users - are 150MB+ disk reads/writes overkill for Gigabit networking?)

 

3.  From my initial experience with unRAID, I understand that a typical setup can withstand a single drive failure (parity or data) - and additional drive loss only affects the "lost" drives.  Is it "safe" to think of the redundancy as being "on par" with Raid-1?

 

4.  With regard to data migration to the unRAID server - is it possible to mount my single unRAID data disk within Ubuntu, copy all files to it (using pre-configured unRAID user shares), and then have unRAID update parity when re-initialized?

 

I am tremendously thankful for any insight that anyone can provide.  If these questions have been answered before I certainly apologize for the re-post. 

 

Thank you and Best regards!

1)  As far as 25MB files you'll be fine, if you were editing video you'd want to copy them to your local drive to do editing and copying back, but with files that small it shouldn't be an issue.  Renaming files/folders isn't very intensive (and moving files won't have much impact as long as they're moved within the same disk)

 

2)  If you're going for RAID 5 or 6, you're mostly going for performance reasons - something like a database server would not do well on unraid as there will be frequent disk changes and you generally want queries to run as fast as possible.  Video editing is another application that benefits from fast reads/writes.

 

3)  Unraid provides exactly the same redundancy as RAID 4 (as that's what unraid is essentially, a software RAID 4 that's easily expandable) -  any one disk can fail before there will be data loss (much like RAID 1 on a single drive, or a RAID 5).  It does not have hot swap capability so if your RAID card does that would provide a little more protection.  Edit: Rajahal is correct, RAID 4 has striping and unraid does not, I thought I had read that raid 4 didn't stripe but I was mistaken.  And to clarify, the comment about hot swapping was to indicate that if you went with a RAID setup instead of unraid that would provide the ability to hot swap.

 

4)  Yes, if you take the disk out to another system and make changes, you can pop it back into the unraid, but you'll have to recalculate parity so if any drives failed during that time then you've lost data.  This is called the "restore" option by the unraid web gui.

 

 

I use unRaid both at home - for my video and mp3 files - and as a server at work - storing machine images, backups, and to store call recordings (I work at an incoming call center - you know how they always say this call may be recorded for training purposes, etc.; those files are going to our unraid).

3)  Unraid provides exactly the same redundancy as RAID 4 (as that's what unraid is essentially, a software RAID 4 that's easily expandable) -  any one disk can fail before there will be data loss (much like RAID 1 on a single drive, or a RAID 5).  It does not have hot swap capability so if your RAID card does that would provide a little more protection.

 

I don't believe that is true.  unRAID is RAID 4 without striping, which has its pros and cons.  The big pro is that in a worst case scenario, you can perform drive recovery on individual data disks.  The biggest con is reduced performance (since all the parity info is stored on one disk).

 

Also, unRAID is not Hot Swap compatible in any scenario, even if your RAID card supports it.

 

4)  Yes, if you take the disk out to another system and make changes, you can pop it back into the unraid, but you'll have to recalculate parity so if any drives failed during that time then you've lost data.  This is called the "restore" option by the unraid web gui.

 

This is true only if the Ubuntu or other Linux system uses ReiserFS (which is what unRAID uses).  Also, be very, very careful with the 'restore' button - generally speaking, it should only be used if you are permanently removing a disk from your unRAID server and don't care about the data on it.  The 'restore' button does not save or restore your data.  The easiest way to lose data on an unRAID server is to press 'restore' at the wrong time, especially after a drive failure.

Hi barrettj  and Rajahal,

 

Thank you both for taking the time to answer my questions - I greatly appreciated it! 

 

The more I learn about unRAID - I am really getting hooked.  As I mentioned I have not had the need for a tremendous amount of storage - however, recently I have purchased a video camera that outputs to 720p h264.  With this in mind I can see that my storage needs are going to increase dramatically (it is amazingly easy to fill up a 16GB SD card).  I would also like to venture more into serving movies and my limited MP3/Ogg collection.  Seeing that barettj uses unRAID at work for storage definitely provides some comfort for making the switch.

 

I was also looking at EON ZFS Storage - however, I am not certain if I want to dedicate the time to the learning curve vs. the 20 minutes it took to have unRAID up and running (less formatting etc).

 

I typically work with video and graphic files locally, then copy to the server when finished.  This being the case it sounds like unRAID will be perfect for my needs.  Having to dedicate only one drive for parity sounds great (even if a "little" spooky in case of another drive dying during a rebuild) - yet the idea that other drives are not affected (e.g. in the event of parity loss) is awesome. 

 

And thank you both explaining the "Restore" button concept - I will be very cautious in this regard.

 

Well - now it's just a matter of purchasing a new 2GB Flash Drive and getting the ball rolling.  Thank you both again and I look forward to seeing you in the forum - best wishes!

Hi barrettj  and Rajahal,

 

Thank you both for taking the time to answer my questions - I greatly appreciated it! 

 

The more I learn about unRAID - I am really getting hooked.  As I mentioned I have not had the need for a tremendous amount of storage - however, recently I have purchased a video camera that outputs to 720p h264.  With this in mind I can see that my storage needs are going to increase dramatically (it is amazingly easy to fill up a 16GB SD card).  I would also like to venture more into serving movies and my limited MP3/Ogg collection.  Seeing that barettj uses unRAID at work for storage definitely provides some comfort for making the switch.

 

I was also looking at EON ZFS Storage - however, I am not certain if I want to dedicate the time to the learning curve vs. the 20 minutes it took to have unRAID up and running (less formatting etc).

 

I typically work with video and graphic files locally, then copy to the server when finished.  This being the case it sounds like unRAID will be perfect for my needs.  Having to dedicate only one drive for parity sounds great (even if a "little" spooky in case of another drive dying during a rebuild) - yet the idea that other drives are not affected (e.g. in the event of parity loss) is awesome. 

 

And thank you both explaining the "Restore" button concept - I will be very cautious in this regard.

 

Well - now it's just a matter of purchasing a new 2GB Flash Drive and getting the ball rolling.  Thank you both again and I look forward to seeing you in the forum - best wishes!

The button labeled as "restore" is actually a "Set Initial Disk Configuration" button.  In the mind of the developer at lime-tech it restored the server to a state BEFORE any parity was calculated and set a new disk configuration based on the then assigned and working disks.  It does not have anything to do with restoring data, and, in fact, if pressed when you have a failed drive will immediately invalidate parity, discarding the contents of the failed drive with it.

 

There is an exception to this rule, but to use the exception all your disks must be functional.  Otherwise, always use the "Start" button to start your array, especially if you have any failed disk, or are replacing a failed disk, you still use the "Start" button.

 

Good luck with your new server once you get it assembled and configured.

 

Joe L.

Thank you Joe for the valuable insight - I am keeping a "journal" of all the helpful information and this will be at the top of the page in bold, red letters.

 

I have spent a lot of time in this forum during the past three days and appreciate the wealth of knowledge and experience within this community.  I also find the logical, common sense approach to storage quite refreshing. 

 

Now on to buying a new flash drive - hopefully 2GB will be large enough  .

Now on to buying a new flash drive - hopefully 2GB will be large enough  .

 

2GB should be more than enough, but as cheap as flash drives are these days get a bigger one if you feel like it.  I just purchased an 8GB one for the test machine I have set up.  I only have the free version of unRAID set up on it, but when unRAID 5 comes out there is supposed to be more support for add-ons which may mean that a bigger flash drive is useful.

Hi prostuff1 - that makes much more sense.  I was just pricing new flash drives and see that the larger ones are often less expensive than the smaller ones. 

 

unRAID 5 sounds like a very interesting upgrade.  I also have the free version installed and am definitely going to "tinker" with some of the add-ons that are available (especially Samba and SSH).  I see where the additional space would be of great benefit in this regard.

 

I just thought of another question - regarding rebuild times.  I am not experienced with using raid with parity - only GMirror in Raid-1 (haven't had to rebuild with mdadm).  I read a post in the forum where another user was upgrading a 360GB drive with a 1TB drive.  They mentioned that their system had been rebuilding for "a couple of hours" and the status was at 18% - with 900 minutes remaining.  A rough "estimate" (using their stated times) suggests that the total rebuild time would be *around* 17 +/- hours.  Would this be a realistic expectation/ballpark for say an unRAID server using 4x 1TB drives?  (I know this is VERY system dependent, so exact figures can't apply  ).

 

   

 

 

Like you said, it depends on your system.  If you can avoid using the PCI bus at all you can avoid a lot of the time it takes to rebuild from a drive failure.  The rebuild process uses every single disk (besides the failed one), so if any one of your disks is significantly slower than the rest (either due to bus speed, rotational speed, or one of many other factors), then the entire rebuild will operate as if all your disks were that slow.

 

You may want to look at this:

Why is PCI Express better than PCI?

 

and this:

Improving unRAID Performance - Move Largest and Fastest Data Drives Off PCI Bus

 

Since I adapted used hardware for my unRAID server (I didn't buy all new parts), I ended up using a PCI-based Promise TX4 card that I already had.  My server's full specs are in my sig.  Since my motherboard has 6 SATA ports, I only have two drives on the TX4.  Even given this PCI bus limitation (which isn't too bad, since it's only two disks; four disks would be far worse), my parity checks and rebuilds-from-parity complete in under 8 hours (I run them overnight, so I haven't timed them exactly).

Hi Rajahal - Thank you again for the information and links!  Currently my needs *should* be satisfied with the four on-board SATA ports on my Dell motherboard.  However, in the future when necessary I will definitely follow your advice in keeping off the PCI bus.  I have used the Promise cards (before SATA ports were available) and know exactly what you mean as far as the speed limitations. 

 

You have some pretty nice hardware!  8 hours for your rebuilds and parity checks sounds great - especially considering the size of the drives that you are using.  I was somewhat concerned that the process might be much longer (fear of losing second drive) - but now knowing this I feel much more comfortable.  I was reviewing a couple of references to the potential (as well as complexity) of having a second parity drive for unRAID but haven't found anything current in the forum.  However, from what you mention this seems pretty on par with rebuilding a standard raid-1 with the same size drives.

 

One thing I noticed about your setup is that you use a 1.5TB parity drive with a 1.5TB data drive.  It got me thinking a bit about future-proofing with the concept that the parity drive must be at least as large as the largest data drive.  I plan on starting off with 3-4 1TB data drives and simply using another of the same drive (and size) for the parity drive (keep it simple with 4-5 of the same drives).  Is there any benefit to using parity drive that is *larger* than all data drives - especially with some of the advanced systems that users have in this forum?  (hypothetically thinking - say a 1.5TB parity + 8 1TB drives). 

 

Due to my minimal experience with parity based raid - I have a hard time wrapping my mind around 10 drives filled with data requiring only one parity to rebuild any lost drive.  However, I realize that my thinking (incorrectly) is more along the lines of 4 bottles of wine cannot fit into a 5th bottle without spilling over .

 

How do you like your Acer Aspire Revo?  I have been looking at these for several months and want to make the jump (so inexpensive!).  My understanding is that they stream 1080p just fine, but sometimes *stumble* with Flash.  I have an external USB DVD player that is rather anxious to find a home!

 

How do you like your Acer Aspire Revo?  I have been looking at these for several months and want to make the jump (so inexpensive!).  My understanding is that they stream 1080p just fine, but sometimes *stumble* with Flash.  I have an external USB DVD player that is rather anxious to find a home!

 

I have 2 of them and have XBMC Live installed on them. They play 1080p without a hitch. Very happy with mine.

Due to my minimal experience with parity based raid - I have a hard time wrapping my mind around 10 drives filled with data requiring only one parity to rebuild any lost drive.  However, I realize that my thinking (incorrectly) is more along the lines of 4 bottles of wine cannot fit into a 5th bottle without spilling over

The idea is really simple actually. Consider just the first bit of your first drive (0 or 1), the first bit of your second drive, the first bit of your third drive, etc. Add them up together, and you'll get either a even or a odd number. If the sum is even, then you write a 0 in the first bit of your parity drive. If the sum is odd, then you write a 1 in the first bit of your parity drive. That way, the summ with the parity drive will always be even. Now with this knowledge, if any one drive goes missing, we can deduct what the value of that bit was on the missing disk, by simply adding the same bit from all the remaining disks.

 

Hi Rajahal - Thank you again for the information and links!

My pleasure.

 

You have some pretty nice hardware!  8 hours for your rebuilds and parity checks sounds great - especially considering the size of the drives that you are using.  I was somewhat concerned that the process might be much longer (fear of losing second drive) - but now knowing this I feel much more comfortable.  I was reviewing a couple of references to the potential (as well as complexity) of having a second parity drive for unRAID but haven't found anything current in the forum.  However, from what you mention this seems pretty on par with rebuilding a standard raid-1 with the same size drives.

Thanks!  I'm very happy with my hardware and my server's performance.  Hence, I'm in no hurry to replace my TX4, even though it is the 'weakest link'.  Still, if it died today and I need to replace it, I would certainly get a PCI-e card.

 

I plan on starting off with 3-4 1TB data drives and simply using another of the same drive (and size) for the parity drive (keep it simple with 4-5 of the same drives).  Is there any benefit to using parity drive that is *larger* than all data drives - especially with some of the advanced systems that users have in this forum?  (hypothetically thinking - say a 1.5TB parity + 8 1TB drives).  

No, there is no benefit to having a larger parity drive in terms of server performance.  The cost of the larger drive would most likely also be a downside, as the extra space would be completely unused (and unusable).

 

There are many strategies to buying new drives floating around these forums, but I like to keep it simple (Purko, cover your eyes! ;P).  I perform a simple calculation to give me an estimate of how good of a 'deal' a hard drive sale may or may not be.  Simply take the size of the HDD in GB and divide by the price (after shipping).  Taking the example of the 'good deal' I submitted today, 1500 GB/$89.99 = 16.66 GB/dollar spent.  Compare that to another recent deal on a 2 TB drive, 2000 GB/$124.99 = 16.00 GB/dollar spent.  So in my mind, the 1.5 TB drive is a 'better deal'.  As Purko will point out, this method does not take into account the cost of slots in the server, the cost of power, etc.  It is quick and simple, but not thorough.  For a full discussion of this and other strategies, read this thread.

 

The reason I went into all of this is twofold:

1) You should only buy a new drive when you need it, not preemptively.  This allows you to ride the wave of 'sweet spots' in terms of HDD sales and pricing (the longer you wait, the cheaper a HDD will be, generally speaking).

2) The only 'benefit' to having a larger parity drive is if you got a better 'deal' on it.  That's the way I look at it, at least.  Whenever I run out of space on my server, I hit Newegg and start shopping for drives.  I perform my simple calculation and determine which drive I consider to be the best deal.  Even though my largest drive is currently a 1.5 TB, if I needed a new drive today and found the 2 TB drives to be a better deal, then I would buy one and make it my parity drive.  I would then make my current parity drive into a data drive, and take my smallest data drive out of commission.

 

On somewhat of a side note, an added benefit of using a cache drive (besides the write speed increases) is that I can use it as a means of temporary storage to 'tide me over' until the next hard drive sale.  Say my server was full today but there were no hard drives sales going on.  I could simply run the mover script (to make sure there is nothing important on my cache drive), then stop the array, go to the devices page and unassign the cache drive, reassign it as a data drive, then restart the array.  I would then have 320 GB of space to tide me over until the next hard drive sale.

 

How do you like your Acer Aspire Revo?  I have been looking at these for several months and want to make the jump (so inexpensive!).  My understanding is that they stream 1080p just fine, but sometimes *stumble* with Flash.  I have an external USB DVD player that is rather anxious to find a home!

I love it!  I have the single core version, the 1600 (stock, no RAM upgrade), running XBMC Live, and a simple MCE remote.  My TV is 720p, so I haven't tested much 1080p on the Revo, but all of my 720p files (even the high bitrate Planet Earth stuff) plays perfectly.  The perfect unRAID companion, in my opinion.

purko - your explanation is perfect - the light bulb has finally come on (Thank you!).  From this I better understand the intricacies of parity checks (and how they affect write speeds when done on-the-fly).  With this in mind I now see that it is unnecessary (and somewhat a poor use of space) to have a parity disk larger than the largest data disk.

 

gabbott - I have seen so many users (in this forum and others) that reference XBMC Live - it must be a great project.  I will definitely have to check this out to learn more.  Three Xboxes - I am impressed.  I will definitely revisit the Revo as I would like to use something for Netflix other than my laptop.

 

My quest for secure file storage is definitely opening up new avenues for entertainment (and spending money which is always a good thing ) - thank you everyone for your valuable insight!

Rajahal - I see I hit the submit button just a few minutes after your post and didn't get a chance to read it until now.

 

It sounds like you have a very well thought out plan for system management and expansion - I can see where I will need to adopt a similar process.  One thing that I foresee is my tendency to save "everything" without regard to overall importance.  With so much storage capability I can see how easy this will be!

 

I like your strategy for buying new hard drives - maybe "simple" as you say, but it definitely takes into account the impact on your wallet - which is a good thing.  Purko's analysis sounds like a friend of mine that is a system admin for a hosting company.  It is amazing the variables that they review to plan the most cost effective upgrades - things that I would have never thought of (I tend to be the type that would drive the extra 25 miles to save an additional $5.00 on a new hard drive, while spending $10.00 in gas .

 

I really like the idea of the cache drive.  However, I must admit that after reading reviews of unRAID's "slow" write speeds, I was pretty impressed with 26MB/sec for a 6.4GB .VOB transfer sans cache drive.  I haven't yet had the chance to work with bulk, "small file" transfers - but so far I am more than pleased.

 

I am going to spend the rest of the evening reviewing the various Revo units.  I was originally thinking about building something on my own, but the inclusion of Window 7 is a no-brainer.  Everyone here has certainly peaked my interest.

 

I laugh when I think only a *few* years ago I was doing summersaults when the "computer show" came to a local convention center.  That day I more than doubled my hard drive storage.  Yes indeed - I went from a 6 GB Maxtor to a HUGE 15 GB Western Digital.  Boy have times changed!

It sounds like you have a very well thought out plan for system management and expansion - I can see where I will need to adopt a similar process.  One thing that I foresee is my tendency to save "everything" without regard to overall importance.  With so much storage capability I can see how easy this will be!

Careful - it becomes an addiction 

 

I really like the idea of the cache drive.  However, I must admit that after reading reviews of unRAID's "slow" write speeds, I was pretty impressed with 26MB/sec for a 6.4GB .VOB transfer sans cache drive.  I haven't yet had the chance to work with bulk, "small file" transfers - but so far I am more than pleased.

Absolutely, unRAID's write speeds (especially in the 4.5.x series) are fantastic.  However, with my relatively slow cache drive I normally see transfer speeds of 50-60 mb/s, more than double the 20 mb/s speeds I get without it (some of my drives are bottlenecked on the PCI bus).

 

I am going to spend the rest of the evening reviewing the various Revo units.  I was originally thinking about building something on my own, but the inclusion of Window 7 is a no-brainer.  Everyone here has certainly peaked my interest.

XBMC is amazing, and highly recommended.  XBMC Live is a stand-alone OS + Media Center (meaning that you don't need Windows at all) - that's what I use.  However, XBMC Live currently is not compatible with Netflix instant view, so for that you will most likely want to install Windows 7 with XBMC on top of it.  Then you will have the option of running XBMC to play your media, or a web browser to play the Netflix stuff.  If you go this route, you may benefit from the faster dual core Revo since Windows takes a bit more power to run.  I've also heard that even the dual core Revo chokes on some flash stuff, like Hulu, so you may want to look into that before committing any money as well.  I imagine Netflix uses flash heavily as well.

 

The simplest Netflix media box that I've used personally is an Xbox 360 + Live Gold account ($50/year).  I think some of the Popcorn Hours can do it as well...

 

I laugh when I think only a *few* years ago I was doing summersaults when the "computer show" came to a local convention center.  That day I more than doubled my hard drive storage.  Yes indeed - I went from a 6 GB Maxtor to a HUGE 15 GB Western Digital.  Boy have times changed!

 

Indeed.  I've still got a 20 GB IDE laptop drive from my first Mac laptop for which I'm trying to figure out a use.

I just got my Pro license today - I AM Addicted!  I *only* have 18 more devices to fill - then I guess it I will need to purchase another license .  I am reading up on cache drive implementation - very interesting solution.

 

I have an older PC that I may try to run XBMC Live on to see how well it will work.  I saw some videos on YouTube - Beautiful interface and I am extremely impressed with the thumbnail capability.  I may be wrong, but I thought I ran across a post in this forum that mentioned thumbnails may not work with VOB files - rather members were using ISOs.  I started backing up DVDs using a single VOB file as I would like to convert some for my cell phone.  I will need to do more research.

 

We have a Wii which I will try to use the free CD/DVD disk that Netflix is developing for streaming content.  It won't have the same resolution as the Revo or Xbox 360 - but should work "ok" until I have a chance to figure out which direction I would like to follow.  The Revo unit definitely make the mouth water!

 

As a followup to my unRAID installation...I plan on implementing some of the great scripts found in the forum.  I also wanted to say that I am very impressed with how members have developed the Wiki - a fantastic resource for "newbies" such as myself.

 

Thanks again to everyone!

 

I started backing up DVDs using a single VOB file as I would like to convert some for my cell phone.

The standard says that VOBs should be split at 1GB. Stick to the standard, or you may regret that later.

Players that know what DVD is, they use the whole folder structure for the playback, not just a single VOB file.

So do the programs that can convert your videos.

 

Yes, you could take a single VOB out and play it all by itself (in a crippled way) but you don't want that.

 

Not read the whole thread but the community here is great so if there is ever anything you are unsure of.... ask questions before pressing buttons

 

 

I started backing up DVDs using a single VOB file as I would like to convert some for my cell phone.

The standard says that VOBs should be split at 1GB. Stick to the standard, or you may regret that later.

Players that know what DVD is, they use the whole folder structure for the playback, not just a single VOB file.

So do the programs that can convert your videos.

 

i always thought they just read the IFO which contains all the information, kind of like an avi/mkv/ogm but without it all in one files like those wrappers, the information needed to playback is in the ifo.

Chris - I am learning that very quickly - thank you for the suggestion!

 

terrastrife - I believe the VOB files actually hold all the movie data (MPEG2 + Audio).  However, in my "learning process" I was ripping DVD's to a single VOB file (for later conversion to other formats) and deleted the IFO files.  Using Media Player Classic I found that the VOB file(s) will play correctly, however, fast forward functionality is not available without the IFO.  I belive the IFO files contain menus and scene information for the VOBs, and give you the ability to skip forward/backward.  I'm not certain of all the details - I need to do more research (My *expertise* is limited to a total of 5-6 DVD rips! ) 

 

I will definitely take Purko's advice though and follow the 1GB standard.  It will be easy enough to use something like VOBMerge to create a single VOB for conversion to h.264 for other purposes - thanks for the advice Purko!

I will definitely take Purko's advice though and follow the 1GB standard.  It will be easy enough to use something like VOBMerge to create a single VOB for conversion to h.264 for other purposes

You don't need VOBMerge for anything. Any decent conversion app will recognize and work on the whole folder.

In Mencoder CLI you open the folder as DVD; you don't point it to a VOB file!

All those GUI conversion apps you may be thinking about, most are just frontends to Mencoder.

 

 

Purko is right.  If you are looking for a simple solution, try DVDShrink for full DVD rips (4.7 GB or smaller), or Handbrake for x264 (open source version of h264) encodes (there's even an iPhone preset).

I now recognize the error of my ways .  My new process will be using either DVD Decrypter or DVDShrink and encoding with Handbrake (I didn't realize I could "feed" multiple VOBs to Handbrake - Great!).

 

Do any of the pros have a recommendation for how they organize their movies - e.g. folder hierarchy? 

 

My "typical" file structure is somewhat disorganized - So I would like to start off on the right foot and develop an actual process (e.g. perform some cleanup).  I would like have a logical folder hierarchy that is compatible with the media player applications discussed in the forum (XBMC etc.).  I was thinking of starting with something basic - like the following:

 

Movies (share, split = 3)

 

>DVD

>>Genre

>>>Title

>>>>VOB1

>>>>VOB2...

 

>TV

>>Genre

>>>Title

>>>>MP4

 

>BluRay (need to buy one of these)

>>Genre

>>>Title

>>>>MP4/ISO 

 

I know this is all based on personal preference.  However, I tend to lump things together and figure now is a great time to get better organized.  Any other ideas besides Genre/Format that I may want to think about?

 

Thanks again everyone!

My new process will be using either DVD Decrypter or DVDShrink and encoding with Handbrake

(I didn't realize I could "feed" multiple VOBs to Handbrake - Great!).

You don't "feed" it VOBs! You "feed" it the folder which contains all the dvd files.

 

DVDShrink is good, but it can't deal with the latest protection schemes all by itself.

DVDShrink works great when you have AnyDVD running in the background.

That's all you'll ever need for DVD ripping.

 

Do any of the pros have a recommendation for how they organize their movies - e.g. folder hierarchy?

If you'll be using a smart frontend like XBMC, then don't worry much about designing some fancy folder hierarchy.

XBMC will build its video database, and then it can present you different "views" like by genre, by year, by director, etc.