Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Media Library

This is topic Media Library in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Nicolas Ibanez (Member # 8893) on 06-08-2015, 09:51 AM:

Hello!

I excuse in advance if the question has been answered previously, I've been looking arround without finding anything.

I want to build a Media Library (if thats the real name) to store movies for a while.
My idea is to build a standard pc (i5 or i7), at least 2 4gb hdd in Raid 0 and a Gigaibit ethernet. Install in it OpenMediaVault or another linux NAS oriented distro, and create a FTP share to ingest movies to the DOREMI IMS 1000 server.
I just want to know which is the best way to ingest movies to the Media Library I'm building (USB 3.0, eSATA, etc), and if it is the best solution to backup/serve movies on my theatre.

Thanks in advance,

Nicolas.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 06-08-2015, 10:37 AM:

If you have to build this NAS-PC, instead of having it sitting around more or less unused already, I suggest you buy a NAS device.

But in case you insist on building a PC - both will work, FTP/Ethernet would be your preferred choice to connect the IMS1000. A PC will also allow you to install e.g. DCP-o-matic on it (if you install a supported Linux distribution on it), so you can create your own DCPs/local ads on that same machine.

You may want to buy a 5.25" CRU-DX115 Slot (CRU-Frame, 6602-6500-0500 - most product images for this part number are WRONG), so you can copy or ingest from distribution drives directly to your Library. USB 2.0 and USB3.0 will be available on any current mainboard or NAS, so that's a no-brainer.

If you go the PC route, make sure you will have a dedicated E-SATA port on the machine configured as such, as E-SATA will be less problematic with drive changes than plain SATA - the latter usually being mounted as non-removable drives.

If the DX115 CRU frame is considered too expensive, you could as well use a DX115 MoveDock - you may already have one sitting in your booth for USB or SATA ingests to your IMS1000. For some strange reason, the MoveDock incl. PowerSupply is usually cheaper than the DX115 frame alone. There is an 'old' MoveDock with SATA and USB2.0, and the current version with USB3.0 only. Both may serve your purpose, depending on wether you prefer SATA or USB3.0. USB3.0 may still be a bit slower than SATA, but it is a bit easier to deal with removable drives, as USB is a PnP device.
Proper use of E-SATA will solve that issue, as drive changes in operation will be reported properly.

- Carsten

Posted by Nicolas Ibanez (Member # 8893) on 06-08-2015, 10:25 PM:

Thank you very much for your long and clear answer, it really helped me!

I'm still deciding wether to build a NAS or just buy it.

What about software? Which is the easiest way to ingest the dcp to the PC/NAS. The only way I imagine is ssh to it and then cp files directly, but I'm not the only one who is going to use it.

Thanks a lot!

Nicolas.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 06-09-2015, 04:53 AM:

Servers will ingest, NAS or PC will only copy. There are different options for what you can do with a NAS. I wouldn't even call a real NAS distri necessary for this, as the NAS/RAID function is not 24/7, but only needed for the copy process. I think it makes more sense to have that PC available for additional functions, e.g. like DCP-o-matic.

A NAS device will usually have some sort of a WEB GUI to copy files from external drives to the local RAID - but to access that WEB-GUI, another device with a browser - a PC, is needed anyway, as is necessary to control the IMS1000.

From what PC do you currently control the IMS - external machine somewhere in the building, or a dedicated PC/Notebook close to the machine?

Personally, I prefer a PC, because it can have more functions, like MP3 player, DCP creation, ad player, diagnostic tool, etc.

- Carsten

Posted by Nicolas Ibanez (Member # 8893) on 06-18-2015, 08:54 AM:

Thanks a lot Carsten,

I will use a PC to create that media library, and use it with other apps that I need.

A new question emerge from this, how to know (without need to use the Doremi IMS1000 server) what is inside every folder (UUID named) inside /data/assets.
In other words, is there any software that can read the xml files inside each dcp folder to tell me what movie/trailer/etc is inside?

Thank you!

Nicolas.

Posted by Tim Sherman (Member # 569) on 06-18-2015, 05:09 PM:

Not that I have seen, but would be nice. Best way that I have found was to vnc or web gui into the server and check the uuid against the film title in the content manager of the doremi. Once it is on the nas or file server your doremi will list the files by film name. I regularly transfer films onto a 4tb western digital my cloud network storage using filezilla. The settings on the nas have all been changed to allow ftp and not allow access from outside the network.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 06-18-2015, 05:49 PM:

I think Nicolas is more after a NAS-side solution, without having to involve the server.

I think some DCP software players will have that basic ability to look into a directory and pick up the names from the Metadata. That said - a server will usually offer the same when you have it look into network connected storage. Just that you can not perform local copies from disc to NAS storage that way.

- Carsten

Posted by Ian Freer (Member # 1940) on 06-19-2015, 01:13 AM:

One option I have used for some sites where most of the users are not tech-savy is a NAS that has a front USB port and a OneTouch backup button.
Users just plug the HDD (or USB MoveDock) into the NAS, press the one-touch button, and the entire contents of the HDD is copied onto the NAS.

On the server create an ftp source looking at the same shared folder on the NAS as the OneTouch destination folder and all DCP's will be visible.

The front panel USB on the NAS's I use (such as QNAP TS-412) are only USB2.0, so it's a slow copy process, but anyone can do it.

You, as the System-Admin can take care of the 'trickier' things such as managing the content, deleting older DCPs etc at a convenient time.
When the contents is copied onto the NAS, a new folder with the date is created, so to make managing/finding DCP's easier, I suggest they keep a little notebook and make a note of what DCP they copied on what day. It's a pretty simple process (and while I'm certain it's not the best solution for some sites), it's pretty easy to teach the staff and implement the procedure.

----

The only option I know of for something that can recognise DCP structures would be TMS software.
The GDC TMS is relatively inexpensive software that can be installed onto pretty much any current Windows PC, (and I think you can use a normal NAS as the library).
Like anything with computers, the more you spend, the higher the performance. The GDC TMS on an entry-level PC may be a little slow, and transfer speeds may be slower from a basic 'domestic' NAS, but if you're not in a hurry it all works really well.

Cheers,
Ian

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 06-20-2015, 07:16 AM:

There is even one free TMS system:

http://www.cinedigitalmanager.com/cdm/en/downloads/

Might be worth a try. And it's available for Linux systems.

- Carsten

Posted by Nicolas Ibanez (Member # 8893) on 06-20-2015, 09:08 AM:

Hey!! Thanks a lot for all your help! I'll try the different options and let you know which gava me the best results.

Nicolas
[Smile]