Playing From Cloud

Get answers about the current version of MediaMonkey 5

Moderator: Gurus

Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

My 14 year old NAS died recently. I have a two year old backup, and I have transferred my audio library to my lifetime pCloud storage. Both my Windows and Mac machines access my pCloud storage as a mapped network drive. I can do things like copy files to and from the cloud from my computers. Under Windows 10, my pCloud storage is my P: drive.

I am not seeing that MediaMonkey does much, if any, of pre-loading or caching of audio files. My question is if my audio library exists on my P: drive will MMW5 be able to play music with gapless playback? How about randomly played songs? Will I be waiting for large FLAC files to be downloaded over the Internet before playback? Is there any read ahead and/or pre-loading for the next upcoming song that I may configure? Is anyone doing something similar today with a media library stored on cloud? Does it work without issues for you, or are there lengthy delays waiting for MMW5 to load the next song to be played?

I do not want another NAS, and I will not be replacing my QNAP.
Peke
Posts: 17446
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Peke »

Hi,
you should use:
1. Select all tracks that are on P:
2. Use File -> Locate moved Missing tracks -> Point to P: -> Wait the results
3. Confirm update to MM library.

HINT: To limit Cloud storage access bandwidth I would suggest that you disable immediate Tag update on edit at Tools -> Options -> Library -> Tag and Playlists and when you edit tracks use CTRL+S to save tags at one go.

Out of curiosity what QNAP NAS you had?

P.S. You can use https://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsd/ to access NAS HDD connected to PC and get the info back. Done it number of times without any issues.
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
Image
Image
Image
How to attach PICTURE/SCREENSHOTS to forum posts
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

I own a TS-809 Pro. It actually lasted a long time, but I had a power failure that resulted in a shutdown that was not clean. It is connected to a UPS, but the UPS did not keep power long enough for a clean shutdown. When the power returned the NAS was 100% not operational with three bay lights flashing red. The power and reset buttons were not functional. I did not suspect bad hard drives, but Google searching tells me that these NAS devices are prone to MOSFET transistor failures.

As I stated, I do have a backup that is two years old. It's not a complete backup, and there's some data that I would like to get back. It was seven 3TB hard drives running RAID6. Three hard drive lights flashing red means that two out of seven hard drives had issues. One bay was completely empty and may be ignored. RAID6 supports two hard drive failures, so I should be able to recover all data. This NAS was not cheap when I bought it, and I spent lots of money replacing hard drives over the years. pCloud is significantly cheaper in this regard. I don't ever want to face this again, which is why I decided to go with pCloud lifetime storage.
Peke
Posts: 17446
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Peke »

Hi,
It is one of known QNAP issues reporting not clean and light HDDs Happened to me number of times, Usually when power failure they are false positive, but QNAP never bothered fixing it.

if you can still power on the NAS try these steps:
1. Hot unplug Affected HDD
2. Use WinSCP to edit "/mnt/HDA_ROOT/.conf" and Delete lines with affected HDD Serials
3. Hot Plug HDD
4. If HDD is OK then It should be green now

7x3TB = 15TB of Data (total), so I guess buying https://www.newegg.com/wd-0f38462-16tb/ ... 6822234479 should be OK also as you had 7 drives https://www.amazon.com/Express-Controll ... B07TV4XJ7S or similar should cover. Going RAID6 without full redundant power at least 35-45min autonomy (15Min before auto shutdown).

Personally after GPM fiasco and closing I really do not trust any Cloud service. I wonder how much you paid for 15TB lifetime Storage as from what I see 2TB cost 1200€ and you get only 2 TB monthly traffic?

For that price I can buy 2x14TB Drives (RAID1), 2 Bay QNAP NAS and Additional 14TB Drive + enclosure for offline incremental backup.

I personally have 4x8TB drives divided in 2 by 2 RAID1 that give me total of 16TB data. 2Gbit Ethernet Wired access (2x 1GBIT LACP/LAG group) to those files, Connected to Cyberpower 1500W UPS (made modification so I Can add additional external battery for additional time [45min autonomy atm] or battery replacement and also if needed I can turn on active cooling of UPS inverter driver).
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
Image
Image
Image
How to attach PICTURE/SCREENSHOTS to forum posts
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

for pCloud I just have 2TB total storage for now. I will upgrade later when they have another discount. I have 2TB total space now, and I am only using 1.1TB. I won't upgrade until I need space. I will go for the 10TB upgrade when another discount comes. They had a discount for Valentine's day, but I never bothered upgrading since I still had plenty of space.

Also, the 2TB limit is for shared links only. It is unlimited bandwidth for an account users own use. The bandwidth limits only apply to shared links with others and not the user. pCloud has been running cloud for a long time and is the most robust and full featured of practically all offerings. I can play my media library from any computer or smart phone using their web app, for example.

Lifetime 10TB costs $1,190 US dollars. During the previous Valentine 's discount I mentioned above, it was reduced to $850 or so. That is a one time charge. Compare that to something like Google Cloud Drive, and they charge $200 USD for 10TB every single month. The beauty of this is pCloud takes care of all maintenance, disaster recovery, and everything else. I just have to worry about my data.
Peke
Posts: 17446
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Peke »

Hi,
It is still too expensive for me, I like to take care of my own data and know what I own. But that is just like me not liking to live on leased time.

Also how fast is your internet? I have 1000/100 Mbits link now (65$ a month) and against 2000/2000 Mbits LAN it is slow where I have 150MB/s transfer against 35-45MB/s over Internet when stream copy.

I maintain, service, upgrade several local radio stations and after they switched to NAS they thrived. Just recently I have created double Backups fro one radio station so they have 4 copies (2x QNAP NAS with 2x8TB each using RAID1. 8TB of Media storage) of same data i two locations connected with P2P Optical link 1.25Gbit, remote access and control.

Not sure if you know that most of NAS devices today can also serve as Personal Cloud Servers too.
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
Image
Image
Image
How to attach PICTURE/SCREENSHOTS to forum posts
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

The NAS cost me over $2,000, and the hard drives cost over $1,000 when I originally bought them. That is well over the total cost I paid for lifetime cloud storage. Hard drives must be replaced over and over. Cloud is cheaper by far.

I have cable modem Internet. It's fast. I do not recall the exact speed, but Comcast sped up services to compete with FIOS.
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

Another bonus I get with pCloud storage is that my Jeep has WiFi access. Once my entire audio library is restored to pCloud I will be able to stream high def audio content directly to my vehicle via my smart phone. I won't every have to worry about USB thumb drives ever again, and I can stream high definition FLAC files over the Internet.
Peke
Posts: 17446
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Peke »

Hi,
Dryst wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:14 pm Another bonus I get with pCloud storage is that my Jeep has WiFi access.
I already have that for past 8 years and last 5 I have Direct access to MM library on car headunit at no extra cost directly in MMA.

Well that is not the case anymore.
QNAP TS-233 can be bought for <200 USD
2x WD RED Plus 4TB can be bought for ~150 USD
Good UPS 1000VA+ can be found for 165+ USD

That means you can buy Two sets for same price or BUT Hi-End WiFi router or even Whole house MESH WiFi system to improve that aspect or improve House Automatization and media Services. Not even talking on what NAS can also do except share files.

EDIT: My WD Reds Last 8 years now and I only bought new because I needed more space and old went to other PCs in house (no e-waste).
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
Image
Image
Image
How to attach PICTURE/SCREENSHOTS to forum posts
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

The TS-809 was a high performance NAS at the time. That was the reason it was so expensive. Those cheap NAS devices are not the same class. A QNAP NAS today that compares with what I no longer use would be: TS-869 pro or QNAP TVS-872N

I cannot even find the TS-869 pro for sale anywhere, and the 872 cost over $3,000 USD

I just found an 872 for over $2,000 USD: https://store.qnap.com/tvs-872xt-i5-16g-us.html

This one is lacking something the other on Amazon had, but it would be comparable to what I now own for today.
Peke
Posts: 17446
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Peke »

Hi,
Are you sure that you need that power for personal use?
Based on your Cloud usage and 2TB, TS-233 should be more than enough, Currently it is working 24/7, serving 10PCs for 6 months and not a single issue.

I have TS-459 Pro II/4GB ram, think that @Lowlander have have 472XT which have have Tunderbolt 3 and 10Gbit LAN and 472N 5Gbit and no Thunderbolt. You know that with it you need to change whole LAN infrastructure that would be at least same price of NAS, single DIMM of 4GB make NAS work 30% slower and those devices beg for 16GB min. RAM and Additional M.2 drives for cache.

But whatever, you know what is the best for you, for me it is just waste of money if not used with 100% capacity.

FYI TS-869 Pro got EOL in December 2022. and last Firmware is 4.3.4.
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
Image
Image
Image
How to attach PICTURE/SCREENSHOTS to forum posts
Barry4679
Posts: 2398
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:07 am
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Barry4679 »

Dryst wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 5:14 pm Lifetime 10TB costs $1,190 US dollars. During the previous Valentine 's discount I mentioned above, it was reduced to $850 or so. That is a one time charge. Compare that to something like Google Cloud Drive, and they charge $200 USD for 10TB every single month.
Yes, but whose "lifetime" are they talking about? ie. yours or theirs?
It is hard to understand that business model. It seems to me that it eventually runs into the same problem as a ponzi investment scheme


I don't like the MediaMonkey Lifetime Gold Licence for the same reason. ie. they get an upfront sugar hit of two years worth of revenue, but then what? Walk away when it becomes uneconomical to continue development and support?
Want a dark skin for MM5? This is the one that works best for me .. elegant, compact & clear.
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

Barry4679 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:34 pm Yes, but whose "lifetime" are they talking about? ie. yours or theirs?
Whichever entity dies first cancels the contract would be my guess :lol:

pCloud has been in business for so long that I am not worried about them going anywhere. I will be constantly upgrading for more storage space, so even with my lifetime plan, I will be upgrading later. As I stated, I am never again buying another NAS. All my data will be in the cloud. It's actually quite handy and convenient. I can access my documents from any computer or my smartphone from anywhere, and the speed is amazing.
Dryst
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Dec 19, 2021 7:27 am

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Dryst »

Peke wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 2:51 am Hi,
Are you sure that you need that power for personal use?
Based on your Cloud usage and 2TB, TS-233 should be more than enough, Currently it is working 24/7, serving 10PCs for 6 months and not a single issue.
As I wrote, I will upgrade +10TB at some point in the future. The way pCloud works is you always add to your existing storage. I am working to fill it up now (recall I wrote I had some data loss). Once my pCloud space is full, I will upgrade.

I especially will never buy another QNAP again. Knowing what I know now, I would have purchased a SYNOLOGY.

Also, the TS-869 Pro has less when compared to my current TS-809 Pro. The only reason I even mentioned it is that they still show it on the main qnap.com page. They need to update their product offerings on their own web page it seems. It actually has less in terms of specs than my current QNAP (less memory and CPU does not look impressive either).
Peke
Posts: 17446
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Playing From Cloud

Post by Peke »

Hi,
Sorry if you felt I was imposing something.

To be honest you seamed well educated in the matter and I am wondering for years what made cloud so appealing and popular.

At least I see better the sales pitch and I know it is not for me at least (I just do not see the point).

Actually I did some digging and they really have good thing going on. At least on paper.

Their discounts are really huge 400$ individual and 600$ for family plan 2TB you use. My intuition and 30 years of internet usage experience tells me to be cautious.

So to answer your initial question. MM do not support pCloud natively but I added https://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=19882 for investigation and possible making of sync plugin.

As for data loss note you added: I know that you had it, your setup was Ticking bomb from start in my opinion, my initiall answer was bout that and possible case scenarios to recover lost data of them.
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
Image
Image
Image
How to attach PICTURE/SCREENSHOTS to forum posts
Post Reply