Plex Hack

There's been a widely discussed hack of the servers that Plex uses to host its blog and forums, but supposedly, not the servers that provide the connectivity to the Plex services. At least so far, my external access to Plex hasn't been affected.

When I started out on the journey through Plexland, one of the concerns I had was how dependent delivery of my content would be on a 3rd party. Of course it is! I've always had that lingering question about Plex and how, and whether, my access to my content would be affected by a disruption of their service. So even while I've not looked into their architecture, I understood that should the Plex server/service be disrupted, I'd likely lose my ability to access Plex outside of my own network. It's always a question of how much time/money/work you want to put into an effort like a media center, and there are other options, like Kodi, but Plex is amazing stuff, and for the price I paid for a "lifetime" (whatever that is these days) Plex Pass, is a great bargain if you choose to go this route!

For obvious reasons, Plex doesn't disclose its server/network architecture, but I found this well done blog post on how Plex implemented https, but also discusses some of the other bits behind the workings of Plex.

With the explosion of internet connections both personally and professionally, our devices and connections can probably never be considered secure, and especially so when you understand that when even a network security firm found it had been penetrated If they cannot defend their own (hopefully) highly secured network, what hope do individuals have (this is a rhetorical question)?

Yes, I did change my password. Yes, I'm watching for any 'extra' network activity on my Plex server.

P.S. 2015-07-06 - Plex forums are still down. No impact to me aside from having to re-log into Plex and the server, with every device. I noted that one person on Reddit mentioned disabling port forwarding. Since the hacker said he obtained IP addresses, I assume this could be those of the Plex user's server. Since I've changed my password, I don't see this as necessary and would really make me the victim of the hacker too, since I wouldn't be able to access my server content outside my home network.

2nd (or 3rd) Thoughts

So now that I've accumulated a 25,000+ song music library and a large video library, built around a media center using Plex, I'm watching the Apple Keynote for WWDC where they launch the Apple streaming music service, I have to wonder, should I really be streaming my music/video through one of the services like Apple, Google, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, et al?

Not having used Spotify and Pandora more than superficially (free versions), I don't know to what extent I would be building custom playlists or how easily I'd find it to discover either new artists or more of the artists I already enjoy? How accessible would some of the trance/progressive music I listen to from DJ's like Armin Van Buuren, Dash Berlin, Gareth Emery, Tiesto, be as discoverable as it is for me now? Could I reach back and find (again) some of the gems I might initially overlook?

Then there's the monthly fee, but I wouldn't have to pay for hard disk space and maintain my own server....

The future is streaming, it's more a matter of whether I accumulate and roll/stream my own vs. pay for someone else's collection.

Video streaming of content has expanded beyond the traditional YouTube/Netflix/Hulu/HBO to include apps like Popcorntime which make the underlying bitorrent architecture transparent. Seems like everyone wants the same eyes and ears, whether it's Google, Apple, Amazon, cable company, Verizon/ATT/T-Mobile, Spotify/Pandora and their ilk, and they all want to bundle you to lock you in. Distributors/aggregators like these will determine what you see and what you listen to (through their deal with content creators), even though the selection may be vast.

They want to bundle your own content too, including photos Google Photos, Apple Photos and Amazon (Prime). The idea of having all your "stuff" (whether music or photos) anywhere, without having it on your local device is great, but you'll likely have to make longer term choices about your provider.

Microsoft likely gave up on Windows Media Center in Windows 10, probably recognizing their failing place in content distribution and the future of streaming rather than owned media. They won't even include software for playing a DVD (assuming you have a DVD drive in the future). So unless you roll your own through one of the solutions like Plex, Roku, etc., you probably end up being bundled. The more they bundle you, the stickier the customer you become. You are the product.

Pushing the limits or not?

On the way back to my home city on a Southwest Airlines flight, I decided to pay for Wi-Fi so I could:(no order after the first item)

• Entertain myself. I'm bored.
• See how capable their Wi-Fi is. It only cost $8 for the flight.
• See if they had restrictions on the type of protocol in use. Surprisingly, Plex wasn't restricted.
• I ran Plex and streamed a TV show fine. I stopped the play for something else, then went back and the app crashed, though I don't know if its the app or the connection.
• Started an ftp session to my Synology server to upload some podcasts I wanted to archive. They aren't very big files (mp3), being 40-45 meg apiece. Based on the transfer rate, it's indicating get about 30 minutes per file. So not great, but usable in a pinch. (~28 KBs/sec). Doing more than one at a time is an exercise in futility though, as the connection drops, so maybe I'm overloading have the connection. More an effort to see what I can and cannot do.

Obviously, if I'm posting this mid flight, blogging isn't restricted, but it's really just text and browser based.

I couldn't simultaneously ftp and run a Plex video, but steaming music over Plex at the same time did work! A little buffering once in a while, but not bad. The connection is probably fine for basic email and Web, but beyond that, don't get your hopes up. I couldn't ever get a file completely transferred without the ftp session dropping. Connection is just too slow for this.

Maybe SW didn't expect this kind of use, LOL.

HooToo

My little travel router came in handy yesterday , as the hotel limits you to three logins per room. Problem solved! Most hotels have a limited number of device connections for your wifi (3 devices). I understand why, but three is way too few for me (us).I have a HooToo TripMate Wireless N Portable Travel Router with 6000mAh Battery Charger that is a combination router and battery. It works both wired or wirelessly.

We got upgraded to a junior suite our last night in Milan, which was a nice treat, though even being a Gold member didn't get us free access to the lounge. We decided that it was worth it to buy (shudder the thought) access, since we don't leave until later tomorrow.

Even though the TV in our room has an HDMI port right on the front connection panel, conspicuously at the front of the TV with all of the other inputs, neither the menu system on the TV or remote will get you access to the external ports. No Chromecast for me. We'll have to watch Plex on the iPad. But Hotels--WHY do you have these inputs on your TVs (which you've obvioysly gone to some trouble to make available) without giving your users the ability to actually use them??

Airline WiFi

For the first time I can remember, I'm getting some (10 meg) free Wi-Fi on the plane (transatlantic) , but even 500meg is only $1.00. Now 10 Meg is good for just (a little) email, maybe, but not uploading files or streaming media. The connection is a bit flaky, maybe due to the number of people.

No photos, as there's nothing interesting here except a bunch of people jammed together. Boeing 777.

I find that 10 Meg is extremely limited, and have to open successive incognito pages and use different email addresses to continue without paying.

I received a message from my cell phone carrier about being out of the area they give free data. I'm sure there aren't any of their cell towers in the Atlantic! So, into airplane mode and all is good, except for constantly opening incognito browser Windows.

New Camera Gear

I'm going to be traveling to Europe before long and will be taking some new camera gear. I have a Canon 40D, but find that lugging the camera body, plus three lenses and the bag I carry it all in, to be pretty cumbersome after two or so weeks of traveling. The last two years, I downsized to the opposite degree with a Canon S100, but missed some of the flexibility of the interchangeable lenses you get with something like a DSLR. The S100 takes great pictures, but I wanted more, without the weight and without spending as much as I would for a newer DSLR or a full frame format camera. The S100 is a great camera, and now that it costs about half of what I paid two years ago, an even better value in a point an shoot format, but with a lot of options.

I've been eyeing the mirrorless cameras for the last year or so. Typical for me, vacation is coming up, so now is when I decide I have to at least look at a new camera. I hoped that the mirrorless format would give me the lower weight, combined with the increased flexibility I'd get with interchangeable lenses. It's unfortunate than Canon hasn't yet produced a mirrorless camera, as I have been very happy with the Canon line. I bought a Sony Alpha a6000. Since I have at least one good "non-kit" Canon lens, I wanted to see if I could find a way to use the Canon format lens mount with the Sony 4/3 format e-mount. There are some adapters, but never having used one of these, I had to explore what the impact on the resulting image was, their compatibility with the lenses I might use, and the cost. Metabones seems to be the Cadillac of the category (at least in price), but I didn't want to spend as much on the adaptor as I spent on the existing lens, or I might as well buy a new lens. I make a lot of use of the reviews on Amazon as well as product review forums when it comes to camera gear. DPReview is one I use. But reading the reviews on Amazon left me with some doubts about my particular lens' compatibility. When looking at the Signstek Electronic Auto Focus EF-NEX EF-EMOUNT FX Lens Mount Adapter for Canon EF EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount adaptor(25% of the price of a Metabones), I asked a question about whether it should work with my Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM SLR Lens.The answer was Yes! So I bought it. That, and another battery, since the Sony isn't getting great marks for battery life.

I took a few test shots and didn't notice any vignetting, which I rather expected from changing the lens mount system. Time will tell, once I take more shots and view them on my monitor. Though it certainly weighs down the otherwise much lighter camera, it potentially gives me a much better opportunity to take big landscape photos. Since I'll be traveling in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, hopefully I'll be able to take better advantage of the lens. I'll create a separate album on Flickr to isolate the photos using this camera, lens and adaptor vs. my trusty S100, which I'm also taking. I tried the lens mount adaptor with my Canon f1.4 50mm lens, but it doesn't seem to do anything special for me beyond changing the focal length, and adding some more weight to my already too full camera/gear bag.

I updated the firmware in the Sony A6000 from version 1.0 to version 1.2, and bought an app in the Sony App store. Yes, there's an app store for my camera. The camera comes with a remote control app to control the camera for shooting, which is nice if you need to eliminate some camera shake. It also has Wi-Fi and NFC, but inexplicably, doesn't have GPS (as the S100, which is several years older) does.

I don't make much money from Amazon referrals, but I do enjoy taking my payments in the form of Amazon gift certificates and buying myself a little something from my wish list. Thanks for using any referral links!

Down the Rabbit Hole

So, starting out to look into the options for photo management, I find that some users of Lightroom have their storage located on a Synology NAS, but use an iSCSI connection. I was not familiar with iSCSI, though many (many) years ago, used SCSI devices. The iSCSI connection appears easy enough to create on the Synology. But also find that the Mac does not come with a native iSCSI initiator to connect to the iSCSI target you create on the Synology.

A thread on the MacRumor discussion boards reads: 

"SCSI is a virtual SCSI channel over TCP/IP network. You may call it niche, since it's mostly used in large scale network storage system, and seldom used by home / small office users, but it's not some legacy technology.
An iSCSI target (or the "network hard-drive" if you prefer) is not necessary to be a "SCSI" device -- the iSCSI is merely a pure-virtual software level, so that the initiator host (the Computer) can tell the target (the hard-drive) where to fetch data. The storage device will translate SCSI command to HFS/EXT-3/EXT-4 file system access command, so that it may access the real physical storage. You can imagine it like an virtual hard-drive .ISO image file used by VMWare or Parallel. For example, a medium level NAS from QNAP or Synology may use 4 SATA3 hard-drives, configure to RAID 5, format main partition to EXT-4, create a virtual logic partition that takes 20% of total usable spaces, and assign it as iSCSI target. 
When you mount an iSCSI target on to your Mac OS X desktop, it's different from an SMB/AFP shared volume. An iSCSI target operates just like an ordinary USB or 1394 external disk: you can format the volume with Disk Utility, paste icons, create directory, copy files, delete files, and grab deleted files back from the system trash can."

There are solutions for Mac, the principal one seeming to be GlobalSAN, which isn't free. I have a Windows7 VM running (under Parallels) on my Mac, and Windows is supposed to have native iSCSI capability, but I'd really prefer to have any such connection running under my host OS, rather than a VM. There is another free solution from Kernsafe for the Mac. So, maybe iSCSI, could be a solution I sought for how to interface the image editor/browser with the storage solution I use.  Lightroom is still something I need to evaluate.

There's a thread on the Adobe forums about the topic of keeping the primary library on a NAS. Though there's no clear answer, some people seem to have no problem, others are wary. No one mentioned using iSCSI, which would address the speed concerns that some did raise.

Picasa Starter is for Windows, darn it. I have a Windows laptop, but this isn't really the optimal solution, since I'm mostly Mac in my workflow. Though it appears that Picasa Starter hasn't been updated since April 2012, it does mention its compatibility with the current version of Picasa (3.9), so although the lack of continued development is a concern, it might work in the short term if I decided to use my Windows laptop; it is possible to locate the Picasa database on a flash (or NAS) drive, though, so this may be an option.

CatDV isn't compatible with Yosemite unless you upgrade to version 11, but the pricing is still reasonable for a 'Standard' version; Pro is beyond my threshold in terms of price. Server is another mountain in terms of pricing though, and I'm really just a single user.

More to evaluate.

Photo Management

Since I started centralizing my media onto my home server, I have also been in search of a better way to manage the photos stored there. Not just store them, because I have the photos somewhat organized into folders, but this doesn't allow me to organize them in multiple ways--some photos obviously could be categorized into multiple folders depending on their subject and context-- maybe it's a family photo of a vacation trip. I don't want to duplicate the photos into multiple folders. I want to be able to search on the subject and metadata. It would be nice to (roughly) geotag the photos (even the ones taken before GPS).

I want to do this without having all of the photos on any single local computer(s), but be able to browse them from any computer on the local network (not necessarily the Cloud). I've looked at a lot of possible solutions, but prior to deciding whether to use any (one) of them, I'll need to decide whether I want to continue to store the data on my own computers, or in the cloud (or both). Going with one of the cloud options means that I would have access to my photos, but would also be dependent on that provider remaining in business. I've already invested in a NAS, so I'm going to stick with storing my own library and sharing selected bits thru a service like Yahoo's Flickr.

I use Flickr for (hopefully) my better photos. But not for my complete library. And, there are certainly other Cloud solutions, but Flickr is the one I chose a long time ago and it's difficult to move (meaning I'd have to find) all of those photos to another site, even if I wanted to.

First, I needed to define my needs/desires:

• All photos are on the NAS (Synology)
• I want a database driven tool for faster searching.
• Editing tools need not be part of the application, as I have plenty of other tools for this. 
• I need a file management/cataloging tool, capable of handling multiple users (though there will likely only be one or two at any given time). 
• It needs to be able to handle jpegs, RAW files (of different cameras), but I'm not concerned with bitmaps or vector images.
• Multiple device access across the local network.
• Remote access using the same browser interface would be nice
• Only one user at a time should be able to edit the files
• Tagging; Search by tag, metadata
• Preferably cheap or free
• It runs on Mac OSX, but maybe Windows or Linux too, in the event I switch platforms again.

One necessity will be the painful process of going through decades of photos and trying to decide whether to weed out bad photos (and I'm sure there are a lot of them). But then there's the "not bad, but unremarkable photos" too.  No one is going to do this if I don't. My family certainly wouldn't be willing to do this. As long as hard disk space was cheap (and getting cheaper), there was little incentive to be selective. Now I'll pay the price for keeping nearly everything I shot. And over the years, what was an acceptable photo (because it was as good as digital was at the time), in some cases is now a marginal one as the quality of camera has improved. I started out in 1998 with a sub 1 megapixel camera and my latest addition is a 24 megapixel camera.

Plex does a a great job at allowing me to organize my music and TV shows and movies, but photos are something that can be organized a lot of ways using the same photo, and Plex doesn't allow me to do more than basic sorting by albums. Synology has apps that let me browse my photos, but again, not the way I'd like to be able to organize them (not only by who they were, but maybe who and where, when, etc.).

In searching about for solutions, I can see I'm certainly not alone in looking for such a solution as an individual.

• http://www.zdnet.com/article/my-infuriatingly-unsuccessful-quest-for-a-good-media-asset-management-tool/
• http://www.bkwinephotography.com/technology/found-best-digital-asset-management-dam-system/
• Here's a recent WSJ article with a good summary of some of the options, but not quite like I think I'm looking for, relative to providing network access to browse the complete library. http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-way-to-organize-a-lifetime-of-photos-1429637857?mod=djemptech_t

I plan to evaluate:

• Picasa (though Picasa is not made to be a multiuser system).
• Picasa Starter (for network drive access)
• Digikam
• XnView
• Perfect Browse
• CatDV
• StockKeeper
• Apple's new Photo app
• Lightroom

• CMS systems from
• Joomla
• Drupal

since Synology has packages for both I can install and run from my existing server. I likely have a lot to learn if I go this route.

There may be others, but for now, this is my 'long list'.

A work in progres....

VPNs & FTP

In trying to diagnose why I couldn't FTP to my Synology server, I was doing so from a PC running a VPN, with the purpose being to ensure that I was truly isolated from my home network. Well, in addition to some things that appeared wrong in my FTP config., I also found out that a number of the VPN provider's endpoints apparently have some configuration that actually prevents you from connecting to an FTP server. I'm sure there's a logic or technical reason why, somewhere, but it escapes me.

I tried using both passive mode (the default) and active mode, but every time, it hung up at the point getting the directory listing. I naturally assumed it was my server's FTP connection set up, but after conferring with Synology Tech Support, I began to suspect it was not my (or nor entirely my) problem after all.

I tried connecting to several of the endpoints (outside the US) they suggested and, then 'magically", FTP connections to my server then worked.  If you use PrivateInternetAccess.com (great service, aside from this unexpected result), give them a try. I found these posts related to the problem.

• https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/forum/discussion/3060/port-20-21-not-working-for-pia-s-ips

• https://support.privateinternetaccess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/43/23/my-ftp-client-will-not-connect-when-using-the-vpn

Cellular Data Usage

March 2015 ended with my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 registering a bit over 76 gig in cellular data usage for the month. The previous month's usage was 56 gig.

90%+ of the usage was Plex streaming (in the car). This is the equivalent of streaming the data from 1 1/2 Blu-Ray movies to a phone, though most all of this was audio, and a bit less than 3 gig in tethering. I do have a 4G LTE phone, with a large screen. I use Wi-Fi where I can (Wi-Fi usage for the same time period was 46 gig.), but obviously when I'm truly mobile, well...

Curiously, my cell phone provider shows somewhat less usage (59 gig), so I'm going to investigate some apps that report data usage. I'll see if they are more consistent with my provider's reporting than the phone's usage reporting.

While it's not my intent to see just much data I can shove through an unlimited plan, it does illustrate how much some users do use and how quickly data usage is growing.  According to this study, the average user consumed 3.3 gig./month. I'll guarantee that if I didn't have an unlimited plan, I wouldn't be consuming a couple of gigs/day (vs. 3 gig. per month). Verizon's data for 2013 shows users consuming significantly less (less than 1 gig/month). TheFool.com, examining data usage from a completely different perspective (that of cell phone provider profit margins), indicates the average usage was about 1.8 gig/month-maybe more like what I'd expect.

Troubleshooting Connections

I spent a couple of hours yesterday trying to figure out why one of my computers (Windows7) suddenly could not see the rest of the local network or connect to the mapped drives I'd set up.  This was really aggravating, since the mapped drives were those on my Synology server, which makes copying files to/from the server a real pain if I can't see the server.

All of the sudden, two of the three drives I'd mapped on the server weren't there, and only some of the subfolders of the third drive were accessible. I could see the other folders on that drive, I just couldn't access them, nor the server, over the local network.

I hadn't made any hardware or software changes, so what happened?

• Rebooting (a couple of times) didn't work.
• I unmapped two of the drives that no longer worked. But couldn't unmap the third.
• I checked the credential manager in Windows7 to see whether it had somehow been corrupted. No problems there.
• I checked the network adapter to see that all of the network protocols were checked off. No problems there.
• Checked the Network and Sharing Center settings to ensure Network Discovery was still enabled. Yup, no problems there.
• Checked my firewall. Nope, That wasn't the problem. Scan the computer for viruses. Nope.
• "Googled" the issue and read thru a number of suggestions. The ones that seemed relevant to me I checked and they didn't resolve the issue.
• Checked the server from two other computers to see that the server's drive(s) were actually OK. That wasn't the problem.
• Look through the Computer Services to see if some computer service has somehow been disabled. Nope.
• Disabled the wireless connection. Hey, I'm guessing at this point.
• Try using a Restore Point.  This looked like it was going to take a while, so I let it run overnight. Next morning, found the restore didn't work. Great..
• Reboot in Safe Mode. Can't find anything there.
• Wait a couple of hours....

• Think (seriously) about chucking the computer.

• Suddenly, everything's there. No idea why the problem took place or what I did (if anything) to fix it.

• Remap the drives.

What a waste of a few hours.

SSH

Finally getting (remote) FTP connectivity back is great! Though I'm still following up to see what settings were changed, remote FTP access is nice to have back.

Opening up SSH access though, proved to be attractive. I must have received a couple of dozen attempts that were blocked (I think and hope). So after getting FTP access restored, I decided it was just too much to possibly leave exposed to keep SSH open. Maybe later after I finish reading up on SSH myself,  getting reacquainted with the CLI, and how I'd use SSH and secure it, I'll open things up again. Using Windows for too long and the GUI has dumbed me down from the days of DOS.

Synology- Security

I'm still having issues with getting FTP to work outside my local network, so I gave up and opened a support ticket. After trying the obvious, TechSupport asked to be set up with SSH access. Almost as soon as I opened up SSH, I started getting notifications from my AutoBlock .  I've had AutoBlock enabled since the start, but the repeated efforts to gain access made me wonder what else I could do to (try) to secure my little server.

In DSM 5.x, Synology has a feature (under Control Panel->Security->Firewall), where you can set up Firewall rules which can be fairly granular in terms of applications, ports, IP addresses (or ranges) ,  and even on a country basis, and allow you to specify whether, if the rule is met, access is allowed or denied. And since I'd already done a little work to see which countries the (apparent) access attempts are coming from, I decided to set up a country specific block. Now, I know before I started this that IP addresses can be spoofed, so this is only one meager piece to trying to secure the server, but better than nothing. I found this guide as a starting point, though you'll need to modify for your own circumstances, and, as always, I'm not responsible for any bad things that might happen to your NAS if you follow this process.

I also changed my AutoBlock settings down to allow very few attempts before being blocked.

I'm starting out with very basic firewall settings to see how they work, in combination with the AutoBlock. Even as I write this, I had an attempt to SSH into the server that was AutoBlocked, but not because of the firewall rule.

I had been trying to connect to my site through a series of devices, some on a VPN, some not, so I thought I'd check just to make sure it wasn't me. It wasn't me, but it wasn't one coming from China either (blocked in my Firewall rule). Sigh...

For normal web access to my server, I have two factor authentication enabled, but for access thru SSH, adding the combination of the remote access key, AutoBlock and the Blocklist, will hopefully add more security. And, there is no anonymous FTP allowed.

Shortly after I initially set up my server, I was reviewing the connection logs (you do review yours, right?), and saw repeated anonymous ftp attempts. So I did a reverse IP lookup and found the provider's contact info and sent an 'abuse' report. Probably for the only time this will ever happen, I actually got a response from the user involved and found this site. After I exchanged some emails with the site owner, I was marginally more comforted by their explanation of the site's purpose, but not at all thrilled by it. I hope I'm getting a gradual education in security and not one by virtue of getting hacked. My naiveté is showing.  Shodan basically scans the Internet looking for vulnerabilities and open ports.

http://www.shodanhq.com/help

Now, my link to this site is not intended to bash them, but it's a bit of a scary reminder how easy it can be to find vulnerabilities. I searched, and at least for now, my server isn't listed.  Very interesting site. Worth a visit!

Mobile Data Usage and Plex

One thing I've found since starting up my Plex project is that my monthly mobile data usage has skyrocketed. Now, I have a 4G 'phablet' type phone, so I probably chew up more than the typical smartphone user anyway.

One month, I used 46 gig of cellular data (not Wi-Fi), and probably 85% of that was from streaming Plex content.

This month, in the first two weeks of my billing cycle, it looks like I'm on track to beat that.<oops>. I've used almost 38 gig, and Plex accounts for 33 gig of that. I'm really just streaming music, so I'm surprised it's soaking up so much data.

Prior to Plex, I might have used 4-6 gig mobile data in a month, so streaming Plex is clearly driving the usage way up. I'll have to try Spotify and see if it's as hungry as Plex seems to be.

How much mobile data do you use per month? Mobile data usage is continuing to increase as we add bigger screened phones (and tablets with cellular data), with faster connections. It seems hard to find real information on average usage, but the rate of growth in usage seems destined for continued explosive growth.

New Setup for Mac

For the many years I worked remotely at home, my desk was overwhelmed with a docking station and monitors for my work computer. Now that I've been rid of that nuisance (i.e.' retired'), I have the chance to set up my Mac the way I've wanted to before, but didn't have the space.

In planning this, I thought I'd use the two existing monitors I had, plus a third on an adjacent desk that I was using thru an HDMI switch to connect to my Mac Mini (Plex server). I'd hoped I have three externals plus the laptop monitor.

What I found though, is that if you aren't using thunderbolt monitors (who can afford multiples of those?), is that the Macbook Pro can only support two external monitors, unless it's through Thunderbolt. Since I have both of my external connected through the digital to mini-dvi port (thunderbolt port), both of my existing Thunderbolt ports are in use. Without buying a Thunderbolt dock (as much as one of my monitors, though not as much as a Thunderbolt monitor), I cannot daisy chain another monitor. I have a usb to digital converter box, but I had some lag when I used it before on a Windows machine, so I'm not inclined to use it here.

To connect my monitors to the Mac, I ordered a couple of these cables from Monoprice. Hard to beat the price.

I have 20" and 19" Dell monitors. I don't have enough desk space for bigger monitors if I wanted to buy them, right now.

I found that when I tried connecting the third external monitor to my Mac's HDMI port, one of the other two went black. So, while not exactly what I had in mind, having two externals is a huge improvement! I set up a remote screen sharing session to the Mini in one of my workspaces to work on that computer when necessary (I'm lazy, it's three feet away). I'm enjoying the added workspace, but do occasionally find that I 'lose' the cursor in all that space, but I also got rid of the extra keyboard and mouse from the docking station.  

Since I have two Macs (Macbook Pro and the Mini), but only want one keyboard, I bought a Logitech K811, which actually allows you to connect to up to three devices through Bluetooth. Simply press the function key at the top of the keyboard to switch between devices. Since I have the remote screen sharing to the Mac, I don't need a second mouse for the Mini. That much less clutter on my limited space desktop.

I'm still considering whether to use Reflector to provide the ability to display my iPad (the smaller screen below the two displays) to display on one of the monitors, but I haven't really found a personal use case for this as yet.

Transitioning to Mac Mini for Plex

My decision to move from the Windows7 computer I was using to host my Plex server was driven by the instability of this particular computer (which has been an issue since I bought it, not of Plex). I wanted something that would be a smaller footprint, as the Win7 computer I was using was a laptop. Though it has a 1 tb drive, all of the media is stored on a Synology NAS, so the replacement didn't need to be anything with vast storage, but for purposes of transcoding (where necessary), did need to have a good processor and enough RAM.

I'd been waiting for Apple to announce their updating of the Mac Mini. I was really disappointed with their 2014 offering, as it seems they are really trying to show a clear differentiation between the Mini (as a low end product) and the iMacs. The new machines came only with an i5 and no upgradeable RAM. Apple RAM is expensive, so in the case of the new Minis, you have to order what you want when you buy, as the Mini has soldered RAM (no user upgrade). I decided to evaluate a reconditioned 2012 model, hoping there would be some availability with the launch of the new line.

I hadn't shopped for a reconditioned Mini, so I was surprised to learn when I went to look, there were none. Sigh. So, I set up a change detection search to look for me. I finally found some coming into the Apple store. I found a 2012 reconditioned i7 quad core Mini Server (2 x 1tb drives), with 4 gig RAM. I bought it (quickly, they seem to go fast), then later would evaluate the need to upgrade the RAM. I didn't really need the server version, as I already had the Synology. I may use the server app for some related purposes in the future, but right now, it primarily serves as my Plex server.

Apple setup is trivial, and I hoped that the Plex setup would be just as easy. Installing the Plex server itself was easy, and of course I had to change the port forwarding in the router to point to the new computer's IP address. Then I ran into my initial problem of mapping the drives on the Synology to the server on Plex and (since the Mini is so power efficient), finding a way not to have the Mini go to sleep (keeping my libraries accessible). In Windows, I had simply created mapped drives (M=Music, P=Photos, V=Video) and set up credentials for the Windows7 computer to be able to access the Synology. It always worked just fine once i got the credentials set up, but setting up drive mapping on the Mini and keeping it awake were something I hadn't thought about up until now.

I found people on the Plex Mac forum had similar concerns when it came to keeping the Mini awake. I settled on Caffeine. It seems to be working fine for me.

But not being all that familiar with users and mapping under OSX, mapping was a bigger unknown to me. I created users on the Mini for each of the drives and had them automatically login when the Mini started (using the Login items under System preferences). Once I figured that out,  everything seemed to work fine, though I have one intermittent problem, with one segment of my media library. Periodically, when playing something in my Music collection, Plex will seemingly start to play the song, but no music is played. This goes on for a few seconds, then it skips down to the next song, etc., but nothing is actually ever played.  Not particularly useful.

The first time this happened, I deleted the entry in Plex's library for Music (which was a mistake, as I'll explain). And re-added it. However, doing so means that Plex has to go out an reindex and match all of the media in the music library and add all of the album art. Oops. A reasonable number of my music tracks then had no artist or album art. Ok, manually go out and look for the album art and fix all of these.  Of course all of the music is then shown as "recently added", moving any of the other media types waaay down the list, since I had ~19,000 tracks in my collection at the time.

Then, it happened again.

I read through the forum and opened a post in the 'Ask a Ninja'  to look at the issue. Needed to upload a server log. This is way more help than I expected, since this is all volunteer work, helping others. The "Ninja" had a couple of suggestions, but I think the one I implemented that actually made the difference was to log back into the music folder on the Synology from the Mac Mini (on which the Plex server runs). Doing so suddenly fixes the issue with the music not playing. Don't even need to restart the Plex server! It's happened a couple of times since then, but since I haven't figured out why, the easy solution is just to log back into that remote folder (the Mini is connected to the network via ethernet, as is the Synology), and problem solved (for a while). The only other issue I've had is that even though the Plex port is forwarded to the (fixed IP) ethernet connection of the Mini, if WiFi is somehow turned off, Plex isn't accessible outside the house. This is still something to which I have not found a solution, and obviously I cannot forward the same port to two different IP addresses. So I just leave WiFi on.

I used the Activity Monitor to see how much RAM was being used with little more than the normal system processes and Plex, and was surprised to see it already using a swap file at this point, so I decided it was necessary to do a RAM upgrade. Prior to buying the Mini, I explored YouTube for a video on upgrading the Mini's memory (there are a couple of good videos). It seemed pretty simple. I bought the RAM from Crucial, upgrading from 4 gig to 16 gig (meaning that you have to replace the existing 4 gig RAM), after using their process (System Advisor or Scanner) to ensure I bought the correct RAM for my server. Cost was about $165.

The only problem I had was managing to get the bottom plate of the Mini to unscrew (twist off) so I could access the memory slots. It just didn't want to unscrew, but finally, did. There's nothing to upgrading the memory once you've done this, popping the existing RAM modules out and putting in the new. Fingers crossed, we'll hope there's no issue with rebooting...

All in, I spent about $1k on the Mac Mini and the memory upgrade. Add in the Synology (1513+) server and (baring any upgrades there), I've invested a total of about $3k in hardware.

No problems on reboot though, so now my little Mini is happily (and reliably) serving up my media. I only wish my Internet connection weren't so unreliable. But that's an issue I hope to address later this spring. But doing so, will mean reconfiguring the router. It's always something...

Venturing Into Plexland

2015-02-11
Venturing into Plexland

One of the motivations I had for buying the NAS was to centralize the media we had accumulated over a mountain of CDs, DVDs. They were never where you wanted to access them, if you could find them. While my strategy was fine, what I hadn't appreciated was the time and effort required to convert all of the physical media into files playable on a media server, and then keep populating the library with more content.

I had used XMBC (now KODI)  under Ubuntu and found it pretty capable, but it was limited in that I couldn't access my media outside my home. Through discovering the Plex app on my Android phone (a friend had shared their media library with me), I decided to try out the server  on my own. The app (either Apple or Android) isn't worth anything without media to watch, and you need a server for that. The server program itself is free, though if you want to watch on a mobile device (phone, tablet), there's an app you can buy to get the full features. You can also connect your Plex directly to your TV, stream it to a TV through a built in Plex app (my TV is too old for this), game console (PS3, XBox, etc.) or through a Chromecast (my solution).

Plex allows you to organize your media into some predefined categories--TV Shows, Movies, Photos, etc. And you can define other types (like home movies, music videos, etc.). This is important because the sources you use, or don't use, to get the metadata for the media is dictated/selected in the server program. Having a usable media library means you need some way of categorizing the media. Getting thumbnails, brief descriptions of the TV show, for example, make it hugely more usable when deciding what to watch.

So, just convert your CDs and DVDs and it's all digitized and ready to watch, eh?

Not really so easy...

Converting CDs should be simple--rip them into MP3 or FLAC or whatever your media server/transcoding allows (something I had to discover). Some fair amount of my music collection was already in MP3 format, though in varying degrees of  bit rates and I wasn't going to go back and reconvert what I already had. I only had one PC with a CD/DVD/BluRay drive, so conversion was going to be one disc at a time. I batched up my CDs. I experimented with using iTunes at 320kbps and a program under Ubuntu to rip into FLAC.  FLAC takes hugely more space, so though I wasn't cramped for space, the prospect of tripling (or more) the file sizes by using FLAC didn't seem (for me) to be worth the disk space, since my hearing and computer speaker system isn't able to allow me  to discern the differences. Now mostly finished, I have about 22,000 music tracks.

Photos- My photo library is still a bit of a mess because it's an accumulation of digital photos from 1998 forward and I have about 50,000 photos. Organizing this will definitely be a challenge due just to the sheer number of photos and the multiple ways you might want to organize them.

DVDs and Blu Rays- Could be complex to convert because they are (usually) copy protected and not just a single file as a music track or photo, and there can be features segments (directors cuts and the like) on the disc, along with the main video. For my personal library's use, I converted them using a variety of tools, with Blu Ray being the most time consuming. Due to their enormous digital content (which is what makes the quality what it is), they also produce a huge file size. One Blu Ray produced a 12+ gig file. So I had to do a second conversion using Handbrake to compress the file size down to something more reasonable (usually  4-6 gig for Blu Ray and ~600 meg to 1.5 gig or so for DVDs). The process starts by ripping the Blu Ray, which isn't something Handbrake does. So there's another tool. Then there's the decision about the file 'container' type- should they be mp4, mkv , or something else? What file types would the media server program support? Is there a file type that optimizes picture quality and file size? Nothing's simple.  I don't know the answer. I do know that due to the enormous amount of data on a Blu Ray, it takes a lot of time per disc to rip and re-encode the file.

For the most part, I decided to stick with Matroska (mkv) as it is an open standard container format for video/audio).  Sometimes the conversion didn't go well and I ended up re-ripping and using mp4 instead.  Nonetheless, I've found that Plex seems to support avi, mp4, mkv with transparency (as to format) when viewing it on the device. Whether the file requires transcoding seems to depend on the client used (PC, game console, phone, tablet, etc.) rather than the file type on the server.

Then to organize your media within Plex and have the proper metadata applied, so that the thumbnail artwork and descriptions align with the media, you need to follow their naming conventions, which (mostly) work. But sometimes it doesn't.  If you do everything according to the guidelines and your media fits within those, great.  I had questioned whether audiobooks would be supported, but they seem to be.

The support community within Plex is active and, I've personally found to be, very good, though you obviously need a certain level of technical knowledge to perform some of the things to get your Plex server up and accessible.  To their credit, the team at Plex have made it generally pretty easy. I bought a PlexPass to show my support for the project. Following the threads on the forums though, reveal that not everyone is up to some of the basics of Plexdom. In order for your content to be accessible outside your home, you may have to dig under the covers in your router to do some port forwarding and fixing some IP addresses. My router doesn't do UPnP, so both for my Synology server as well as the Plex server, port forwarding was a manual process.

I initially set up my Plex server on a Windows7 laptop (quad core i7, 8 gig RAM, 1tb hard drive), but due to it's consistent instability (none of which was due to Plex, it was unstable before all this). Then as my library started to expand, I realized I had to go with something more substantial. I could have added external USB hard drives, and had a number of those already. But the jumble of hard drives that would have ensued wasn't appealing. So when I bought the Synology, it was also intended to serve this purpose. But I wasn't sure the Synology NAS was up to transcoding, as it's real purpose is a file server and doesn't have a heavy duty processor and lots of memory (I upgraded my Synology to 4 gig RAM, from 2 gig). So I decided to move to a Mac Mini. This brought it's own set of challenges (mostly my learning, moving from a largely Windows background),and naturally, more money.

It all works now! But, how well it works depends on your download speed, the server's upload speed, whether it's on your local network, and then whether it's a wired or wireless connection, the client (what you are watching on), and whether (and how many) others are watching at the same time (if you've shared your library).

The move to the Mac Mini is the next part of the story.

Media Servers and My NAS

February 4, 2015

Media servers and NAS (network attached storage). 

I spent weeks pouring through the options when it came to a NAS to replace my aging  (HP EX470 Mediasmart server, running the equivalent of Server 2003) Windows Home Server that had suddenly become unreliable. It was a relative bargain at the time, costing only about $500 with 1.5tb of drive space when I bought it.

Microsoft and HP (as manufacturer) abandoned the platform in favor of something that likely has a larger market (SMID market), but for me, it had been a great solution to sharing content and backing up the number of home computers we'd grown to include in our home. Though truthfully, except for the automatic backup, I was really the only one using it.

When I started looking around for replacement options, I looked at any number of capable systems, but it's really difficult to know how the administrative interface works, how easily it is configured, and now, whether there are apps to supplement the direct interface. I had to decide whether to build one myself, or buy an off the shelf system.

I eliminated the build it yourself route, as I wanted something where the OS and hardware worked well together and had some user base (as well as technical support) to supplement me when I had issues (there are always issues). I looked at Netgear, QNAP,WD, Synology,among many others.

I ultimately settled, a bit nervously, on Synology. Reading reviews of the several systems to which  I'd narrowed my search, (QNAP, Synology)  there were a lot of people with no problems and who loved their systems, but also a worrying percentage that had the equivalent of BSOD or some other DOA problem I just didn't want to deal with on a new system. Then, aside from the manufacturer was the question of capacity and expandability. At my estimated price range, I didn't want spend a chunk of money on hardware, only to run out of storage too quickly by buying a system with one or two drives, then discover I'd grossly underestimated how much storage I needed. It was a balance between how much I could afford and how much storage I thought I'd need. Fortunately, even now after only six months, I'm using vastly more storage than I ever imagined I needed, but still have plenty.

I settled on a Synology 1513+ (5 drive bay) .Of course, now that I have a 1513+, they've upgraded to a 1515+, but it seems like mostly a processor upgrade. I added the extra RAM (total of 4 gig), even though NAS aren't typically heavily loaded with RAM, and 4, 4tb WD Red hard drives, for a total of 16tb, With the RAID configuration, this would allow for 1 drive to fail and still give me 12tb of usable storage. This leaves me space for one more expansion drive when/if I need it and can afford it. And, if I really get ambitious (and have the cash to spare), I can add another chassis and expand to a total of 10 drives.

The OS that originally came with the system (DSM 4.2) has been progressively updated and expanded to 5.1-5022 Update 1 at this writing (Update 2 popped up as I was writing this entry), with the change to version 5 being a fairly significant user interface change.

Security updates have been issued and I've also implemented 2 factor (2 step) authentication.  Having an Internet facing/connected device definitely means you are going to be tested, so security updates are essential. So is looking at the server logs to find out whether you are being 'tested'. Knowing how potentially disastrous an OS upgrade can be, it's always a bit nerve wracking to update it, but so far, nothing has gone awry.

The system itself was easy enough to setup.But, naturally,my router (the key to anything connecting to the server) was not a model supported without manual configuration. Naturally... ATT Uverse may be great for those with standard needs, but for configuring external access, you have to do manual port forwarding. Again, not hard, as Synology documents all of the services and port numbers, you just have to get a bit under the covers of your router's interface to forward the right ports and and hope you don't screw up something ATT needs that makes your TVs work. And, Synology has a DDNS service to give your server it's own domain without spending money for domain registration if you use your server as I do. Don't ask ATT what they think of my home network--they think I have "a lot of devices" on my network (implying too many).

RTFM isn't any one's favorite way to spend time after they've gotten a new toy. and I'm no exception. But it does help with finding out how much more is beneath the surface that would have taken longer to figure out, without RTFM.

There's a reasonable selection of packages to add on to provide additional functionality, as well as apps (Android and Apple) to give connectivity to your server from mobile devices. I have Anti-Virus, Audi Station, Cloud Station (like a private Dropbox), Download Station, Photo Station, iTunes Server. But there are many more--Mail Station (run your own mail server), Drupal, Joomla, Mediawiki, Podcast Generator), Wordpress, and more.

One thing I decided to leave to a separate device is my media server. I went with Plex.

But for a home server, so far, I've been very satisfied with my choice.

Next installment is my journey into the land of Plex and media preparation. What did I get myself into?