Adding Terra Server? To Strato S, Alto & Disk Vault Question.

[pickle28]

I currently have a Strato S 12TB, Alto & Disk Vault.

I'm running out of 4K space and only have room for 20 movies. I would like to add a terra server. Do I just add it to my list of devices and it simply expands the storage? Everything still works as is?

Also, if I add a Strato C to my home network:

1) Can play movies off the Strato S and the Terra Server? or just the Terra Server
2) Can I play movies off the Alto/Disc Vault?

Thank you.

 

[ht guy]

Yes and yes.

1) Both.
2) Yes.

 

[todo]

Strato S will mess up the download speeds unless it is FULL...
Best practice is to keep a/or more Terra and Strato C's ONLY for playback.
This is my understanding ... and I stand corrected if others know otherwise.

 

[JWort93]

Strato S will mess up the download speeds unless it is FULL...
Best practice is to keep a/or more Terra and Strato C's ONLY for playback.
This is my understanding ... and I stand corrected if others know otherwise.

I don't believe that's the case. My understanding is in a system that has both Stratos/Altos with storage and Terras is that the downloads will always go directly to the Terra first, unless the Terra itself is out of storage. At least that's been my experience. I have a Strato 6TB, Strato C, Alto 4TB, and Terra 40TB and all my downloads go to the Terra even though the Strato and Alto aren't full. Download speeds are maxed out still as well, at 800-900Mbps on average with my gigabit connection.

 

[todo]

I don't believe that's the case. My understanding is in a system that has both Stratos/Altos with storage and Terras is that the downloads will always go directly to the Terra first, unless the Terra itself is out of storage. At least that's been my experience. I have a Strato 6TB, Strato C, Alto 4TB, and Terra 40TB and all my downloads go to the Terra even though the Strato and Alto aren't full. Download speeds are maxed out still as well, at 800-900Mbps on average with my gigabit connection.

Thanks for reminding... Yes.... so the Strato S does not get downloads and Terra takes over.
I would sell the Strato S as there is a good market for it for those who wants a entry level K System and put the cash in a Strato C and more storage when buying the Terra...
That's what I did.

 

[pickle28]

Thanks for the responses. That's a good suggestion on selling the Strato S and picking up a C. However, does the alto/disck vault still work with the vault and Strato C? I'm assuming the costar just gets connected to the Terra Server.

 

[pickle28]

Actually, I would still need my Strato S or two C's. I have my system setup in my theater equipment room. If I added a Strato C to my whole home video matrix I can play the content from my theater.

 

[todo]

Actually, I would still need my Strato S or two C's. I have my system setup in my theater equipment room. If I added a Strato C to my whole home video matrix I can play the content from my theater.

If you sell your Strato S you may be able to buy one and half or two Strato C's..
I would not keep a Strato S in a Terra Environment

 

[cinelife]

Thanks for the responses. That's a good suggestion on selling the Strato S and picking up a C. However, does the alto/disck vault still work with the vault and Strato C? I'm assuming the costar just gets connected to the Terra Server.

The Terra server does not connect to a Co-Star. Only "players" connect to Co-Star. If you use a Strato to connect to the Vault, your playback of physical discs in that Vault would be limited to DVD's, the Strato will not playback Blu-ray discs in the Vault.

Jim

 

[Substance]

Kaleidescape describes Terra as an storage server with “additional computational power” for system functions. The additional computational power surely benefits the download speeds and the ability to stream to more zones at the same time. Is there more to it? Not really explained anywhere.

I went from a Strato 6TB* to Strato C + Terra 72TB combination. I noticed the following.

- The download speeds are up from 150mbps to 900mbps. (I have 2.5gbps up/down internet speeds through ATT Fiber). Hardware wise, nothing is limiting Strato to be slower. This is likely a software implementation to have a discerning difference to incentivize Terra purchases.
- The GUI is slightly more snappier. Strato 6TB did a fine job displaying cover arts with animation for the most part but it would stutter occasionally. Perhaps more RAM and/or faster flash memory for the OS in the Terra.
- Strato-C without the mechanical hard drive should theoretically have less jitter and electrical noise in its HDMI outputs. 3.5 inch storage drives use a 5V DC rail for data read/write and a 12V DC rail to spin the disc. The spinner is likely a brushless asynchronous AC motor with pulse width modulation (PWM). The back-feed here is more than enough to contaminate the 12V rails. There is also the magnetic and mechanical properties of the spinning storage drives which can have further effect on the electronics. Of course, it is difficult to tell if there is a real world detectable difference. Perhaps on the most revealing audio systems, very sensitive ears can hear the difference.
- On the inner circle of a HDD where the diameter is smaller and the angular velocity is slower, the read speeds are much slower. If you wanted to watch multiple different movies in multiple different zones and your choice of movies happen to be on the same hdd and written near the inner circle of the HDD, I believe the maximum allowed zones will be limited to 5 different movies in 5 different zones. This is probably why the Compact Terra with a single HDD is limited to 5 zones. The standard size Terra can have multiple HDDs and if your choice of movies happen to be on different HDDs, then 10 zones are allowed. It could be more but 10 zone limit is due to the 1Gbe ethernet interface (100mbps per movie x10 = 1Gbe).

*Older generation Strato. Same electronics as Strato S but cosmetically in a larger 2U height chassis.

 

[pickle28]

The Terra server does not connect to a Co-Star. Only "players" connect to Co-Star. If you use a Strato to connect to the Vault, your playback of physical discs in that Vault would be limited to DVD's, the Strato will not playback Blu-ray discs in the Vault.

Jim

Gotcha, my alto is what is connected to my Strato via costar. That’s what is playing my vault.

If I keep the alto, vault and get a strato c and Terra….

The strato C and Alto can connect to the co star and play everything from the vault and terra.

Correct?

 

[pickle28]

Kaleidescape describes Terra as an storage server with “additional computational power” for system functions. The additional computational power surely benefits the download speeds and the ability to stream to more zones at the same time. Is there more to it? Not really explained anywhere.

I went from a Strato 6TB* to Strato C + Terra 72TB combination. I noticed the following.

- The download speeds are up from 150mbps to 900mbps. (I have 2.5gbps up/down internet speeds through ATT Fiber). Hardware wise, nothing is limiting Strato to be slower. This is likely a software implementation to have a discerning difference to incentivize Terra purchases.
- The GUI is slightly more snappier. Strato 6TB did a fine job displaying cover arts with animation for the most part but it would stutter occasionally. Perhaps more RAM and/or faster flash memory for the OS in the Terra.
- Strato-C without the mechanical hard drive should theoretically have less jitter and electrical noise in its HDMI outputs. 3.5 inch storage drives use a 5V DC rail for data read/write and a 12V DC rail to spin the disc. The spinner is likely a brushless asynchronous AC motor with pulse width modulation (PWM). The back-feed here is more than enough to contaminate the 12V rails. There is also the magnetic and mechanical properties of the spinning storage drives which can have further effect on the electronics. Of course, it is difficult to tell if there is a real world detectable difference. Perhaps on the most revealing audio systems, very sensitive ears can hear the difference.
- On the inner circle of a HDD where the diameter is smaller and the angular velocity is slower, the read speeds are much slower. If you wanted to watch multiple different movies in multiple different zones and your choice of movies happen to be on the same hdd and written near the inner circle of the HDD, I believe the maximum allowed zones will be limited to 5 different movies in 5 different zones. This is probably why the Compact Terra with a single HDD is limited to 5 zones. The standard size Terra can have multiple HDDs and if your choice of movies happen to be on different HDDs, then 10 zones are allowed. It could be more but 10 zone limit is due to the 1Gbe ethernet interface (100mbps per movie x10 = 1Gbe).

*Older generation Strato. Same electronics as Strato S but cosmetically in a larger 2U height chassis.

There is some great info in here. I think my GUI can be a bit more snappier. There is definitely a bit of a lag. Same goes for when I’m starting movies. Might be my lumagen video processor or something else but GUI can definitely be cleaner.

Thanks for your profound insight.

 

[cinelife]

Gotcha, my alto is what is connected to my Strato via costar. That’s what is playing my vault.

If I keep the alto, vault and get a strato c and Terra….

The strato C and Alto can connect to the co star and play everything from the vault and terra.

Correct?

Yes, correct.

Jim

 

[cinelife]

There is some great info in here. I think my GUI can be a bit more snappier. There is definitely a bit of a lag. Same goes for when I’m starting movies. Might be my lumagen video processor or something else but GUI can definitely be cleaner.

Thanks for your profound insight.

I use a Lumagen as well, great processor, and excellent performance. The only way to know for sure if your setup is causing some lag time is test a direct connection from Strato to your display.

Jim

Disclosure: We sell Lumagen processors, so my comments are biased in that regard (but accurate ).

 

[Substance]

There is some great info in here. I think my GUI can be a bit more snappier. There is definitely a bit of a lag. Same goes for when I’m starting movies. Might be my lumagen video processor or something else but GUI can definitely be cleaner.

Thanks for your profound insight.

I assume you use a Lumagen Radiance Pro as your CoStar. The switching is pretty fast actually. The 10.2gbps (Jim from Lumagen calls it 9Ghz) inputs are a bit faster than the 18gbps (18Ghz) inputs. Also, each pair of inputs share a single 18Gbps lane to the multiplexer. For the fastest switching, use only the odd or even inputs (1,3,5,7 or 2,4,6,8). If your Radiance Pro has 10.2gbps (9Ghz) inputs, perhaps connect your Alto to one of these inputs. I don’t know how active you are on the Avsforum, Jim from Lumagen is pretty active there and advocates for no less than 3 meter passive HDMI cables on the source inputs for the fastest switching and drop outs. If you find the best synergy in the inputs and cables, the switching should be near seamless.

You can also set the GUI refresh rate to 24Hz and enable metadata to Lumagen in the Kaleidescape web interface. This will keep the Kaleidescape output locked to 24Hz unless a 60Hz movie is played (currently only Gemini Man). This will reduce the quality of the GUI animations but movies will start significantly faster.

As for starting movies, I got the best improvement when I upgraded my entire network to Ubiquiti Unifi gear. I have 10Gbe connections between all core components such as modem, router and switches. I have layer 3 switching with 2.5Gbe connections downstream to each device. This upgrade also benefited all other network connected devices.

 

[Substance]

I use a Lumagen as well, great processor, and excellent performance. The only way to know for sure if your setup is causing some lag time is test a direct connection from Strato to your display.

Jim

Disclosure: We sell Lumagen processors, so my comments are biased in that regard (but accurate ).

Definitely accurate! It’s a must for anyone who is critical about the video performance (and audio too with the 5xxx series).

 

[pickle28]

I assume you use a Lumagen Radiance Pro as your CoStar. The switching is pretty fast actually. The 10.2gbps (Jim from Lumagen calls it 9Ghz) inputs are a bit faster than the 18gbps (18Ghz) inputs. Also, each pair of inputs share a single 18Gbps lane to the multiplexer. For the fastest switching, use only the odd or even inputs (1,3,5,7 or 2,4,6,8). If your Radiance Pro has 10.2gbps (9Ghz) inputs, perhaps connect your Alto to one of these inputs. I don’t know how active you are on the Avsforum, Jim from Lumagen is pretty active there and advocates for no less than 3 meter passive HDMI cables on the source inputs for the fastest switching and drop outs. If you find the best synergy in the inputs and cables, the switching should be near seamless.

You can also set the GUI refresh rate to 24Hz and enable metadata to Lumagen in the Kaleidescape web interface. This will keep the Kaleidescape output locked to 24Hz unless a 60Hz movie is played (currently only Gemini Man). This will reduce the quality of the GUI animations but movies will start significantly faster.

As for starting movies, I got the best improvement when I upgraded my entire network to Ubiquiti Unifi gear. I have 10Gbe connections between all core components such as modem, router and switches. I have layer 3 switching with 2.5Gbe connections downstream to each device. This upgrade also benefited all other network connected devices.

Hmmmm...

Very intersting. I'm using a Co-Star (HDMI from Alto & Strato) then HDMI to Lumagen. That likely creates the issue. It's not terrible but it's noticeable when starting a movie. My Lumagen only has 4 inputs so I don't have a spare to remove the co-star. I will have to upgrade that at some point.

No less that 3 meter cables? I think my cables are 1 meter. I always thought shorter cables were better.

Thanks for the info.

 

[pickle28]

I'm trying to figure out storage needs and have another question...

I know the vault is not a player but I need the disks in the vault to play the title. So, do I have the downloaded digital file stored on my Alto or Strato taking up space? If so, then I won't need to worry if I just decided to buy them all and get rid of the Vault all together.

 

[cinelife]

I'm trying to figure out storage needs and have another question...

I know the vault is not a player but I need the disks in the vault to play the title. So, do I have the downloaded digital file stored on my Alto or Strato taking up space? If so, then I won't need to worry if I just decided to buy them all and get rid of the Vault all together.

Can you call me? I'll PM you my number, I have several question about your setup because I may be misunderstanding what I'm reading.

Jim

 

[pickle28]

Would love that Jim.

Thank you