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nuts and bolts info?

J

jtonthebike

Member
Hi All,

I am looking at used Kaleidescape kits on both here and other places, I wondered if someone could offer some thoughts.

So let's say I choose a server + a player, the player located near my plasma panel so I can just run HDMI and the server with all the other kit. Here's a few questions:

What network connection type is required between server + player and does it need to be on it's own (V)LAN?
I can see that should drives fail, I can purchase replacements from K'scape but do these disks contain the OS or just the film/music data?
If just the media data and the internal disk dies, how do I replace that? (former sysadmin and worried about disk failure and not being able to boot the damned thing)

Are using third-party disks acceptable? I would suspect they're not supported but are the drives SATA or another format?

There's an old server listed on ebay without hard disks and not booting, i suspect it's a PSU issue, if it isn't, can K'scape send me the parts needed to repair it should I wish or do I have to send it to them?

many thanks in advance,
JT
 
We typically connect all K components through a central switch (with Cat 5e, or Cat 6). Some of us have elected to setup VLAN's because of the size/complexity of our networks, but it is NOT necessary for networking a K system.

Replacement drives are normally blank (they can contain the file system if necessary). The K Server will rebuild the content from a failed drive in a number of ways. If the drive failed in a 3U Server, and assuming a "hot spare" is available in the Server, it will rebuild the content to the HS. It will also rebuild the content to a blank drive, if available in the Server, and it will rebuild to a replacement drive installed in place of the failed drive.

Content is actually spread out amongst all the drives. KRAID has no problem rebuilding content to a failed drive. The Server does not power down during a drive failure.

Third party drives will not work. You must use only K drives purchased through K or someone selling used K drives (after they have been reinitialized by K so they can be used in a different Server). Used drives do not need to be reinitialized if the receiving Server is empty (no drives) and it will be receiving a full set of used drives (meaning all the used drives that were in a different Server are now being placed in the receiving Server).

Power supply service kits are available from K to repair some of the older components. Check with K for availability. Bigger issues would require sending the component to K for repair.

Be careful with ebay, I personally know of several scams involving the sale of K components. Always ask for a component serial number, and run that thru K to verify it is real. K cannot provide info deemed private (personal, etc.), but they may be able to tell you something about the component. At the very least they can verify if it's a real component.

Hope that helps!

Jim
 
Just to add in- while drives do sometimes fail- Id think it would be an extremely rare circumstance where all drives fail at the same time. The system is pretty robust in terms of protection. I think you'd need two of the active drives to fail at the exact same time to give you a problem- I say active drives because the system has a "hot spare" that is ready to step in in case a drive fails. Kaleidescape uses enterprise level drives which are less prone to failure. That said- I've had to replace several drives over the years but Ive never lost any data.
 
It might be worth checking out the FAQ on the Kaleidescape website:

www.kaleidescape.com/faq/

There is a good explanation on how reliable storage is achieved. There is also a section giving guidance on network requirements. "The network must be at least 100Base-TX and must be 1000Base-T to play two or more Blu-ray movies at once."
 
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