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Suggest me a system

3000 Blue rays = 10 Vaults @ 320 disks each!
Does K still sell Vaults?
I stopped counting after I hit 2500 some years ago. I might have significantly more than 3000 Blu-rays now. I know a few hundred of these are duplicates, double dips, triple dips and so on. I plan to get rid of the duplicates and disc to digital on some to reduce this number. I plan to import only,

1- her chick flicks and TV series. She doesn’t like to deal with the physical media.
2- TV shows from which I like to select random episodes and watch at random times. X-Files, Star Trek, Stargate and alike.
3- and maybe a handful of movies not on the store and may care to watch often. I can’t think of any to be honest.

All the rest will be cataloged and kept on shelves. I like the ability to browse on the screen to figure out what to watch. I think all I need is 2 Vaults for the above. Most of my TV shows are on DVDs and never received Blu-ray releases. Those can be on a grandfathered server.

Ideally a single 1U+ 30TB server with two M700s would take care of above really well. Jim made great points on the 1U+ servers. These are still relatively current and demand high value on resale. Unfortunatelly they are also beyond my budget.
 
Thank you everyone for all your help. I think I have a very good idea now. I still have a few questions but so far it looks like I need the following.

1- Strato S 12TB
2- CoStar license for my Lumagen Radiance Pro
3- Premiere 3U server with 36TB storage which should handle 2x320 Blu-rays and 1000+ DVDs
4- 2x M700 or 2x DV700 + M500

Can someone explain how to populate the premiere servers? Do I need matching drives? Do they need to be brand new drives or I can buy someone’s used drives? Assuming I have an out of warranty 8 drive populated 3U server. Thanks.
 
Thank you everyone for all your help. I think I have a very good idea now. I still have a few questions but so far it looks like I need the following.

1- Strato S 12TB
2- CoStar license for my Lumagen Radiance Pro
3- Premiere 3U server with 36TB storage which should handle 2x320 Blu-rays and 1000+ DVDs
4- 2x M700 or 2x DV700 + M500

Can someone explain how to populate the premiere servers? Do I need matching drives? Do they need to be brand new drives or I can buy someone’s used drives? Assuming I have an out of warranty 8 drive populated 3U server. Thanks.

If you plan to keep those current drives in the server, then that existing file system controls, so you cannot install "used" drives in that server unless they have been reinitialized by K (a process they only consider for drives that are still in warranty, and there is a fee). Of course you can still purchase new 6TB drives through your dealer, or Kaleidescape sales directly. If by "match" you mean the same size, i.e. all 6TB's, then no, they can be mixed sized drives.

Basically it works like this:

If the used drives have been reinitialized, you can use them in any server (obviously talking about Premiere 1U, or 3U Servers).

If the used drives have not been reinitialized, then they can only be used in a server that is empty (no drives), and only if you install the complete used drive set in the server.

Jim
 
If you plan to keep those current drives in the server, then that existing file system controls, so you cannot install "used" drives in that server unless they have been reinitialized by K (a process they only consider for drives that are still in warranty, and there is a fee). Of course you can still purchase new 6TB drives through your dealer, or Kaleidescape sales directly. If by "match" you mean the same size, i.e. all 6TB's, then no, they can be mixed sized drives.

Basically it works like this:

If the used drives have been reinitialized, you can use them in any server (obviously talking about Premiere 1U, or 3U Servers).

If the used drives have not been reinitialized, then they can only be used in a server that is empty (no drives), and only if you install the complete used drive set in the server.

Jim
Very helpful. Thank you!
 
I plan to import only,

2- TV shows from which I like to select random episodes and watch at random times. X-Files, Star Trek, Stargate and alike.
At least all seasons of the X-Files are available from the store, so that's 30+ slots freed up ... *checks the store* .... or at least used to be available from the store. Hopefully they will return.
 
At least all seasons of the X-Files are available from the store, so that's 30+ slots freed up ... *checks the store* .... or at least used to be available from the store. Hopefully they will return.
I did a search on the store website. It only returned the two X-Files films but non of the seasons.
 
Consider a grandfathered premiere server with a dv700 vault, do I need all of the disc of a TV series in the vault in order to access every episode? In other words, does it need to verify one disc or all discs per season?
 
Consider a grandfathered premiere server with a dv700 vault, do I need all of the disc of a TV series in the vault in order to access every episode? In other words, does it need to verify one disc or all discs per season?
From my experience, each BD disc of a season needs to be in the vault in order to play back.
 
If the TV show is a DVD, once it is copied, it can be removed from the Vault and does not need to be present for playback.
If it is a Blu-ray copy, all disks will need to be present in the Vault to enable playback.
 
As previous posters have stated, if the content is from Blu-ray disc, all discs of the episodic set need to be present in the vault.

One important thing to note: you state that you are considering purchasing Premiere server and a DV700. Note that the DV700 is not capable of playing content so you would need to add a M-Class player (M500 or M300) to that system in order to be able to play the content. If you want a system that is just comprised of a server and a vault that will also serve as your player, you need an M700 not a DV700.
 
As previous posters have stated, if the content is from Blu-ray disc, all discs of the episodic set need to be present in the vault.

One important thing to note: you state that you are considering purchasing Premiere server and a DV700. Note that the DV700 is not capable of playing content so you would need to add a M-Class player (M500 or M300) to that system in order to be able to play the content. If you want a system that is just comprised of a server and a vault that will also serve as your player, you need an M700 not a DV700.
Thanks for the correction. I wonder if I can get by without the servers. Correct me if I am wrong, Strato S can pair with 2 dv700s but can only play DVDs. Alto can pair with 2 dv700s but can also play Blu-rays. I can use a CoStar and have both a Strato and an Alto. Does this mean I can have 4 dv700s in total? If I add a second Alto, can I add 2 more dv700s for a total of 6 dv700s? Is this 2 dv700 limitation per device or per system?
 
That is an interesting edge case on vault usage :) I am pretty sure that pairing altos or stratos together makes them in effect a 'mini-system'. And as such the number of vaults that can be supported does not go up. So think of 1 alto working alone as a 'system' that can support 2 vaults, Pairing 2 altos together, they both become part of a 'system' that can still only support 2 vaults. Also keep in mind that when using a vault with an alto or strato, the vault is operating in 'carousal mode'. That is where it plays the disc directly from the vault unlike the Premiere system where the vault does an import of the disc's contents to the server and the BDs stay inside to prove ownership. If you have one alto playing a disc from a vault, none of the other discs in that vault would be playable by the other alto while the first one is still playing.
 
Can the Strato play Blu-rays from the dv700 if there is a Terra server in the system?
No. A Strato cannot play Blu-ray discs. You'll need an Alto (either added as a separate zone or Co-Star paired with the Strato) or a Co-Star paired Premiere system (with an M-Class player -- M300, M500, M700) to play Blu-ray discs.
 
No. A Strato cannot play Blu-ray discs. You'll need an Alto (either added as a separate zone or Co-Star paired with the Strato) or a Co-Star paired Premiere system (with an M-Class player -- M300, M500, M700) to play Blu-ray discs.
For a system with Strato + Alto + Costar + Terra, can I add more than 2 dv700s?
 
I now have the Strato. I have approximately 3500 titles on discs. I want to convert most of whichever is available in the Kstore to digital. I want to add 3 to 6 disc servers and import 900-1800 discs to a new “to me” premier server. I want to catalog the remaining discs and keep them in their cases. These are the Criterions, Arrow, Vinegar Syndrome, and some other limited edition sets.

I will be adding a new Kscape component every 2 to 3 months. I want to start with one that will help me convert discs to digital. That way, I can figure out how many titles I can convert to digital and what size premiere server I need (and how many disc servers). What would be the ideal order to add Kscape components? I know my Strato won’t play Blu-rays from a DV700/M700 but would it allow me to convert discs to digital?
 
Since you ultimately want a Premiere system, I would start looking for a 3U server and a DV700/M700. For the server, look for one with recent hard drives. If it comes down to one with older drives, look for one with the fewest number of (hopefully small) drives. In that situation, your strategy will be to swap out the oldest & smallest drives first (using the force fail method) when you purchase new drives.
 
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