Ideal Multi-Computer Setup

[joltman]

My wife and I both are running MMW 4.1.2.1706 Gold on our Windows 8.1 x64 Pro laptops. We were each running our own local databases, but referencing the same storage on our NAS (\\10.0.0.50\music\). I have been going through the long process of updating the tags/filenames of the music. I've been doing most of the renaming through MMW. The only thing I really wish MMW would do is give me the option to label tracks "01/15" (if there were 15 tracks total). But I digress.

The issue is that when I update the tracks, my DB is fine, but the wife's has lots of Dead Links (obviously). So I decided to try setting up a shared DB. I copied my DB file to \\10.0.0.50\music\MediaMonkey\MM.DB and then pointed my INI file to that location (same for hers). My MMW loads up a bit slower than it used to (over wireless AC), but it's acceptable (Core i7-4600u). Her laptop on the other hand, is at a crawl (Core i5-4300u) over gig wired. It's been running for over an hour, and it says that it's at about 940 files (out of over 15000). I'm assuming that her MMW is updating is MetaDataCache files? The NAS isn't at fault as it's a SuperMicro server with dual Xeon E5520 CPUs and 48GB RAM running ESXi 4.1 (the NAS is actually OmniOS as a VM). I know the network speed is good as I can copy files to/from the NAS at ~90MB/s (not Mbs).

I guess my question is, will it always take this long for either version of MMW to boot up? Is this going to be a one time thing for her laptop since it's accessing a DB that it's never accessed before?

Would it be better if I setup a new Windows VM in ESXi that we both could RDP into to organize our music? I need a method that's fast and where I won't need to update any DeadLinks between DBs. Any ideas? Thanks for the help!!


PS: I just looked at the thumbnails in the %username%\AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey\Metadatacache\Thumbnails\ directory, and its full of pictures that aren't even related to our MMW install. Both directories (hers and mine) are full of thumbnails from TV shows on E! (the soup??) and the Onion News Network and others (stand up comics maybe)? We've _never_ even browsed these sites. We don't use MMW to even look at our Videos folders (which don't contain any of these shows/videos anyway). Where are these thumbnails coming from????

[Lowlander]

Sounds like you're running Folder Monitoring which is likely why it's slow. As you're sharing the same database only 1 PC would need to scanning.

Depending on your needs you could also use a central MediaMonkey (server) and have the other one run as DLNA client. This allows for access to shared AutoPlaylists and Play History tracking in the same database. It won't allow for tagging from the clients.

[MMFrLife]

The only thing I really wish MMW would do is give me the option to label tracks "01/15" (if there were 15 tracks total)

You can do this with RegExp Find & Replacehttp://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewto ... =2&t=28510
.....but not easy to use.

I'm not sure about all the other stuff you are asking, sorry.

[joltman]

Sounds like you're running Folder Monitoring which is likely why it's slow. As you're sharing the same database only 1 PC would need to scanning.

Depending on your needs you could also use a central MediaMonkey (server) and have the other one run as DLNA client. This allows for access to shared AutoPlaylists and Play History tracking in the same database. It won't allow for tagging from the clients.

Lowlander,

Thanks for the tip about folder scanning. I'll remove the folder scanning from her MMW at once. Will we run into any major issues with her using the DB at the same time I am? The chances of her writing anything major the DB while I'm also using it will be slim. Probably only playlists. I've told her that we both can't use it at the same time. I think that'll work as she doesn't use it that much.

[Lowlander]

Using it at the same time can be problematic (not sure fatal data errors though) as SQLite hasn't been designed for this. I think the primary issue with simultaneous access is slowness (compounded by access over network slowness). I personally have chosen the DLNA route as only 1 PC needs to edit and it's always on anyway. I also have many non-Windows clients like smart TVs, tablets and smartphones.

I suggest considering backing the database up regularly (best may be separate weekly backups so you can go back several backups if needed) if the database is very important to you (mine is so I have nightly backups that overwrite and weekly separate backups).

[joltman]

Using it at the same time can be problematic (not sure fatal data errors though) as SQLite hasn't been designed for this. I think the primary issue with simultaneous access is slowness (compounded by access over network slowness). I personally have chosen the DLNA route as only 1 PC needs to edit and it's always on anyway. I also have many non-Windows clients like smart TVs, tablets and smartphones.

I suggest considering backing the database up regularly (best may be separate weekly backups so you can go back several backups if needed) if the database is very important to you (mine is so I have nightly backups that overwrite and weekly separate backups).

Good advice. My ZFS NAS has snapshots that happen at least daily. Certain days, I make hourly snaps, so any DB changes will be kept.