I have a new Synology NAS DS412+ and a new WD TV and I’m trying to determine the optimal way to play/view my movies, music, and photos. It seems there are many possibilities, and I’m trying to understand the implications of my choices.
I’m thinking I could just set up WD TV to look at my specific shared folders on the NAS (Windows SMB shares) of movies, music, and photos. But I could also install Plex or Media Server and Photo Station on the NAS.
Does the WD TV *need* write access to these shares? If yes, *what* does it write to them? I have 2000 songs, 10000+ pictures, and hundreds of small video files. I might even want to dabble with ripping DVDs in time. What I *don’t* want to happen is for WD TV to write things *to* these files that will make them appear to have changed and cause my backup software to back it all up again. I guess it’s OK if it’s *adding* some files.
Right now, it seems that some of my folders are seen in *different* ways by the WD TV. Am I going to get some kind of duplication? Where is the media database stored?
Is this something that is going to really ruin me by updating all my files somehow or duplicating files?
Sorry for the confusion, but I really wasn’t expecting a 200+ page manual that *still* didn’t answer all my questions!
Thanks, your reply put me on the right track. But *where* does this database get stored? Is it a single location? Also, if the WD TV gets to the same content in multiple ways (UNC path & Media Server folder for instance), will the compilation look like it has double the items or triple or whatever?
The media database is stored in a “.wd_tv” subfolder of each “top-level” network share. So if your DiskStation provides a “Movies” share and a “TV” share on the network, there will be a “Movies.wd_tv” folder and a “TV.wd_tv” folder.
I believe (but haven’t tested) that WD TV searches will search across all folders in the media database containing files of the current file type (e.g. video).
The WD TV media database only applies to folders shared with normal file sharing (SMB/UNC path). If using a media server, it’s up to the media server to provide an index/catalog of the available files. You won’t have doubling or tripling of items, unless you accidentally or deliberately do it yourself when setting up the shared folders and/or media server. (Also, you’ll notice that when you first select, say, “Video” from the WD TV home screen, or press the red button on the remote, you have to choose the source to display: either Media Library OR Media Server. You can’t choose both at the same time. Browsing and searches only apply to the selected source.)
