[mythtv-users] Storage Groups or NFS for distributed video storage

[Roger Heflin]

Jim Shank wrote:
> I have a Master backend that holds all of my recordings and all of my videos
> except for a complete series on a Slave frontend in another room. I have no
> trouble accessing the recordings but video's are another problem. I would
> like to see all of my videos in a single logical structure. I have 2
> different directory structures:
> 
> Master MythTV Backend/Frontend (.21)
> 
> |-video (recordings directory, default Storage Group) 
>   |-Movies
>     |- Series1
>     |- Series2
>     |- Series3
> 
> Slave MythTV Frontend (.21) Originally MythDora which explains the different
> structure
> 
> |-storage 
>   |- posters
>   |- recordings
>   |- videos
>      |- Series4
> 
> I would like to allow both systems to access the movies on the master
> backend and the additional series on the frontend transparently. 
> 
> Scenario 1: NFS
> I tried creating an NFS mount at the Master:/video directory to the slave
> and then adding a Series4 under /video/Movies/Series4 and then connecting
> that directory to an NFS mount back to the slave:/storage/videos/Series4. On
> slave I mounted Master:/video to /video and told MythTV Slave that it's
> video root was /video. This worked well for Master, I could see everything
> but Slave couldn't see /video/Movies/Series4. I may have incorrectly setup
> /etc/exports:
> 
> Slave /etc/export:
> /storage/videos/Series4         Master(ro,crossmnt,nohide)
> 
> Slave /etc/fstab:
> master:/video/ /video/	nfs     defaults        0 0
> 
> Master /etc/export:
> /video  slave(ro,crossmnt,nohide)
> 
> Master /etc/fstab:
> slave:/storage/videos/Series4 /video/Movies/Series4/        nfs     defaults
> 0 0
> 

If I understand what you are doing, it is simple, you cannot re-export NFS 
mounts on a machine so on the master /video/Movies/Series4 does not exist from 
the NFS export point of view, it is an empty directory.

I would mount the filesystem on master as /storage/videos/Series4 and then put a 
symbolic link at /video/Movies/Series4 pointing to that location (ie "ln -s 
/storage/videos/Series4 /video/Movies/Series4").   The symbolic link will be 
followed on slave to the local filesystem where the videos are, on the master it 
will be followed to the NFS mount from the slave.

In general I make it a rule to always use the same mount location on the 
mounting machine as the exporting machine (whenever possible) otherwise things 
that assume an explicit path fail to work, and when doing work with files you 
have to make sure to remember which machine you are on to know where to look, 
and with an application of symbolic links one can make the nice virtual 
structure that puts stuff from many different mount points together and makes it 
look like one place.

                        Roger