Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Meridian Offer QNAP & dBpoweramp Support

Bear with me on this one... I may be really thick but what is this new relationship/product collaboration mean for me and my system?

Is this an external hardware storage component with different software? If do are there any prices out there?

Also... Does this perhaps begin to pave the way for movie content streaming in the future as I noticed that they have movie servers? That would be pretty dam attractive to me and makes sence if at all possible. This could be M's way back into video.

Regards,
Carl

It means that instead of a hugely expensive MD600 (or TwinStore, etc.), that acts as a mirrored drive NAS for Sooloos only, you can buy a hugely expensive QNAP NAS (we don't know which models apply as yet) that will act as a store for your Sooloos, as well as acting as a standard NAS for files, videos etc. So storage no longer requires a proprietary solution.

It remains to be seen if the QNAP can act as Core, probably not.

I'd be very surprised if M use this to go back to video, but there are plenty of non-M options that will enable you to use the single QNAP NAS to store both.

I hope so, but urge caution as we don't know this yet. If the NAS box runs Sooloos firmware it might have to be dedicated for Sooloos use only. Which IMHO would be a travesty.

Best wait to 5th August to find out, before we speculate too much.

Regards,
Carl

To convert a standard NAS to Sooloos duties (not core) would be pretty straight forward if the NAS already ran a HTTP server. I believe that it's easily within the capabilities of a basic plugin, few custom web pages and minor configuration tweaks.

Not sure about that.

The more capable (Dual Core Processor and Higher RAM) 2-bay QNAP NAS Devices are approx �600 for 2 by 3TB and �800 for 2 by 4TB (including Drives).

This compares to about �2,200 for 2 by 3TB and ~�2,400 for the 2 by 4TB version (Meridian prices before any discount).

Savings of �1,600 for Storage is quite substantial and if the QNAP offering also offers "Core" functionality, then even better, the savings would approximate to 3-4 MS200 Endpoints.

Personally, I would also favour dedicating a QNAP NAS to Sooloos Music Streaming only and have another NAS for other "Server" duties.

We all know how much time it takes to successfully Import e.g. 3,000 to 15,000 Albums into the Sooloos Database and then to Groom that Library, thus keeping it on a dedicated separate NAS Device makes sense to me.

RAID protection is fine, until the Power Supply or Enclosure fails!

Having said the above though, I firmly believe that whether "Core" functionality is included in the QNAP offering is the key factor.

For new Users, an MD600 with 8TB of storage approximates to ~20,000 Albums (likely more) and thus would take care of the Music Library of the vast majority of likely Users.

A 2-bay QNAP 8TB would cost less but if the User also had to buy a Core device (with the �2,000 MC200 currently being the "cheapest" ) then there wouldn't be a huge advantage.

Without Core functionality, I think the appeal of the QNAP would primarily be to those who already have a Core capable device and are looking to expand their Sooloos Storage.

If Core is included, then I think it significantly reduces the cost of User buying into Sooloos in the first place. Quite akin to way that the MS200 (and indeed Explorers) have paved the way for many first time Meridian users to get their feet wet.

It is for this reason (and following the recent Marketing "Logic" of the MS200's and Explorers) that I think Core Functionality will form a part of the QNAP Offering from Meridian i.e. "Cheap" Cores, Storage and Endpoints will allow focus on the Endpoints (which are Meridian's strength anyway) and should allow M to significantly grow our User base.

Point taken on 2-bay QNAPs. I was thinking of the multibay (ie RAID5) products.

Does anyone know the CPU and RAM spec of existing M cores? It's not something M advertize, mainly because, like Rolls Royce, whatever power Sooloos cores have is "sufficient".

I'd presume less than the QNAPs have, merely because QNAP has to compete on spec with other manufacturers.

Hi Ronnie,

Do you think it may be possible that Meridian effectively offload the storage to QNAP and then retain the Core function via a separate box something like the MS200, the core seems to be flash memory based and so it could exist on a memory stick if it came to it! thereby allowing customers to purchase a core (one single easily supported device) and then the endpoint of their choice/budget, this would simplify the range, core, MS200, MS600, MC600 (minus storage), 818, 861v8, plus any new exciting products we are unaware of?

Just my ramblings...

Russ

Hi Russ
IMHO the "Core" performs Two Key functions (amongst others)

1) It's the platform that the Runtime Version of the Sooloos SQL Database runs on. This Runtime results in the FLAC files being stored with their relevant GUID's thereby allowing all of the Sooloos functionality that we're familiar with. As we know, Sooloos does not use the Folder Artist/Album/Track based storage system used by most other systems

2) Decodes the FLAC / MP3 / WAV file to PCM and then sends it on to the Endpoint Zone via UDP Packets

Some users here have their Core on e.g. a C15 or MC200 with Storage on e.g. a TwinStore

The parts that carry out the functionality of the Core in the MC200 or MD600 are quite small and could easily fit into a "small" device

However, for Data Transfer reasons, I believe it makes the most sense to have the Core and Store within the same Device. If nothing else, it reduces Network Traffic

Summary: Meridian can put the Core into almost any "Size" of Device. The Main decision they need to make is a Marketing / Pricing one

So you could run one off a USB stick...

In summary, No

The Processing that a Runtime SQL Database requires is not insignificant and therefore the better the Processor and available Ram, then the better

In 2013 Computing terms, these hardware requirements are available in Devices like NAS boxes, so it's better to leverage the Hardware and Busybox software that runs these as they are known quantities. No point in Meridian re-inventing the wheel

So, if Meridian not only puts storage, but also a core into a QNAP, then all you need is an endpoint. I.e. an MS200 would be enough. That would make quite an affordable entry point for a Sooloos system!