Use Mapped Drive as V:\ instead of \\ServerName\Share?

[TheWaterbug]

I currently have a single internal HDD inside my Optiplex as the V:\ drive, e.g. for Video, so BI stores everything at V:\BlueIris\New\, V:\BlueIris\Stored\, etc.

I just bought a 4-bay Synology DS423 and set up a Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) volume with three 8 TB spinners to give me 16 TB of redudant storage, plus the ability to expand non-destructively down the road.

I have mapped the DS423's volume at \\BISynologyDS423\ to Z:\, and I have the appropriate accounts and permissions set up, so I can direct BI to save to the DS423. For example I have Aux2 set up to store to \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\ServerCloset\, and the one camera I have pointed to this Aux2 dutifully stores daily footage and snapshots at \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\ServerCloset\.

But I can't specify this as a drive letter. If I paste Z:\BlueIris\ServerCloset\ into the definition of Aux2, BI replaces it with \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\ServerCloset\

Is there a reason for this?

My original purpose for specifying the Synology as a drive letter was that I had planned the following:

1. Turn off the BI service
2. Copy the contents of the old V:\ drive to the new Z:\ drive
3. Remove the old internal HDD.
4. Re-map the Synology from Z: to V:
5. Turn on the BI service and have BI behave as though nothing has changed, since everything it expected to find at the old V:\BlueIris\ is still at the new V:\BlueIris\, but with more free space.

Or am I thinking about this the wrong way? If I just change the definition of New from V:\BlueIris\New\ to \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\New\ and rebuild the database, will I get the same result?

Thanks!

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

One is a mapped drive, the other is referred to as Universal Naming Convention (UNC)

Z:\BlueIris\ServerCloset\ and \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\ServerCloset\ are the same locations. The former is easier for humans to work with. Either reference should work. I think the bigger concern will possible be the performance of the connectivity between the optiplex and the DS423.

I have not tried configuring BI to store files on network shares. Hopefully others members who have, will chime in.

 

[TheWaterbug]

I think the bigger concern will possible be the performance of the connectivity between the optiplex and the DS423.

Performance will not be a problem. I have only 15 cameras that push less than 10 MB/sec to the server:


The Synology will read/write >>> 80 MBps, sustained:

 

[Mike A.]

Yeah, I see the same. Seems to just be a quirk of BI. It doesn't even display mapped drives for selection. If you type it in, it changes the drive letter to the UNC.

I think you'd probably end up the same using the UNC naming after rebuild but I haven't tried it to know for sure.

ETA: You've probably already seen, but be careful changing things. Even if I back out of that screen without accepting or hit cancel, once it changes the location from mapped letter to UNC, it keeps that and then does a rebuild even if I say no.

 

[TonyR]

FWIW, from BI "Help", notably the last paragraph:

• The service by default runs as a user called “local service” which does not have the same access to the system as your user account. For most action types, it’s recommended that you run the service with your own user account instead. This is changed by opening the Windows service manager (search for services) and edit the Blue Iris service entry Login page. See the Administration chapter for instructions.
• The service may not understand your file system designations like “H:” etc. as these are user-specific. You should always use UNC names where possible (\\server\share).

 

[TobiasF]

But I can't specify this as a drive letter. If I paste Z:\BlueIris\ServerCloset\ into the definition of Aux2, BI replaces it with \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\ServerCloset\

My original purpose for specifying the Synology as a drive letter was that I had planned the following:

1. Turn off the BI service
2. Copy the contents of the old V:\ drive to the new Z:\ drive
3. Remove the old internal HDD.
4. Re-map the Synology from Z: to V:
5. Turn on the BI service and have BI behave as though nothing has changed, since everything it expected to find at the old V:\BlueIris\ is still at the new V:\BlueIris\, but with more free space.

Or am I thinking about this the wrong way? If I just change the definition of New from V:\BlueIris\New\ to \\BISynologyDS423\BlueIris\New\ and rebuild the database, will I get the same result?

Maybe I do not get you right. But why not just set-up the network path to the NAS in Blue Iris as it is without mapping a drive?
Today it is V: and tomorrow it is the path on your NAS. Maybe temporarily any other network path while you data moving action is ongoing.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Maybe I do not get you right. But why not just set-up the network path to the NAS in Blue Iris as it is without mapping a drive?
Today it is V: and tomorrow it is the path on your NAS. Maybe temporarily any other network path while you data moving action is ongoing.

If I do that, and then repair the database, will all my old Alerts still be there?