Moving from Windows 11 to Unraid Docker - A few questions

Channels DVR Server
#1

As the title states, I am planning on moving my current CDVR running on a windows 11 PC with the media being stored on a QNAP NAS to running CDVR under Docker in Unraid.

My transition plan is as follows:

  • Backup the database on my current windows CDVR.
  • Copy all the media files from the QNAP NAS to my Unraid server.
  • Install CDVR under Docker in Unraid and configure folder/media locations.
  • Restore the database backup.
  • Do a full media scan on CDVR on Unraid.
  • Enable the CDVR Server (click the Server Enable checkbox).

Once I do this, I have a few questions....

  1. Can I leave 'Network Discovery' off on my Unraid CDVR so I can continue to use my existing setup while I configure and test the new Unraid setup? In other words, if I leave Network Discovery off, will my current clients continue to connect to my existing Windows CDVR.

  2. Can both CDVR instances connect to my HDHomerun Tuners? Will each instance select an open tuner (even if it is the same channel) and allow both to record at the same time? I'd like to have both instances recording new passes/shows while I am testing. This way I can confirm if the unraid version is working as planned before fully switching over.

  3. If I have Network Discovery turned off in CDVR on unraid, is there a way I can manually have one of my clients default to that instance/connection instead of my current one (again, for testing)?

  4. Once I have determined that everything is working on the CDVR server on Unraid, can I simply turn off Network Discovery and uncheck Enable Server on my Windows instance and then Check Network Discovery on my Unraid instance? Will the clients automatically connect to the new instance at this point?

Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

#2

Migrating is not very hard though moving storage can take time. Save yourself the complexity of running two servers at the same time and the issues you will have to do to do this.

I recommend this approach:

  • Copy all your media over to the new storage.
  • When done, plan an outage window that doesn't interfere with recording or your DVR users.
  • Shut down the old server
  • Follow the migration procedure which includes installing the new server

You should be back on line in a few minutes

#3

This is how I have done migrations before and I agree that it is normally the best way. However, in this case I want to run them side by side for a few reasons...

  1. I am new to Unraid and Docker, and while it has been smooth sailing so far, I don't want to be 'on the clock' when migrating over.

  2. I'm preparing to segregate my network in different VLANs, and I would use the 'non-production' CDVR to test with (i.e. to make sure clients can communicate, or setup rules to make sure they can).

  3. I would like to test certain features of Unraid/CDVR and make sure it doesn't cause issues. Cache Drives, moving the CDVR appdata to the cache drive while keeping the media on the spinners, using Dynamix Cache Directories to keep the media folder information in memory, etc. Rather not test this on the CDVR my family is using.

I already have all my media files moved over to my Unraid server (30TB takes a long time). My current data is on a QNAP NAS, and I will make this the backup once I fully switch over.

I'll figure it out one way or another, but I was hoping someone might know if there are any issues running 2 CDVR servers on the same home network (and how I can run them side by side while testing). In other words, could I connect my Bedroom Client to the new Unraid CDVR, while the rest of the families are still connecting to the current server.

#4

Leave Network Discovery (Bonjour) enabled on the current server so the clients can find it.
Disable Network Discovery (Bonjour) on the new server and connect AT HOME, specifying its IP address in the client.
Settings > General > Basic Setup > Network Discovery

1 Like
#5

Perfect, thank you!

#6

If you haven't tried it already...
Each server will ask the HDHR to tune to the channel and the HDHR will allocate a free tuner to do so.
If both servers are asking for the same channel number, the HDHR will allocate one tuner per server, so it will use two tuners.

#7

That is what I was hoping for. I have 8 tuners and I don't think I ever record more than 4 OTA shows at the same time. Sounds like it will work ok for the short term.

#8

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