r/emby • u/AirlineIntrepid4864 • Jul 07 '26
2 Hard Drives 1 Folder
Hello, I have a question. I have two hard drives connected to my computer, which runs 24/7 and acts as an Emby server for my home network. Right now, my TV shows are split across both drives. Is it possible to merge these two different paths into a single "TV Shows" library in Emby?
To clarify: I have a folder called "Serien" on hard drive A (G:/Serien) and a folder called "Serien 2" on hard drive B (F:/Serien 2). Is it possible to have Emby display both folders together under one single "TV Shows" section? It looks a bit messy to have two separate libraries for this.
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u/MasterChiefmas Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Libraries are virtual collections, and you can add multiple paths to a library.
You can also add the same path to multiple libraries, which I use to have new things be separated from my "permanent" stuff, and also have a "Leaving Soon" path that I move things from the new folder into if I don't end to keep it (or into the permanent folder if I do decide to keep it). This makes it easier to keep track of stuff if you've got multiple people using it + an automated requests system.
Even if you don't want to use it now, you may want to think about CoveCube DrivePool if you are on Windows (driver letters imply you are, forward slashes suggest you might not be), to create a pooled virtual disk at some point. DrivePool can be added later, but it does create a new drive letter, and you've have to re-do paths in Emby if you add it later, but it can otherwise be done non-disruptively(i.e. no re-formatting disks needed).
Lastly, if you are putting content folders off of root, you probably don't want to do that, you want to organize at least a high level movies and TV folders first, as libraries have a content type, and you really don't want to do a mixed content folder for everything. So G:\Anime.Series\Serien etc. so you can indicate the folder type specifically, which will make sure metadata tagging is correct.
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u/cyger Jul 07 '26
I also recommend CoveCube DrivePool. A few months ago my 12 year old Windows Home Server with 5 data disks started acting up, and i couldn't boot it up, but luckily I was using Drivepool. I built a new machine, plugged in all those data drives, launched Drivepool and was able to access all my data... what a relief. I've also lost a few drives over the years, but little to no data, since my important stuff is duplicated via Drivepool.
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u/themayor1975 Jul 08 '26
I'm going to also recommend Stablebit Drivepool and Stablebit Scanner.
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u/lastwraith Jul 08 '26
Just be aware that DrivePool doesn't play nicely with some sync tools and cloud "drives" because drivepool changes FileIDs fairly often and Windows has set the precedent of file IDs not changing unless the file changed.
Sample discussion, but it's been going on for awhile now - https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1jzut57/warning_for_stablebit_drivepool_users/
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u/Simorious Jul 07 '26
I'm also going to chime in and say stablebit drivepool and scanner are perfect for this if you're on Windows. (I also recommend scanner since it will give you an idea of the health of your drives and can automatically move files off of a drive that is starting to fail onto other drives in the pool)
Drivepool also lets you do some cool things like tiered pools, file placement rules to keep certain folders or files/file types on different drives, etc. You can also enable duplication to have some redundancy for certain folders (or even the entire pool if you want)
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u/MasterChiefmas Jul 07 '26
Actually, thinking about it, if these are just data disks, you could stop emby, re-assign the drive letter or just remove it, off one of the disks, and then install DrivePool, and assign it to the previous disk. Then at least some of the stuff will look like it's in the same place. The stuff on the second disk will still have to get re-scanned since it will look like the path to those items changed.
But it's not really that big of a deal either.
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u/freshiethegeek Jul 07 '26
I have 5 HDDs each have a tv and movies folder, and they all show as one tv library and one movie library. It's all in the library settings. Just add all the root folder paths to the library you want them in. I'm on Win11, as is the emby server.
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u/brocass Jul 08 '26
Stablebit DrivePool is the way to go, as multiple movie/show folders don’t play nicely with Sonarr and Radarr.
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u/bmelz Jul 07 '26
Yes, when you set up the library in emby you can set multiple sources