What are my options for sharing library with 2 PCs?

celiabooks · 03-13-2020, 10:26 PM

I have been using Calibre happily with my Kindle for a while now. My wife recently got her own Kindle and I am looking for a way for her to access the Calibre library on her own PC. Both PCs are laptops and we have no always-on PC, so can't run the Calibre server.

The Calibre library is currently on a Synology NAS, and I've had no issues with this setup (my PC connects to the NAS Calibre library over the network). If I understand some of the warnings I have read - I should NOT try to connect a second PC Calibre installation to the same library for fear of corrupting it. Is this true even if only one Calibre install will ONLY be used for reading the library and transferring books to a Kindle?

I can export the library and re-import it locally to my wife's PC but that will require a manual update every so often to keep the libraries in sync. I see some have had luck installing a Calibre server on Syno NAS but that seems above my skill level.

Is there any better way? I don't need cloud access, I am happy to connect my Kindle to my PC to download books, and have my wife connect her Kindle to her PC to do the same.

BetterRed · 03-14-2020, 01:03 AM

You could look into the possibility of doing a one-way sync of the library from the Synology NAS to your wife's laptop at windows startup.

Another alternative might be for your wife to use the calibre-spy plugin to access the library on the NAS directly, it is read only so there's no problems with concurrent updates. But I don't think it provides any direct Kindle connection features - maybe they could be added. See ==>> Index of plugins

Added: Calibre Server on the NAS is of course the other way, your wife might have to use a browser on her kindle to get books from it - assuming that's possible.

PS: There are probably other ways.

BR

Bookstooge · 03-14-2020, 02:33 AM

Personally, I'd have a library on each pc. There's a whole sticky somewhere about the dangers of networked, etc, drives.

Found it:
FAQ Link on nas...

stumped · 03-14-2020, 02:46 AM

agree
cop[y the library, one time, from NAS to a local drive on her PC, and set up her calibre to use that.
you can then sync the libraries over LAN when all devices are on.
treat yours as the master - yours because that is where you do the new book adds.
set up a free utility like freefilesync to do a one way mirror to her laptop. Once configured and run once to create the relevant records it will only take a few seconds to update small changes to your master library. Run as needed
i suggest you run the sync from her laptop, and grant "everyone" read access to your library folder in windows, as a shared windows folder. it will not need write access to that master copy because its doing a one way mirror, and not having that access is another safety feature. EdIt i see the library is actually on a NAS, not local to your PC, dunno if that changes any mechanism for sharing- probably not, if the NAS is a mapped network drive. but with this setup you could arguably dispense with the NAS, and keep the 2 libraries on teh 2 laptops

celiabooks · 03-14-2020, 08:53 PM

Thanks all - you made me think of something I hadn't before. Synology offers their own sync program (like a local Dropbox). I just set that up to sync my library from the NAS to my wife's laptop which her install of Calibre can then use. Works perfectly!

@Bookstooge I did read the warnings against using ANY networked/NAS library but have had no issues for years. Now with it being sync'ed to my wife's laptop at least I'll have a backup if something does get corrupted.... although I guess the corruption might also get synced!

Thank you!

Bookstooge · 03-15-2020, 06:17 AM

You've been warned and have chosen to proceed. Best of luck and for your sake I hope things continue going well.
But don't expect any sympathy if something does go wrong at a later date.

BetterRed · 03-15-2020, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celiabooks

Thanks all - you made me think of something I hadn't before. Synology offers their own sync program (like a local Dropbox).

Which is precisely what I had in mind when I wrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

You could look into the possibility of doing a one-way sync of the library from the Synology NAS to your wife's laptop at windows startup.

I didn't elaborate because I have not used that particular feature of Synology. Good luck with it, providing it is a one-way sync (also known as a mirror) the likelihood of any problems is pretty small.

BR

03-13-2020, 10:26 PM	#1
celiabooks Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2018 Device: Kindle Voyage	What are my options for sharing library with 2 PCs? I have been using Calibre happily with my Kindle for a while now. My wife recently got her own Kindle and I am looking for a way for her to access the Calibre library on her own PC. Both PCs are laptops and we have no always-on PC, so can't run the Calibre server. The Calibre library is currently on a Synology NAS, and I've had no issues with this setup (my PC connects to the NAS Calibre library over the network). If I understand some of the warnings I have read - I should NOT try to connect a second PC Calibre installation to the same library for fear of corrupting it. Is this true even if only one Calibre install will ONLY be used for reading the library and transferring books to a Kindle? I can export the library and re-import it locally to my wife's PC but that will require a manual update every so often to keep the libraries in sync. I see some have had luck installing a Calibre server on Syno NAS but that seems above my skill level. Is there any better way? I don't need cloud access, I am happy to connect my Kindle to my PC to download books, and have my wife connect her Kindle to her PC to do the same.

03-14-2020, 01:03 AM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,593 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	You could look into the possibility of doing a one-way sync of the library from the Synology NAS to your wife's laptop at windows startup. Another alternative might be for your wife to use the calibre-spy plugin to access the library on the NAS directly, it is read only so there's no problems with concurrent updates. But I don't think it provides any direct Kindle connection features - maybe they could be added. See ==>> Index of plugins Added: Calibre Server on the NAS is of course the other way, your wife might have to use a browser on her kindle to get books from it - assuming that's possible. PS: There are probably other ways. BR Last edited by BetterRed; 03-14-2020 at 01:15 AM.

03-14-2020, 02:46 AM	#4
stumped Wizard Posts: 3,305 Karma: 10259306 Join Date: May 2016 Device: kobo forma, Kobo Libra, Huawei media Tab, fire HD10, PW3 HDX8.9,	agree cop[y the library, one time, from NAS to a local drive on her PC, and set up her calibre to use that. you can then sync the libraries over LAN when all devices are on. treat yours as the master - yours because that is where you do the new book adds. set up a free utility like freefilesync to do a one way mirror to her laptop. Once configured and run once to create the relevant records it will only take a few seconds to update small changes to your master library. Run as needed i suggest you run the sync from her laptop, and grant "everyone" read access to your library folder in windows, as a shared windows folder. it will not need write access to that master copy because its doing a one way mirror, and not having that access is another safety feature. EdIt i see the library is actually on a NAS, not local to your PC, dunno if that changes any mechanism for sharing- probably not, if the NAS is a mapped network drive. but with this setup you could arguably dispense with the NAS, and keep the 2 libraries on teh 2 laptops Last edited by stumped; 03-14-2020 at 02:49 AM.

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03-14-2020, 02:33 AM	#3
Bookstooge Guru Posts: 760 Karma: 2090886 Join Date: May 2019 Device: Kindle Oasis 1st Gen	Personally, I'd have a library on each pc. There's a whole sticky somewhere about the dangers of networked, etc, drives. Found it: FAQ Link on nas...

03-14-2020, 08:53 PM	#5
celiabooks Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2018 Device: Kindle Voyage	Thanks all - you made me think of something I hadn't before. Synology offers their own sync program (like a local Dropbox). I just set that up to sync my library from the NAS to my wife's laptop which her install of Calibre can then use. Works perfectly! @Bookstooge I did read the warnings against using ANY networked/NAS library but have had no issues for years. Now with it being sync'ed to my wife's laptop at least I'll have a backup if something does get corrupted.... although I guess the corruption might also get synced! Thank you!

03-15-2020, 06:17 AM	#6
Bookstooge Guru Posts: 760 Karma: 2090886 Join Date: May 2019 Device: Kindle Oasis 1st Gen	You've been warned and have chosen to proceed. Best of luck and for your sake I hope things continue going well. But don't expect any sympathy if something does go wrong at a later date.