Hi all,
I was wondering in order to get redundancy on the cores and hardwareIi’m thinking in using 2 2018 Mac mini i7 6 core 8700B and 32GB or 64GB. One with macOS and the other with ROCK.
Now should I use same account or get 2 licenses, which is the best way to go about it?
You only need two licenses of you want to run both servers at the same time. Otherwise you can rather painlessly switch the license between the two servers.
If you are not using both simultaneously then you can just use your one account and flip the license between them. I do this all the time.
However, if you want or need two licenses then, you can either get two licenses with different accounts, or, have both licenses on one account.
Since database backups are linked to the account, if you want to be able to restore databases between these machines, I would suggest getting a second license on your account.
Please note that this is not possible by yourself and you will need to discuss this with Roon Accounts. I have tagged them here @accounts so that they will see this next week to discuss further.
If you want or need to have both servers active at the same time, go to roonlabs.com and log into your account. From there, navigate to a list of options and click to add another subscription on your account.
If you don’t want or need both servers active at the same time, simply install Roon on the second server and activate it when you want to use it. This process will ask you to deactivate your other server.
As another wise soul wrote elsewhere:
@Paulo_Mendes What is it you are trying to do?
Thank you all (@Suedkiez, @Rugby and @Jim_F) for sharing, especially over the weekend, how Roon subscriptions work. It’s a wealth of information, @Paulo_Mendes. I hope it is helpful 
Our team has received your request for a second subscription and has sent you a reply via email. Would you please check your inbox 
I to ensure that roon never stops. So I’m thinking of ways to do, maybe run the macs in a cluster? I upsample to DSD 512 to 2 systems so maybe the best way is 2 servers 1 license in each same Network so double the power and if 1 one should fail can always rely on the other.
Having two servers is insane. Just run one and keep a backup of your music files elsewhere. Your server isn’t going to fail if implemented properly. You are wasting money and time, especially if you buy two subs for this mad setup.
I have 4 Roon servers and three lifetime subscriptions for reasons I won’t try to explain here. Servers include a Roon Nucleus, MacMini (late 2014), NucBox G5, and Dell XPS 15.
Are some of them for redundancy? Can you tell us a little bit more about the technical setup?
I am very intrigued by this.
I don’t understand, can’t you just backup database and music files and have redundancy covered?
No reason to have two Roon servers
It’s just something I evolved into with our time away from home and for convenience. The NucBox was just for fun.
I will explain…
I started with Roon server on Dell laptop. Soon after, I decided I didn’t like running Roon on laptop and purchased a Roon Nucleus for $1119. I kept the Dell as a Roon client and Roon server for when away from home for two weeks every month helping wife take care of her 101 year old mother.
Then, Roon introduced Roon ARC. I use Roon ARC in the car and walking the dog, but still prefer Roon server on my Dell when away from home for weeks at a time. However, after losing Roon ARC a few times due to Nucleus issues back home, I purchased a used MacMini for $200 and installed Roon client. I use the MacMini to reboot the Nucleus and reconnect Tidal and Qobuz when away from home to keep Roon ARC working.
Later, Roon combined Roon server and Roon client and I installed both on the MacMini. That was my 3rd Roon server. Why not, it was free at that point.
My 4th Roon server came about, just for fun, when people started talking about the NucBox G5. I purchased one from Amazon for $180, and there you have it.
Now, Roon subscriptions are a different topic. You can use multiple Roon servers with one subscription. I have three. I bought the second subscription so I could keep Roon ARC active while also using Roon on my laptop when away from home. I bought the third for convenience when adding albums and keeping three, then four, servers in total sync. I didn’t like all the authorizing and unauthorizing.
I have all the money and sense I need.
As an aside, Roon servers are computers. Computers do fail. There is nothing wrong with having a backup Roon server for redundancy. It’s a “belt and suspenders” solution, I suppose.
I have configured full backups of my library and the roon database going to separate locations (USB drive and parity protected unRAID array share) daily but can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would want to have two (or more!) roon servers for redundancy. Spending time between different locations (eg holiday house) and doesn’t want to use roon arc is the only use case that springs to mind, but for “redundancy” it doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve moved my installation from a NUC to an unRAID docker installation on a cache pool (2 mirrored SSDs), I can’t comprehend needing more backup/“redundancy” than what I already have. Each to their own.
Roon ARC exists. The whole point of Roon is a universal server of music that always runs and supports your needs wherever you are. Two servers, two subscriptions etc. is nonsensical. It flies in the face of what Roon is designed for and how it works.
There are too many Roon users with more money than sense.
A subscriber having multiple accounts may have multiple locations and family members wanting to use Roon simultandously. Some other use cases that, while they are on the long tail, still remain important for them, not even considering the retail trade or industry use cases of mutiple stores or facilities using a single set of Roon subscriptions simultaneously. I actually appreciate that Roon allows for de-authorization of single-account Roon subscriptions while also allowing subscribers to have mutiple Roon Server subscriptions.
I recognise almost all of the words in the above (except for “simultandously”) but that’s about all. Is this satirical?
Yes. That just might work.
While I can see the edge case uses for multiple Roon servers, I think having multiple servers in the same location for the sake of redundancy is the wrong way of going about it.
I have a single server, yet have all the redundancy I need.
I’m running Roon core in a Docker container on my NAS that is running in an N+2 for data protection (I can lose 2 drives simultaneously before losing data).
Further to this, I also do regular backups of my Roon DB. The Docker container is also backed up nightly, and my backups are constantly uploaded to my unlimited Crashplan secure cloud storage should I have a catastrophic failure in my systems.
This set up pretty much guarantees that I will not lose any data, and the money that I would have spent towards another Roon subscription was better spent in building this highly available infrastructure that does a lot more than just act as my Roon streamer.
It strikes me that this “redundancy” question is somewhat analogous to the different approaches of RAID and Backup.
RAID is to ensure continuous delivery of a file service in the event of disc failure, whereas Backup is to ensure a recovery is possible from a disc or other hardware or software failure.
Personally, I chose the Backup route - RAID is NOT Backup. In my view, while RAID might be nice to have, a good Backup strategy is essential.