Regardless of your storage method, you’ll initially want to spend some time making sure you have an optimized file hierarchy for your library. When accessing your content through DLNA, your media will be structured automatically using metadata such as ID3 tags, but you’ll want to perform some fine-tuning in order to make sure everything is easy to locate. There may also be situations where you simply want to move the files and folders around, in which case you will want to have everything organized in a uniform manner. How you use file names and folder structure is up to your personal preferences, but planning ahead and keeping it consistent is a must. For any sufficiently large collection of files, well-crafted folder hierarchies help keep things organized and accessible. Some examples of optimum folder structures for AV file collections include:

 

/.../Media/Video/Movies/DVD

/.../Media/Video/Movies/HD

/.../Media/Video/TV

/.../Media/Audio/Music/[File Format]/Artist/Album/Track

 

It’s also a good idea to create a work folder for your ripped AV output that is separate from your carefully organized archive collection. Things can get messy quickly if a ripper/encoder application hiccups and scatters tracks/files across numerous folders. It’s much easier to contain and clean up such a mess if it is limited to a noncritical work folder.