Multimedia server - Digital home

[Jayos]

I want to access all my media and have the ability to record freeview tv to a server. I also want all the various boxes hidden from view with a programmable remote system that can access all the different hardware.

The idea:

Server - storage for music, films, photos, home video, recorded tv.

Media Centre PC - Running VISTA with PVR functionality

Both PC's to be located in seperate room on a wireless network. PC monitor for normal use with a connection to the LCD screen in the lounge, controlled in the lounge via remote.

I need ability to add to the system in future eg another descreet pc in the bedroom with access to the server.

[DR]

Make sure you use 54/108 if you want high definition.

The Server - does it have to be silent - what budget do you have?

[Jayos]

I havent set a budget yet but will be using various parts I already have. See my current spec

I will be buying a new mobo and E6600 cpu for the main PC.
Will use existing mobo and CPU for server.

I also have another spare/old PC with P4 cpu (can't remember which one) and a GeForce 4 TI 4800

[directhex]

two machines?

i'm doing most of the above using mythtv on linux, in a single well-specified server box (3 freeview cards, 1 with top-up), 1.75tb storage array

[DR]

I have been working on this thing for a while.

Jayos - unless you are doing transcoding don't bother with anything too powerful for the server.

I would aim for something quiet with 4 x 400GB drives for data, make sure they are running RAID

If you have time to hack - do what Jo did

[MSIC]

Make sure you use 54/108 if you want high definition.

The Server - does it have to be silent - what budget do you have?

Or even consider power over ethernet (eg this) for a more reliable signal.
I currently stream standard definition Xvids from my main PC to a Netgear MP115 wireless box (which plugs into my TV by SCART), and over a MIMO router (with good range) to Wireless 54g reciever I occasionally get stuttering, and that's over about a 5 to 6 metre range.

With transferring regular computer data (eg internet browsing) it doesnt really matter if the signal varies up and down over a few seconds, it's just not that important. With video and audio streaming, you really dont want any hiccups or it'll p you off.

[menthel]

I think 2 boxes are overkill. Just use 1 and have a decent spec so it can do things like transcode whilst its idle.

[Jayos]

I wanted to setup a seperate box for storage with a number of drives in RAID so performance of my main PC is not effected. Also it wont need high spec components and I'm guessing I've got most of what I need to setup a a seperate box anyway.

I'm tempted to have a play around with Linux but have no experience so this could take a while to setup. How easy would it be to setup a storage box using Linux?
I have looked at MythTV in the past but after a quick glance it looked like a steep learning curve, how difficult can it be?

Directhex - what would you call a well specified server box?

I will be hard wiring the server to the media pc - Don't want any stutter!

[Funkstar]

KnoppMyth might be worth looking at. It's a linux distro that boots from CD for the MythTV frontend or can be installed for the backend. Works well for a lot of people. I haven't touched it in a long long time though.

Wireless might work, but can be very problematic, especially if you are trying to stream to multiple clients.

Another option is MediaPortal. The next magor release in a few months (hopefully) will have a new client/server architecture. I know Directhex doesn't like MediaPortal, but it is a Windows alternative to MythTV.

http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

It definitely makes sense to have a server with the TV cards and storage hidden away and smaller, quieter front ends where you can see them.

[directhex]

Directhex - what would you call a well specified server box?

depends on what exactly you're doing. recording from freeview takes no processor time, and neither does serving files - commercial flagging (scanning for adverts) is another matter.

my server has the following spec:

* asus p5wdg2-ws
* 2x 512mib crucial pc-5300 ecc
* pentium-d 830
* 8x samsung spinpoint p120 250gb
* lsi megaraid 300-8x pci-x sata raid card
* nec dual-layer dvdrw
* 2x hauppauge wintv nova-t
* technotrend t-1500 with CI daughterboard

this has planned uses of: file serving, mythbackend, dhcp, music sharing, automatic downloading

for the living room, the media pc has the following spec:

* apple mac mini running linux

any other pc on the network (wired or wireless) is able to interact with the server, including for mythtv - linux & macos machines can run the mythtv frontend app, windows machines can use the web front end