Hardware requirements for Server PC with 7 tuners

[milanp]

I have been testiing and using Mediaportal since its beginning of 2004.
Since now I have been using Sagetv as a tv server/client solution and mediaportal as a front end.
Sage TV server was working on AMD Sempron 3000 Socket A with 512 MB memory.
I have 4 tv tuner cards:
3 x PVR 500 MCE (a total of 6 tuners) +
1 x Skystar 2
I have been testing the versions of TV server for the last couple of months.
And I find the TV server software almost perfect.
I am experiencing high cpu usage when using TVE3.
The new dedicated server is:
1. CPU Intel Pentium D 3.0 GHz on MSI 945 motherboard
2. RAM 2GB
3. 320GB GB 7200,SATA II Hard disk
+ the TV Tuner cards above.
When timeshifting with 4 tuners the CPU averages at 70%.
When 6 tuners are busy 4 timeshifting + 2 recording the cpu usage is around 90%.
Is this normal ?
Tried both windows xp and vista home premium and the performance is almost the same.
The server pc runs as a dedicated tv server, the frontend MP is not used
I have 5 different client PC's around the house and intend to add 2 extra.
What should I upgrade ?
Is the single hard drive a bottleneck ?
This worked perfectly fine with the SAGE server and CPU usage on the old sempron was never higher than 50%.
Any suggestions are welcome ............

[Nobleware]

I could also do with some knowledge...

My specs and questions are as follows:
I have a big one peeps and I hope you can help!

I currently have 2 projects I'm planning for which both involve some serious TV-Server and Client workage.

Ill give you the most urgent situation:
1 x Server (P-D, 2Gb RAM, 2.5Tb HDD, 3 x Dual DVB-T's so up to 6 simultaneous TV streams at once)
7 x Clients (C2D, 2Gb RAM, 80Gb HDD, Fanless 8500GTs)

1 x 8 port Gigabit switch with CAT5E running through the entire home.

The questions I have:

1. Will a gigabit network handle 7 simultaneous streams of multiple sorts? ie; 4 x HDTV and 3 x DVD all at once.
2. Will the server handle the 7 streams simultaneously CPU, RAM and HDD wise. Even if I use seperate HDDs for each clients TV recording etc.
3. Would it be a better option to run 2 servers instead and split the tuners down the middle and share the load between them.
4. If I run a dedicated analogue TV tuner alongside the digitals on the server for a single foxtel input, will this one additional channel live happily alongside the other DVB channels on the clients? ie: Be able to change channels seemlessly from one HDTV channel to the anologue channel for foxtel...

I know this is alot to ask, but if I can pull this off, I hope to be able to pump some useful knowledge back into the community and if I make some $$ on the side, I will certainly make sure the MP tips jar receives a well deserved top up.

in advance!!

[milanp]

You can find the my comments below your answers.


1. Will a gigabit network handle 7 simultaneous streams of multiple sorts? ie; 4 x HDTV and 3 x DVD all at once.

It should , I don't have HD in my country but if you search with qoogle you can see that HD streams start from 14-15MB/sec up to 35-40 MB/sec.

2. Will the server handle the 7 streams simultaneously CPU, RAM and HDD wise. Even if I use seperate HDDs for each clients TV recording etc.

This is where I have problems. The same system you have Pentium D with 2GB is using too much resources for 6 SD streams. Is 2.5TB a raid storage ???

3. Would it be a better option to run 2 servers instead and split the tuners down the middle and share the load between them.

When master/slave servers feature is implemented,this should be the solution. Otherwise you will not be able to access the recordings from one server to another. You can always map the drives, but that is not a good solution.

4. If I run a dedicated analogue TV tuner alongside the digitals on the server for a single foxtel input, will this one additional channel live happily alongside the other DVB channels on the clients? ie: Be able to change channels seemlessly from one HDTV channel to the anologue channel for foxtel...

That is what I have done with DVB-S and SDTV.It works seamlessly.

[smiler3k]

Just a quick reply to Noblware you need cat6 cable not cat5e for gigabit otherwise it will only run at 100mbit.
I learnt this the hard way me and a friend rewired a 3 storey office building with cat5e for gigabit only to find out it didnt work lol.

[limpwhizkid]

Originally Posted by smiler3k

Just a quick reply to Noblware you need cat6 cable not cat5e for gigabit otherwise it will only run at 100mbit.
I learnt this the hard way me and a friend rewired a 3 storey office building with cat5e for gigabit only to find out it didnt work lol.

thats not true...
cat 5e cables are capable of gigabit speeds..
only difference is .. cat 6 is certified for it..
cat 5 without the e are not capable of gigabit..

[Nobleware]

Yer, we LAN quite often on a gigabit network with cat5e and it works fine. Same patch leads I've been using for about 5yrs.

Milanp, I am not putting the HDDs in RAID. The config will be:
1 x 80Gb for Windows
1 x 500Gb for Music and Images and Timeshifting
1 x 500Gb for TV Recordings
1 x 1Tb for DVDs and Movies

I read elsewhere in these forums that seperating HDDs was wise due to the seek and retrieval times for simultaneous clients.

One more Qn: If I integrate an analogue tuner for the input of my satelite set top box, is there anyway of transfering the IR signal through to the server in order to change the channels on the STB?

Thanks