Budget Dedicated Server Build (1 Viewer)

[Cousin_Jerry]

Hello all,

I've been running Mediaportal for a few years now and I think its time for a slight upgrade. Currently I have a single seat setup as well as 1 other client (a laptop). I've recently purchased an Acer Revo 3610 to act as my main client now and will move my old single seat setup to server only duty. Problem is that I feel like the server is very outdated now and causes some of the clients to be slow in response.

The current server setup would be:
AMD 2500+
1.25GB PC3200
500GB total HD space (across 3 drives)

The question is, what should I be looking for as far as updating the server? Something somewhat power effecient and fairly low end (for budget). An older AMD X2 processor and 2GB of RAM should do?

This box will also be running Squeezecentre for my squeezeboxes.

Thanks!

 

[dm15644]

AW: Budget Dedicated Server Build

I found that the server CPU has negligable impact on TV client performance. It's more the network speed that is important. When I upgraded my router to 1Gbps the responsiveness got up quite a lot.

So first thing I would suggest, if your mainboard doesn't have GbE, get a cheap network card.

/jayrock

 

[Cousin_Jerry]

Thanks for the suggestion. That is definately something easy I could test.

One thing that pops into mind is that even on the single seat box (the soon to be server) has slow response as well. Like if I'm watching a TV show and I hit BACK to go to the guide it sits for a few seconds (like 3 seconds) until it goes back. Is this normal?

 

[Cousin_Jerry]

So I connected the new Revo 3610 to the router (wired) and was amazed at how fast it was when the server was running the TVServer only and not the client as well.

Looks like I'll save some cash and not upgrade the server. Also, the server never gets over 10% usage when streaming.

What's a typical CPU usage for the client when watching a SD TV stream? My Revo is getting up to 30-40%, seems high to me.

Thoughts??

 

[dm15644]

AW: Re: Budget Dedicated Server Build

What's a typical CPU usage for the client when watching a SD TV stream? My Revo is getting up to 30-40%, seems high to me.

I have about 10-15% on a E3200, so your figures may be reasonable.