Setting up a server machine (n00b) (1 Viewer)

[hulkhaugen]

ok, i'm planning to set up a file server one day in the future, and i wonder how much of the load for the server can spare my clients for. Can i place the dvb tuner(s) in the server, and transfer the decoded tv signals trough a cat 5e (or better) cable, and would it work for more than one client at the time? How about remote controls, would they be able to control MP trought the network just by aiming at the client?

i guess i would need one tuner pr client unless i should watch the same show on all the clients? If that's so, is there any other reason for having the dvb cards in the server? I don't see the big pros of splitting the server and client, but the fact that i would need one less cable in my living room and less hardware (dvb card) in my htpc...

 

[RobNorthcott]

I don't claim to be an expert on this (my HTPC is stand-alone, "single-seat"), but here's what I know:

You could set your MediaPortal machines up independently with their own tuner cards (and aerials) and purely use your server as a fileserver with shared directories for music files, movies etc.
That way, each client would be responsible for its own tuning and recording of TV.

But what would be more normal (and probably better) would be to set up the server as a TV server, with the tuner cards in the server, and have all the MediaPortal clients connect to that server for watching TV. You would indeed need multiple tuners in the server if you wanted clients to be able to watch channels on different transponders (also known as multiplexers or mux). The advantage of this would be that the server deals with all recording centrally. This is how MediaPortal is designed to work in a multi-machine environment.

But as I said, I've only fiddled with the client side a bit on a laptop and my MP setup is really just single-seat. I'm sure somebody with more multi-seat experience will come along. But the short answer is yes, it will do all that you're asking.

Rob