[mythtv-users] Recovering from Disaster, Rebuild Options?

[Stephen Worthington]

On Sun, 8 Feb 2015 02:28:48 -0600, you wrote:

>Not to go too far into some of the "fun" I've had over the last week, but
>I'm still in the process of recovering from some pretty major corruption
>I'm still tracking down.
>
>That said, I'm looking at what I've got right now and I'm not very happy.
>I'd like some comments on some questions that'll help me look farther into
>the future of my TV architecture.
>
>1) What's the "favored" Tuner for MythTV These days?  I've currently got a
>pcHDTV3000 and 5500 in my backend at this point but those seem like "old"
>solutions these days.  Is everyone pretty much sporting an HD Homerun at
>this point?  Is there something better?  What's considered the "best
>option" for a small number of Tuners at this point.  What would you
>recommend for someone saying "Hey, I want to build a Myth TV system?"
>
>Backend:  My backend is now running on a Dell Optiplex 740 (AMD X2 5600+)
>which is better CPU than I had in my old Backend, but it's running an
>integrated graphics card.  The tech specs show "Nvidia Quadro NVS 210S"
>(whatever the hell that is) but LSPCI is showing a GeForce 6150 LE
>Chipset.  It is an nforce4 based motherboard (I think) so that makes
>sense.
>
>The thing does have an open PCI-E x16 slot (both PCI slots are now taken up
>by the Tuner Cards) but I wouldn't know what NVIDIA card to throw in there
>since the PS (302 w) doesn't have a connector for the power input on a
>modern graphics card...and running a new power supply is way out of my
>interest level with this box (Dell's are so custom built).
>
>2) Suggestions on a PCIE Graphics card I could throw into this thing to get
>rid of the onboard and actually get some reasonable playback?  (It's mostly
>a backend but I want it to work as a frontend if/when we're trapped down in
>the basement for storms..playback is entirely unacceptable at this point).

There are plenty of Nvidia cards with no extra power connector.  You
need at least an Nvidia 220 or better for full deinterlace to be
available.  In the current Nvidia cards, it seems they are all
sufficiently capable.  Consider whether noise is a factor - do you
want a fanless card?  They are readily available, but ones that do not
intrude into the next slot are much harder to find.  The fanless cards
normally do not have the extra power connector, as they would be
unable to dissipate all the extra power.

>Future:
>
>So lets say I network a NAS Storage Device for the house and move all my
>drive space to it, and pick up something like an HD Home Run for my tuner.
>At that point the ONLY thing the PC is being used for is the CPU, Memory,
>Network and Graphics Card.  Could I technically go down and buy a cheap ass
>$300 laptop with some low end CPU and Memory and at least run a backend off
>it?  I realize HD Playback would be an issue if it's not an NVIDIA or ATI
>card in there (which it won't be, it'll be Intel graphics) but even a $300
>cheap ass laptop would be about 3 generations of hardware better than what
>I'm running my backend on right now.

Recording to a NAS has lots of hazards.  It is possible to run out of
network bandwidth when doing multiple simultaneous recordings quite
easily, resulting in gaps in the middle of recordings or recordings
that stop prematurely.  If someone else in the house uses the NAS box
to copy a big file, that may be enough to cause a recording failure
also.

There are also a lot of commercial NAS boxes that have actual
performance that is way below what you might expect, due to, for
example, cheap slow processors and bad software.  Building your own
NAS is preferable if you go that route, as you can then make sure that
you really do have 1 Gbit Ethernet transfer speeds available and that
the NAS hard drives perform at full speed.  I would recommend using a
dedicated Ethernet connection just for the MythTV traffic, and a
second Ethernet for the other household NAS traffic.

>3) What's the best "oh crap that hardware just died on me what do I do now"
>proofing solution for MythTV at this point?  My largest issue seems to be I
>run these MythTV boxes till they die and then am looking at the prospect of
>a $1000 Desktop to replace it since the hardware is SO out of date by that
>point.

I use a combination of various strategies.

I generally try to replace my MythTV hardware before it fails, then
keep the old hardware in case I need to replace something in the new
hardware temporarily.  I have a test PC with a power supply I can
borrow if that is needed too, and a spare cheap Nvidia card with a fan
(my normal Nvidia card is fanless).

All my hard drives have SMART checking enabled, which has saved me
from incipient drive failures at least twice now.  I tend to upgrade
them fairly often as I am a TV hoarder and run out of storage unless I
change them regularly to new bigger drives, so they do not tend to be
around long enough for the bearings to go before they get replaced.
The oldest drive I have in my MythTV box is reporting 1448 days power
on time (3.9 years), but it is a very high quality (and expensive when
I got it) Hitachi 7K3000 model.  Almost all Hitachi drives are
extremely reliable compared to the other manufacturers, but you do pay
extra for that.  My system drive is another Hitachi 7K3000 currently
reporting 1330 days power on time.

It always pays to have enough cash readily available to replace things
in a hurry if needed.  A SMART warning from a drive means you need to
be able to buy a replacement and get it delivered within 2-3 days if
you are going to be reasonably sure of being able to copy off all the
data safely.

My mythconverg database is backed up daily to another PC on my
network, as well as the default Mythbuntu backup on the same PC every
week.

On top of that, my laptop is fully capable of running as a MythTV
system - I take TV recordings with me on an external hard drive when I
am away from home.  So in the direst sort of failure situation, I
could use the laptop until I get my main MythTV box going again.

And my Windows box has Mediaportal and three DVB-T tuners installed
and is also capable of recording TV for me.  I have it set up to
record my favourite series just in case I have a problem on the MythTV
box.  I hate missing an episode, especially in the series with ongoing
storylines.

Even with all of that, I am still vulnerable to one of the drive
failure types where it just completely dies instantly.  Fortunately,
those seem to be pretty rare except in very old drives - there is
usually some warning of problems ahead of time.  The only real
solution to that problem is to have redundancy eg RAID, or automated
backups of all drives.  That is just too expensive for me, but if I
ever win Lotto, I would probably do it.

And a natural disaster such as a fire or earthquake could kill MythTV
also - for that, I would need everything automatically backed up
offsite.  Which is not completely impossible either, now that 200/200
Mbit/s optical fibre Internet connections with unlimited caps have
arrived on my street.  But it is also extremely expensive for all that
huge amount of TV data.

>Anyone able to help me architect?
>
>--Doug