[mythtv-users] Choices to make...

[Chad Vogelsong]

NOTE:  This is a long message from a 5 year Linux veteran but newbie to
MythTV.


I have been doing research into MythTV and setting up a system for about
2 weeks now.  I have read through all the MythTV HOWTO's and browsed the
mailing list & archives, just as a good MythTV newbie should.  However,
I am still on the fence with what overall network architecture to
implement.

Right now, I have a main "storage server" on my home network and a
backup one that maintains a mirror image of the data on the primary.
Both store around 500 GB and have about 300 GB free.

What I would like to do is get a small case like the Shuttle XPC or the
like and make it a MythTV frontend with 2 PVR-250's, a GeForce4 MX 440,
256 MB and a relatively small hard drive (20-30 GB) for the OS & swap.
I don't want to load this box with storage (only 1 hard drive) to keep
the size small.  I would want to use the storage space (I love LVM) on
the main servers to hold all the content.

Basically, I want to know if anybody runs their MythTV from a 100 Mbps
storage backend.  Do you have a Tuner card in your storage backend?  I
know about the frontend / backend / distributed nature of MythTV.  I'm
just trying to figure out how to use it.  The way I see it, I have a few
choices.


1. If there is no serious lag over the network, put a Tuner into primary
storage server and use it as the mythbackend.  Use this card as #3.  Put
a small hard drive & tuner cards #1 & #2 into the mythfrontend box.
Mount the video storage space via NFS.  Let the Windows machine view the
content via SMB.

What about watching Live TV?  Does the signal go straight from the
Tuner, gets encoded / decoded and then displayed?  Or does it need to
write the stream to disk somewhere in that process?


2. Network produces too much lag.  Make the frontend bigger and load it
with 2-3 large drives for media storage.  This would probably not look
to well without a custom built case.  I would really like something that
looks nice sitting on my entertainment shelf.


Since I need to get the right hardware before playing with the software,
all I can go from is what I've read from others.  Is there a way to use
multiple storage places for already-downloaded movies / mp3's / recorded
tv shows / paused live tv / DVD backups / etc.?

If you need any more info, I'll be happy to provide it.  I'm looking for
how different people have their architectures setup.  I would eventually
like to have a frontend at 2-3 different TV's, so the central storage
would be great.  Has anybody experienced network lag with these setups?

I love this mailing list.  It's so active and full of helpful & friendly
people.  Makes me proud to be a community member.

Thanks,
Chad



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Chad Vogelsong

Network / Systems Admin, VB / C / C++ / Perl / Java Programming
Technical Support, Building Automation Graphics

cvogelsong at intellimation.cc
http://www.intellimation.cc

Intellimation, Inc.
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