[mythtv-users] Choices to make...

[Kent Williams]

I'm thinking about using Myth in the following setup:
1 Backend system with a couple of tuners in it + a lot of disk space.
About 3 minimal front end systems with dvd drives; connected to the
backend via 100 mbps.

As far as I understand it, this is a fairly simple setup and all I'd
have to do is to create a share on the backend system and tell mythtv on
all systems to use that for the video + tell the front end systems to
use the sql server on the backend box. Does this sound about right?

Then, depending on how that goes, I would like to setup a single system
(backend / frontend on one box) at another house which is linked to the
above setup via wireless lan, which I'd say can sustain 2.4mbps (usually
3.5mbps, but assuming worst case).
Ideally I'd love these two systems to remain separate for normal live tv
use, but it would be great if systems at both houses could access
recordings from each other.
Is this possible with the current Myth? How would I go about doing this?

Cheers,
Kent


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jason Schloer [mailto:schloer.jason at tangoinc.com]
> Sent: Thursday, 21 August 2003 5:41 AM
> To: 'Discussion about mythtv'
> Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Choices to make...
> 
> 100 mbps should be plenty unless you have a whole lot else going on on
> your network. I do 3 mbps MPEG4 streams with little problem over my 11
> mbps wireless network for my laptop. Given what you are trying to do
I'd
> say drop the tuners into your storage server or even the backup. MY
main
> reasoning is to cut down on two way traffic. If the tuners are in the
> frontend they have to send all the data to the backend across the
> network and then turn around and send some or all of it right back
out.
> Whereas with the cards in the backend servers it goes straight from
the
> card to the hard drive then out to the frontend. Should cut your live
tv
> bandwidth in half. Plus it gives you more options for small quiet
> frontends. BTW, I just noticed your question, obviously the answer is
> yes it does encode, write to disk, then decode for live TV. Also, if
> you're getting all PVR 250's there's little reason to not have them on
> the backend as the CPU overhead should be fairly low and shouldn't tax
> them much at all. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Good luck. Either way
> you'll have a very nice setup.
> 
> 
> Jason Schloer
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
> [mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Chad Vogelsong
> Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 12:49 PM
> To: mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> Subject: [mythtv-users] Choices to make...
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> 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.
> 250 N. Lincoln Ave.
> Lebanon, PA  17046
> 
> Tel: 717-273-3021
> Fax: 717-274-9733
> Cel: 717-821-0177
>