[mythtv-users] Disk utilization on slave backend questions

[Nick]

On 7/8/05, Alex Brekken <brekkal at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey all, I'm currently running a combo frontend/backend machine which
> has a 200 GB hard drive, and one PVR-250 tuner card.  I'd like to add
> a slave backend which would also have a PVR-250 tuner card and a 160
> GB drive.

Is the slave just for 'just in case it's needed' recordings, or will
it be used a lot?

> 
> I feel like I have an OK understanding of how a distributed Myth
> system will work, but I'm a little confused about the best way to
> configure the drives.
> 
> Does it make sense to put the 160 GB drive in the slave backend?  I
> assume that whatever recording is done on the slave, whether it's live
> TV or just a standard recording, will get written to that local drive.
>  So therefore, if the slave is down for any reason, then I obviously
> won't be able to watch whatever shows were recorded on it.
> Additionally, can the master backend/frontend machine just "see" the
> 160G drive on the slave?  Or do I need to set up an NFS or
> something...?

If the new machine is setup correctly as a slave, (AFAIUI) the master
backend will just set it and make use of the recorder and disk space
(configured on the slave backend).

> 
> On the other hand, if I put the 160G drive on the combo
> frontend/backend box (along-side the 200G drive), then any recording
> the slave does has to be pushed across the network to the combo
> machine.  Is this a big deal?

Not really if using a hardware capture card like you are - pushing
maybe 1-2 MBytes/s across the wired network (even possible over 54g
wireless, I'd be wary using 11b though). If the 2 machines are in the
same vicinity I'd stick to cable, especially if you are wanting to
also transfer other large files between the two machines.

> 
> I guess I'm mainly wondering what other Myth users feel is the best
> way to set this up as far as disk usage is concerned.  Thanks!

I'd be tempted to set up a dedicated master backend, using both drives
and both capture cards - it can also be used as a frontend locally,
and the other machine could just be used as a dedicated frontend. This
way, you don't have to worry about the slave being off or
inaccessible, all disk space can be utilised easily, and both capture
cards are always available. You could also create a separate network
share for other media files, such as MP£s, Oggs and AVIs to make them
available to other machines on the network.

Good luck whatever you decide,
Nick