[mythtv-users] Comments sought on combined FE/BE box spec

[Nick F]

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 7:47 AM, Michael PARKER <michael.parker at st.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a newbie to Myth and, having developed an idea of the functionality available using an old 500MHz P3, I'm trying to spec out a combined FE/BE HTPC.
>
> I'm aiming for something quiet and relatively low power, but with enough horsepower for HD decode/BluRay playback. As far as is possible, I'm looking for something that won't require significant upgrades for a good few years.
>
When I was in your position (about 3 1/2 years ago) the best thing I
did was designing with a client/server architecture in mind from day
one - ie a separate backend and frontend.  I'm still on my same
backend - except it now has 11 SATA drives compared to 2 when I
started) - same CPU, same memory, etc.  C2Ds had just come out and I
wanted to be futureproof - i've got another few years left until it
becomes obsolete - so will probably get 7-8 years at least out of it.
I'd probably be tempted to get a i5/i7 compatible board if I were to
do it today for the same reasons.  If you're going to put the bluray
anywhere - stick it on the BE and rip - that's the joy of Mythvideo.

'Frontend' technology seems to change more frequently - witness VDPAU
and the Broadcom chip.  Cheap and cheerful is the name of the game
here, and expect to change more frequently.  I still think the ION is
great value for a frontend.

Another reason to separate FE/BE in my experience is that my BE has
been rock solid - i'm on a UPS and don't reboot other than when a new
kernel gets pushed out or I'm fiddling!  My frontends (I have 4 plus a
Macbook which gets used as an impromtu OSX based FE) - I've been less
successful with.  I still get random crashes, etc.  Given that the FE
is isolated and nothing is stored there makes it less critical to me -
doesn't affect recordings or anything.