[mythtv-users] Multiplexing vs multiple cards

[Steven Adeff]

On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 1:45 PM, Gavin Hurlbut <gjhurlbu at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 10:39 AM, Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>> it's not just recording, but also playback. the more different files
>> you are reading/writing the more the heads have to move around. I
>> think you can expect to be able to record a few streams and play back
>> a few without issue (as long as your database is on a different
>> drive), but the more you ask the system to do the more your really
>> going to want to spend the money to add another recording drive.
>
> For sure.  I do (nearly every day) about 5 or 6 concurrent recordings
> (mostly HD), all the while commflagging 4 shows from the previous
> timeslot, and while I watch a show on the frontend.  At times, it uses
> only one of the 4 drives (especially while I was resizing my drives),
> and I have not once seen an issue.  Of course, at this point, I'm
> using 4*1TB 7200RPM drives, but I had it working great with slower
> smaller drives, and at times on one drive.
>
> Having multiple drives is still a good idea overall, but some people
> seem to be more worried than they need to be. :)

true, my i/o wait is never above 10% even if I'm recording 5 or 6
shows(can be all HD), all commflagging and watching on 2 or 3
frontends. but like you say, it's also dependent on the speed of your
drives, what your recording (HD/SD), etc.


-- 
Steve
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/User:Steveadeff
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