Just what is a SageTV extender? What is a thin client or a thin server?

[Apap]

Originally Posted by Enormous

I just received an advance copy of the manual that Andy is working on, and it says on page 53 that after the LIES™ setup is complete, it bakes you a cake! I also have advance knowledge that it is going to look and behave exactly like a Weighted Companion Cube, which is simply the most brilliant design decision ever.

Still Alive!

The Cake is a lie!
The Cake is a lie!
The Cake is a lie!
The Cake is a lie!

I cant wait till November because when I get this wonderfull example of modern technology installed I will be the Hero of my family.

[parkimar]

Originally By Stanger

Those pouon particles will of course be routed thought the pouon-tauon differentialator which separates the pouon and tauon particles, the flux differential between which, when routed through a taupon collector can be focused into a pico-singularity. From there the extraordinary gravitational forces can be harnessed to generate enormous amounts of power. So much so that the extender will need it's own 20A, dedicated circuit since it will be providing power to the grid. Of course there needs to be a word of caution, since the extender will have at it's heart, a pico-singularity,

That is such 21st century thinking - Of course they will be using femto , or even Atto singularities.

Cheers

Mark

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by parkimar

That is such 21st century thinking - Of course they will be using femto , or even Atto singularities.

That's all out-of-date technology... it looks to me like it is powered by jocularities.

- Andy

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Enormous

I just received an advance copy of the manual that Andy is working on, and it says on page 53 that after the LIES™ setup is complete, it bakes you a cake! I also have advance knowledge that it is going to look and behave exactly like a Weighted Companion Cube, which is simply the most brilliant design decision ever.

Still Alive!

Now I understand how it works! It doesn't actually stream media over the network connection it just allows you to portal the connections from your server directly to the TV anywhere in the house! Brilliant!

That's also how the wireless beer tap must be configured. Of course you'll have to keep your keg near the server.

Hope you don't have to pay extra for the module that prevents it from gassing you.

[gerdi]

also the thin client I imagined already exists:
SanDisk Sansa TakeTV

But it is missing hdmi and dolby 7.1

[sainswor99]

Originally Posted by gerdi

also the thin client I imagined already exists:
SanDisk Sansa TakeTV

But it is missing hdmi and dolby 7.1

I still think you're struggling with the definition of a thin client; at this point, I almost think you're trolling. I guess you could define a sneaker-net solution like the one you're describing as having a client, but since the hardware is responsible for serving up the files to the UI (tv set), at best you could say it was a thick client (but that's stretching it beyond all reasonable expectations).

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

Neat little gadget, though.

[chrisc16]

Originally Posted by gerdi

also the thin client I imagined already exists:
SanDisk Sansa TakeTV

But it is missing hdmi and dolby 7.1

It's also missing another small detail: HD file support. That's the whole point of the Sage HD extender, to support high definition files and upscale lower def content to high def.

-Chris

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

I still think you're struggling with the definition of a thin client; at this point, I almost think you're trolling. I guess you could define a sneaker-net solution like the one you're describing as having a client, but since the hardware is responsible for serving up the files to the UI (tv set), at best you could say it was a thick client (but that's stretching it beyond all reasonable expectations).

Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

Neat little gadget, though.

Yeah, that thing isn't even close to an extender.

[Mahoney]

The definition of a client is something that talks to a server. The SanDisk Sansa TakeTV doesn't - it's a stand-alone media player with TV out.

I'm guessing you are trolling, too, but just in case: a SageTV extender is a combination of hardware and software that runs the SageTV UI and allows you to playback media stored on your server using SageTV as your user interface and send commands to the SageTV server using the SageTV UI - so you can schedul recordings, browse the EPG, that sort of thing.

The extender hardware is a "thin client" in the sense that it is not a full computer, it is intended to require no installation beyond plugging it in and to run only one piece of software, the SageTV user interface. It probably has no harddrive.

The extender software is actually a fairly "thick" client (at least compared to a web application), as the UI is rendered on the extender hardware and a lot of the UI logic will occur on the extender hardware, but it's still totally dependent on the server - it has no files stored locally, it has no tuner so it cannot record files itself, it has no means to update or store an EPG.

[autoboy]

You could also say it is a dumb client because it will do no processing on it's own apart from decoding and scaling the video stream using speciallized hardware, not a general purpose CPU. All commands are sent to the server and executed on the server to be streamed to the client and displayed. I'm sure it has a general purpose CPU in there, but only to control the hardware, TCP/IP stream, relay signals to the server, etc.

[Mahoney]

I would be surprised if a good deal of the UI logic is not processed on the client, and the UI rendered on the client. Which to my mind is not a dumb client; a real dumb client is a VNC session/Remote Desktop session/telnet session where everything is rendered on the server and all the client does is forward keyboard/mouse/remote control input and display the resulting screen.

(The SD extender used to be pretty close to a dumb client and was hence a bit unresponsive, but I think they have shifted a good deal more processing to the extender now as it is much faster. Unless they've just found a way to speed up the process...)

[stanger89]

All the STV code runs as if it's on the server, at least it's that way on the MVP. As far as the STV code is concerned, it's on the server (paths, OS, everything). But the UI elements are actually rendered on the MVP itself.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

Especially if the tap were simply an extension of the beer server... MMM, beer over ethernet.

I figured it's about time I chime in here....

"Just hook it to my vein!" - Barney after winning a lifetime supply of Duff beer for beating Homer in the astronaut competition

[briands]

Originally Posted by Narflex

I figured it's about time I chime in here....

"Just hook it to my vein!" - Barney after winning a lifetime supply of Duff beer for beating Homer in the astronaut competition

Doh!

Jeff, I saw that you made a post here and I thought it was something important... like pre-order details...

Oh well...

[fyodor]

Actually I believe it's after he wins the Springfield film competition during the Critic crossover episode. After beating homer in the astronaut competition, he gets drunk on non-alcoholic champagne.

"In a way you're both winners. But, in another, more accurate way, Barney is the winner."

Originally Posted by Narflex

I figured it's about time I chime in here....

"Just hook it to my vein!" - Barney after winning a lifetime supply of Duff beer for beating Homer in the astronaut competition

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by fyodor

Actually I believe it's after he wins the Springfield film competition during the Critic crossover episode. After beating homer in the astronaut competition, he gets drunk on non-alcoholic champagne.

"In a way you're both winners. But, in another, more accurate way, Barney is the winner."

Good call, after the astronaut he said "It begins!"

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by Narflex

I figured it's about time I chime in here....

"Just hook it to my vein!" - Barney after winning a lifetime supply of Duff beer for beating Homer in the astronaut competition

If I get the SageTV HD extender in my hands on time this November with no further delays, I'll send you a six pack of Duff beer or Duff equivalent, tube and needle to the vein is optional.

[gerdi]

I'm a very positive person. I never say anything to create a negative atmosphere. But you're right if you think that I want to initiate discussions.

Sainswor99 wrote

The definition of a client is something that talks to a server. The SanDisk Sansa TakeTV doesn't - it's a stand-alone media player with TV out.

You cited the article of thin client.
If you have looked at it you found the term of "Ultra thin client".
You're not right if you think, that the server-client concept is reduced on ethernet.
You can also speak about server and client in a usb connection.

But you're right that lan would be better than usb.

(To be clear: I speak about Sandisk Sansa takeTV. It's not a standalone hardware but strongly dependent on a usb-host.)

[stanger89]

But it's not. Just because a device requires a connection does not make it a client. The Sandisk can operate without the USB connection, well, connected.

You transfer files to the device, the unplug it and take it with you, from where you can plug it in (independent of a usb connection) to a TV and play back that media. As such it is not a client, it is a self-contained media player with a USB connection for loading/unloading.

It's exactly like an iPod in that regard. iPod's are "strongly dependent" on their USB ports as well, but they are not clients, they are media players.

A client is something like SageClient where it's useless without a connection to it's server, must be connected all the time, and continuously interacts with the server for it's data/logic.

An extender, is something like the MVP where the device "extends" the UI/functionality to a remote display, but a significant portion of the processing is done on the server (all the UI logic).

I still think you fundamentally missunderstand what an extender (or "thin client" as some are referring to it) is and what it's for.

[gerdi]

Oh!

I see that I didn't really understand the system of TakeTV.
I thought that the data and controls would be transmitted live to the docking station (by a kind of wireless). But it seems that the data is only stored on the stick and you have to transfer it manually.
This excludes live streaming.

Sorry!