Windows Home Server (WHS) questions

[aobbdb]

I would like to give Sagetv for WHS a try, but i have a couple of questions before I tackle this project...

1. Is there any documentation i can read up on before i start? The main page, http://www.sagetv.com/whs.html, is really vague.

2. Do I need to have a separate client PC and WHS? I currently have a separate WHS box in one room and Media PC in the living room. Ideally, i'd like to combine these into one to save electricity. Has anyone tried this? Any thoughts?

[gveres]

I too read the vague press announcement and was left wondering "huh??? what is the difference between running it on WHS and just running it on XP?"

[PGPfan]

My system is using Sage-WHS, and I can't launch the client locally on the same machine. Not an issue for me, WHS is what it is - a Server - not a workstation. If you want to save electricity, WHS isn't the way to go. It keeps all drives running 24/7 for backup, streaming, etc. Again remember, it's a server so they aren't meant to be power sipping machines.

In my opinion though, I wouldn't run Sage any other way now that I have it set up on WHS.

-PGPfan

[surge]

How much does the WHS version cost and what does it come with?

The SAGETV Service tab in the WHS Console says it is delivered with 1 Server license and 1 PlaceShifter/Extender license.

What exactly does this mean?
What is received when the WHS version is purchased?

[oaamaas]

Originally Posted by surge

How much does the WHS version cost and what does it come with?

The SAGETV Service tab in the WHS Console says it is delivered with 1 Server license and 1 PlaceShifter/Extender license.

What exactly does this mean?
What is received when the WHS version is purchased?

That would mean you can install the SageTV server on a WHS machine and then connect to this server by means of a PC (using the Placeshifter download) or a SageTV Media Extender (Hauppauge Media MVP) to watch. To watch using a full blown client from a Windows PC or a Mac an additional SageTV client would have to be purchased. Or you could buy the upcoming HD Extender (I would).

AOBBDB: Here's some thoughts to bring along when you consider your options - I don't expect you to agree, but you should think about it.

During the past years I've spent a lot of energy to make my media center look nice and be powerful and silent at the same time. Today I'd say that's a waste of time and money. The WHS could be installed on a PC with a large (and ugly if preferred) case with room for lots of hard disks, fans and all your TV cards. Stuff it away in the basement and put a nice client like the coming HD Extender in the living room. That you could do with a XP machine as well - but the WHS has some other nice features like backup and easily expandable storage you'd miss.

I really regret putting a lot of effort in trying to build a single media center setup. Had I given it more thought before I started I would have done the server + client from the start and probably saved some money. When the WHS finally came along the decision to convert was not hard at all. My initial setup with silent power, water cooling, silent fans (that where still needed) and all that stuff sure ended up silent. I think it looks good, but the cooling tower is really not that popular with my wife (and it's a mess every time the PC needs an upgrade). Server + client ends up more stable and, in my experience, a lot cheaper. It will not save your electrical bill, though. But then I cannot imagine that the HD Extender in combination with a server will consume considerably more than a standalone solution. However - if you do not need a server, do not need lots of storage and do not mind the looks and noise of a PC in the living room - do set up a standalone media center solution.

To summarize - I'm really (and finally) happy with my current setup and will not hesitate to recommend the WHS alternative.

[Ken C]

Unless you are looking for an automated backup of networked machines, I'm not sure what advantage WHS provides, at least for me.

I currently have an XP 'server', really just XP with a lot of drives, no RAID, just a bunch of drives. No need to back up video files. Now, if I had spent time ripping DVD's then a RAID system would make sense, but not for TV shows.

Sage is currently on a HTPC in the living room, the server is in the office. Sage does a fine job of equalizing the hard drive usage. WHS does provide one big volume rather than multiple smaller ones, and you will have to judge for yourself is that is an advantage.

When I get the HD extender, Sage and the tuner cards will be moved to the server. I don't think you can run Sage on a WHS (Maybe, really don't know). So, with an extender, I can eliminate the HTPC and it's associated 'concerns'.

Plus, it's always a good idea to wait for version 3 of any MS software

[jominor]

I started with a single Sage server/client with one tuner. As I added drives and tuners, I decided to move it to the cooler basement. Now, I've got 3 tuners and about 7 driver. I'm in the process of spec'ing out a new multi-core server so I can do compression with my normal Sage server and commerical skip processing.

In the family room, I have a Sage client pc.

[Athfar]

I'm highly confused too... What do I need to run a "SERVER" which ALSO acts as a media center?

I am sure I have enough processing power to provide this...

[inlvnv]

Originally Posted by oaamaas

I really regret putting a lot of effort in trying to build a single media center setup. Had I given it more thought before I started I would have done the server + client from the start and probably saved some money. When the WHS finally came along the decision to convert was not hard at all. My initial setup with silent power, water cooling, silent fans (that where still needed) and all that stuff sure ended up silent. I think it looks good, but the cooling tower is really not that popular with my wife (and it's a mess every time the PC needs an upgrade). Server + client ends up more stable and, in my experience, a lot cheaper. It will not save your electrical bill, though. But then I cannot imagine that the HD Extender in combination with a server will consume considerably more than a standalone solution. However - if you do not need a server, do not need lots of storage and do not mind the looks and noise of a PC in the living room - do set up a standalone media center solution.

To summarize - I'm really (and finally) happy with my current setup and will not hesitate to recommend the WHS alternative.

What is the cooling tower for? Also, saw on your sig you have 2gig ram in your WHS, any noticeable improvement? I've been thinking of bringing up mine to 2 gigs also.

I'm also looking for SageTV for WHS cost, or do I just purchase the regular SageTV server software and use its key?

I've only been playing with Sage for WHS since the Thanksgiving weekend, but I really, really like this. I can see a lot of WHS owners embracing Sage software as a one stop solution to organize and playback all their terabytes of media files on their server and watch live tv.

Setup was a pita, both with hvr-950 and hvr-1800, and still trying to get hd based dvd files to play (not sure what the problem is) through Placeshifter and Sage Client, but this is like 2 for 1 deal for me (WHS and media server). My WHS setup has 10 drives, 9 drives (5.5 TB) are in WHS pool and a non-pooled 200 gig drive formatted to 64k cluster is my tv recording drive. No problem watching live tv from my 3 laptops and an iMac with Placeshifter program. I'm also looking forward to release of HD-100 media extender.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Athfar

I'm highly confused too... What do I need to run a "SERVER" which ALSO acts as a media center?

I am sure I have enough processing power to provide this...

All you would need is the basic SageTV software for whatever OS you desire. That will handle recording and playback on the same machine.

All the other software and their licenses (placeshifter, clients, extenders) are there to allow you to access the stuff recorded on the computer running Sage from another location.

• If you want to watch from another computer on the same network you would want to purchase and use the Sage Client software.
• If you want to also be able to watch it from outside the house over your internet connection the placeshifter software and license is your best bet.
• If you want to watch media from an SD or HD TV without having to keep a computer nearby then one of the SD or HD extenders is your best bet.

Yea, my 100th post! Does this mean I'm addicted now?

[Athfar]

Originally Posted by Djc208

All you would need is the basic SageTV software for whatever OS you desire. That will handle recording and playback on the same machine.

All the other software and their licenses (placeshifter, clients, extenders) are there to allow you to access the stuff recorded on the computer running Sage from another location.

Ok for some reason I was thinking that SageTV had separated the "server" (extender) functionality in the regular SageTV install and made it into a separate service that it is run.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by Athfar

Ok for some reason I was thinking that SageTV had separated the "server" (extender) functionality in the regular SageTV install and made it into a separate service that it is run.

It does. You can opt to enable the Sage TV service, which runs the recording engine as a service so it can't be shut down by closing the interface or switching users. This feature is part of the standard Sage install, not seperate.

[jrog]

I'm thinking of setting up SageTV on a dedicated windows box with HDHomerun, but I'm not sure if I should load Vista, or WHS. I use a Mac as my primary computer, but I hate the idea of needing to reboot my computer or something when it needs to be recording.

My PC is a P4 D 2.8GHz, 2G Ram, and I have an Adaptec 2820SA Sata Raid controller. I don't think WHS will work with my raid card, so I ordered the eval version and that should be coming in a few weeks.

Any suggestions? Should I just go Vista or will it actually be a better setup for Sage to use WHS? I like the NAS capabilities, but I'd like to use my real raid controller for raid 5, and then WHS will just think it's a single disk... won't it? It also supports expansion of the volume, but maybe in the long run WHS is better for growth, as I can add any sized drive and still have redundancy?

Another problem is that it looks like it won't have single volume capability of over 2TB, but pooled, should be fine... just costs more to get there.

Any opinions on the matter are appreciated.

[Djc208]

If you don't plan to use the computer for anything else but server type duties then I'd probably go for a WHS setup. From what I've read Macs can see the WHS drives (though naturally the backup and remote control functions don't work) and you won't need to hook up a monitor and keyboard/mouse to update software or make changes.

I don't know that I'd mess with a raid setup in WHS unless it wasn't managed by WHS, most have issues and it, and it kind of defeats the purpose of using WHS to manage the drives. Now if you wanted that for a recording drive with other HDD managed by WHS for other purposes that's a different animal.