Server or Media PC or BOTH...

[joelinkup]

Server or Media PC or BOTH...
Starting a new system from scratch... I was thinking of getting the HP MediaSmart Server EX470 as the server for a new Entertainment System... I was also thinking of using a PC with capture cards...etc... to act as a DVR... OK... My question is... Should I get BOTH?... That is, have the EX470 as the Server and an additional dedicated PC for the DVR... or should I just have just ONE PC and let it be both the Server and the DVR... I will absolutely need REMOVABLE DRIVES like on the EX470 for security reasons... but removable drives can be installed in PC's also... I will also need to stream MP3's to a new to be purchased Surround Sound System and steam Digital Photos & MPG/MP4 Movies to several TV's along with the DVR playback... I will need to watch 1 station on a TV and simultaneously record 3 other shows... I assume this can ALL be accomplished via the SageTV TV Media Extenders and other SageTV and/or Hauppauge products... I also want the system to provide me maximum flexibility for future changes & improvements & to provide automatic backup capabilities for 3 additional networked PC’s... All connections will be CAT6 cable… The only wireless will be for PC Internet Access… Stand alone DVD players will be at each TV... Cost is not much of an issue... Bottom line... Which way to go... A Server and a PC... or a PC that does BOTH... Thanks very much...

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by joelinkup

Server or Media PC or BOTH...
Starting a new system from scratch... I was thinking of getting the HP MediaSmart Server EX470 as the server for a new Entertainment System... I was also thinking of using a PC with capture cards...etc... to act as a DVR... OK... My question is... Should I get BOTH?... That is, have the EX470 as the Server and an additional dedicated PC for the DVR... or should I just have just ONE PC and let it be both the Server and the DVR... I will absolutely need REMOVABLE DRIVES like on the EX470 for security reasons... but removable drives can be installed in PC's also... I will also need to stream MP3's to a new to be purchased Surround Sound System and steam Digital Photos & MPG/MP4 Movies to several TV's along with the DVR playback... I will need to watch 1 station on a TV and simultaneously record 3 other shows... I assume this can ALL be accomplished via the SageTV TV Media Extenders and other SageTV and/or Hauppauge products... I also want the system to provide me maximum flexibility for future changes & improvements & to provide automatic backup capabilities for 3 additional networked PC’s... All connections will be CAT6 cable… The only wireless will be for PC Internet Access… Stand alone DVD players will be at each TV... Cost is not much of an issue... Bottom line... Which way to go... A Server and a PC... or a PC that does BOTH... Thanks very much...

If you build a Sage server and use the HD extenders (STX-HD100), then there is no reason why one box can't do it all. I would just recommend seperate hard drives for your sage recordings if your Server is also going to be used as a file server. Sage actually takes very little processing power IF you use the STX-HD100's and don't use MediaMVP's or Placeshifter. The latter two will require on the fly transcoding in order for them to playback some (or all in the case of placeshifter) of your content.

I myself have two servers. One for Sage and one for file/dvd storage. This is solely because I do use MediaMVP's and it can be under quite a load when trying to watch HD content on the MediaMVP's.

[Grasshopper]

Hi Joe,

Allow me to share my experience. I built my own WHS server PC; it does exactly what the EX470 would do. I've been running WHS since the beta, and I like it a lot -- so much that I paid for it, when I have an unused license for XP. Until this week, I was also running Sage Client on another PC to output video on the TV in the family room. I put a lot of time, effort, hardware and software into getting it to run well and quietly. This week I replaced it with an HD-100, and right out of the box, the HD-100 does everything I need just as well as the client PC used to. I added a Harmony remote to power on/off my TV and audio receiver, and I'm all set. I highly recommend this route; you can even rip your dvd's to the server and not bother with standalone dvd players at each tv.

I put a lot of time and money into that client PC. Now, I have a PC, a Snapstream Firefly remote, a USB-UIRT, and a Zantec Reserator liquid cooling system in a closet, unused. The HD-100 is better.