Moving server to WHS - any issues I should be aware of?

[wayner]

I am going to be moving my Sage PC from my office PC running Vista HP to a newly built WHS (I have been running WHS since beta but I just rebuilt my server with new hardware and lots of hard drive space.)

Are there any issues I should be aware of? I have read SME's tutorial and formatted all of my drives with 64K allocation blocks. I will be putting my TVRecordings into the drive pool but not duplicating them.

Any advice on drivers for things like tuners, USB-UIRT, etc? Do you just use the default drivers or should you look for win2000 drivers? I will be using a Hauppauge PVR-150, 2xHD-PVR and a PVR-950 for OTA.

Anything other issues that I should be looking out for?

[DOS64K]

Welcome to the world of Sage on WHS. You'll be happy with your choice.

Drivers can be an issue, although I've not had any issue with the devices I'm using (HD-PVR, HDHR and Avermedia PCIe Combo). Typically, XP drivers work fine.

Good luck!

[wayner]

One question - when defining paths to my recorded TV and media library should I use UNC paths or mapped drive letters? Aad should I use the default which is \\localhost\videos\ or the proper name as in \\servername\videos\ ? Note that once this is up and running I will be copying over my recorded TV from my existing server.

[rlvogel322]

Originally Posted by wayner

One question - when defining paths to my recorded TV and media library should I use UNC paths or mapped drive letters? Aad should I use the default which is \\localhost\videos\ or the proper name as in \\servername\videos\ ? Note that once this is up and running I will be copying over my recorded TV from my existing server.

I use UNC paths with the \\servername\videos. I wouldn't recommend using drive letters and I never thought about using localhost.

BTW, I have been recording all my shows into the share space now. It has been working flawlessly.

[S_M_E]

I use \\servername\Videos for my imported videos and \\servername\SageTV for my recording directory. I'd also turn off duplication on shares while you initially populate your server. Once you have most of your media copied then you could turn on duplication for any share except the recording share.

Like rlvogel322, I wouldn't suggest NOT mapping drive letters, WHS prefers UNC paths.

[wayner]

I had one strange problem installing the Sage webserver - I could never get the install process to read or write to the sage.properties file. Even after a reboot with all Sage services and processes shut down it would not write to this file. But I was able to manually configure the file by copying over the relevant lines from my existing sage install - has anyone else seen anything like this?

[bigbill]

I did not experience that when I ran the web installer on my WHS box. I only use the web for the Vista Gaget, but its working fine.

[S_M_E]

I'm not using the sage web server at all. Since WHS uses it's own IIS web server for remote access, there could be a conflict and I haven't had the time nor inclination to experiment with it. If others are not having issues then it must be something else.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by S_M_E

I'm not using the sage web server at all. Since WHS uses it's own IIS web server for remote access, there could be a conflict and I haven't had the time nor inclination to experiment with it. If others are not having issues then it must be something else.

THat's possible but I think this problem is more related to accessing sage.properties. The Sage webserver allows you to setup up any port so it shouldn't conflict with the WHS web server. The Sage webserver is quite important for doing some things such as editing show info, scheduling recordings from remote locations, without requiring Placeshifter, and also for importing recordings into Sage from other types of software such as MCE.

[S_M_E]

Setting a non-standard port would certainly eliminate the conflict issue, you might want to check permissions or it may have just been a fluke. I've managed without the webserver for years so I'm not in a great hurry to add it and I don't record with anything but Sage so YMMV.

[DOS64K]

Originally Posted by wayner

I had one strange problem installing the Sage webserver - I could never get the install process to read or write to the sage.properties file. Even after a reboot with all Sage services and processes shut down it would not write to this file. But I was able to manually configure the file by copying over the relevant lines from my existing sage install - has anyone else seen anything like this?

Odd. I've been using the webserver for quite awhile without any issues. It is a critical part of my Sage experience and is well worth getting it to work. I don't know how many times I've found myself scheduling recordings from my PC because "I just remembered something I wanted to watch".

[rlvogel322]

I've also had the webserver working since day one. I did assign a specific IP address to the WHS box, choose a different port and get it forwarded on the router but it works fine. I have not had to do anything else. Keep in mind that you should stop the service in the WHS console before doing any installs for Sage.

I put this address into my browser //username.homeserver.com:sageport/Sage/Home and it works great.

I agree withsome of the others, I consider it an integral part of Sage.

[S_M_E]

What would the web server do that I couldn't do with VNC or the remote desktop?

[wayner]

Well you can access it from any desktop anywhere without needing software installed on the client PC or generally worrying about firewalls, etc.. There is also a mobile browser addition that allows you to access Sage and schedule recordings from your Blackberry, iPhone, etc. You can import XMLs and easily edit the show info. There is a nice little Vista Sidebar gadget that uses the webserver to show you what is currently recording on Sage. You can see the guide and have it display up to 999 channels at once, etc.

Since it is primarily text info it is much faster than using terminal emulation software.

[S_M_E]

Remote desktop SW and VNC (which both require username/password) is installed on all of my clients since I don't use XP/Vista home editions. If you're using non-standard ports then you do have to worry about firewalls both client side and server side. I don't have a web enabled phone and speed isn't an issue so it appears that the only benefit, for me, would be a vista gadget which I don't care about enough to install a web server that may or may not be secure.

[wayner]

What you say is true and I generally use the Web app when I am outside of my home. That's what I meant about firewall, etc. Some people may not be able to access their home PCs from work due to firewall settings on the corporate LAN. The Sage WebServer does require a username and password but I can't vouch for the efficacy of its security.

If you all of a sudden remember that you forgot to set up a recording for a show then you can get on any PC, even in some else's home, an internet cafe, etc. and log on to your system and set things up. You could also carry a USB key with Placeshifter I guess but that still may not work due to security settings.

[Djc208]

The webserver can also be set up over a SSL connection. You can check out the wiki for it's base webserver and security.

I use the RSS function to keep an eye on the IR schedule, especially if I'm away from home, like on vacation. It's faster than running placeshifter to do it. There's also ways to export and import data as XML instead of trying to do it within Sage. The web remote can be handy too if you have multiple extenders or wanted to do some sort of iPhone type control scheme.

[S_M_E]

SSL and password requirements aside, web servers have historically had holes and are often exploited. I can't speak specifically for "jetty" but netscape web server, apache and IIS have all had security issues at different times. I dont even like to use IIS for WHS (let alone a second web server for Sage), I use other remote access solutions.

I have no doubt that it's handy for some people, in some situations, but I've never had to access sage while out of the house and if I *REALLY* had/wanted to I could get in other ways. I'm just not that tied to Sage, it records what I tell it to and when I'm ready to watch something I check the SageTV Recordings menu from my client. I don't even own a placeshifter or extender yet. YMMV

[psklenar]

So is there a concensus? Does the SageTV Web Server run properly under WHS? Or am I better sticking with XP Pro for my OS if I want to be able to run the Sage Web Server?

Thanks,
pat----

[S_M_E]

Originally Posted by psklenar

So is there a concensus? Does the SageTV Web Server run properly under WHS? Or am I better sticking with XP Pro for my OS if I want to be able to run the Sage Web Server?

Thanks,
pat----

It seems to work with WHS, according to DOS64K in post #11 and rlvogel322 in post #12 but he's using a non-standard port which shouldn't be a big deal and could help some with security.