Noob questions

[Rock37]

Hey all,
Ok I have some noob questions here after reading the posts, I am not sure if it is possible to build a system the way I would like so if anyone would help it would be appreciated.
First a list of what I have,

Server
A raid 5 server running Windows server 2003 enterprise edition, 1 gig of ram, 1 terabyte avalible hard drive space, 5 open PCI slots, XP3200 processor.

Clients
6 Windows XP pro machines all with at least a 1 gig processor and 512 megs of ram
A 10/100 network

Misc
4 TV sets
Broadband cable connection

The server currently hosts all my MP3s and digital pictures, (It is way under utilized) and is the DHCP for the network.

Now what would be the ideal setup,
Record 6 shows simultaneously While watching separate shows on two TVs and be able to watch previously recorded shows on any of the computers.
The server must contain all the video capture cards, handle all file storage, fetch the guide, save preferences ect. The server has a 10/100/1000 NIC and if necessary I am willing to upgrade the rest of the network to the same. I would like to be able to surf the net from the TV if that’s possible without having it directly connected to a computer using the Hauppauge MediaMVP it looks like it might be possible.
I am lost when it comes to what combination of hardware/software to buy. Reading the forum is confusing when you don’t have a clue to start with. Some good examples are 250 Verses 350 cards and the different revisions of each. I am really only interested in what you get if you order it today.
Also I am not sure if Sage works with Win 2003 server or not. Would anyone help me sort this out?

[Crowdx42]

One possible config would be all PVR 350s displaying the OSD onto the tv, 350s are not that much more expensive than the 250, both have tuners both 350s have hardware decoder and tv out. With this config you could have a main server where the PVR 350s store all the shows and if you were really wanting to spend you could also have a few 250s in the server. Reality to buying 350 and 250 to run in same box at present is that they are not compatible, you MIGHT get lucky and buy a PVR 250 rev 15 BUT that would be luck, no way to know till you had it at home.
4 tv feeds in theory would be possible on a 100mb lan, streams for live shows usually run around 7-15mbits so do the math, you should be fine with present network.
Personally I use my SageTV (or Client) to view all tv, I don't watch directly from the cable box anymore, what most with cable boxes are doing is using a transceiver to change channels on their cable box cause tuner cards can only handly lower channels. This will also affect your config, do you watch a lot of the higher range channels on a cable box? If so, to record more than one channel you will need multiple cable boxes. Other folk here are doing this quite successfully.
Software wise, you will need at SageTV plus 4 (or 3 if you have SageTV running on one tv) clients, you will also need sage recorder to enable the PVR 350s to work as network encoders back onto the server.
Others I am sure will have more advice.
Patrick

[stanger89]

The short answer is yes, you can do it (I think I've seen that some are running it on 2003). Now to meet your requirements:

Record 6 shows simultaneously While watching separate shows on two TVs and be able to watch previously recorded shows on any of the computers.

You'll need 6 TV cards, that would be up to five (max PCI slots) 250s and USB2s to make up the difference. Actually if you want to record 6 and watch two more live you'll need 8 tuners.

You'll need some sort of clients for the TVs. PCs running SageClient would give you the full SageTV interface with EPG, Recorded shows, LiveTV, scheduling, etc. Another option would be MediaMVPs, but you'd only have access to previously recorded shows. You can't surf the net from SageTV, and AFAIK (haven't really looked) you can't on the MVPs either.

For the 6 XP PCs, you could run SageClient on them, and have the full Sage UI, or you could just play the files recorded by Sage via network shares.

As for 250 vs 350, they both have HW encoders, but the 350 adds a HW decoder/TV out. As for revisions, most/all 250s are now -16s (have a newer chip with encoder only) while 350s have the -15 encoder/decoder chip (was also found on older 250s).

[Crowdx42]

Yes BUT if he uses PVR 350s in each machine will have the encoder on each card and solve his tv out connection, means having to setup sage recorded as network encoders but would work, also client would still be needed on all boxes which would increase the expense BUT you would still have a flexible hardware base.
Patrick

[AndyS]

I'm running SageTV on Windows 2003 Server without any problems. I used SrvAny to run it as a service. It seems to work great. I have 2xPVR-250-16s and they work very well.

You need: 1xEncoder card for each stream you wish to simultaneously record/view live-TV. You don't need a card to playback recorded TV.

So - as others have pointed out - you'll need 8 tuners. 250-16s play well with other -16s and USB2s but not 350s or 250-15s. 16s are what are currently shipping.

You mentioned that you want all the encoders in the server, so I'd not recommend 350s - the only difference in them is that they have hardware MPEG decoding to a TV-out, which is not utilized when your cards are in the server.

So - Get 4x250-16s, 4xUSB2s and you'll be all set. Assume around 4mbps network bandwidth/client for viewing purposes - as long as it's all wired you'll be fine with your current 100BaseTx.

Hope that helps.
Andy.

[Rock37]

Thank you all for your responses, after thinking about it I am leaning towards the setup Andy proposed. The kids mostly watch recorded tv now using a cable company provided PVR. The main reason that I would like a computer based setup is the storage factor. Everyone in the family has there own computer so it is not a stretch for all to use it for TV. I was looking at comp USA at the cards and noticed they have a card called wintvgo from Hauppauge for about $50, is there any chance that this card would work with Sage? What are the implications?

Thanks,
Paul.

[stanger89]

No the WinTV Go won't work, SageTV requires a HW encoder card, from Hauppauge, that means a PVR 250, PVR 350, or PVR USB 2.

[kny3twalker]

you can get pvr 250 or clones that are oem for 70 to 100 each

like the ATI ehome wonder, pvr 250 MCE (oem), and others

350 has a hardware decoder for awesome SDTV picture