Server died to day, time for a new one

[lovingHDTV]

After 4 years of 24/7 my server died today

The south bridge fan died and it looks like that fried the MB. I replaced that fan a couple years ago . . .

So I just ordered some new guts and am hoping someone here has used them. I want to be able to record, playback, and run comskip all at the same time. My old system could not do the comskip as the playback would get jerky. Here is what I bought:

2x1GB DDR3 1066 RAM
Athlon II X2 Regor 3.0 Ghz w/2x1MB cache
ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO

I wanted 3 PCI and a couple pci-e 1x and this had them. I also did not want any fans on the MB to fail on me.

Seems like a decent board and should playback all my videos fine.

I'll be sticking this into the existing system, installing XP-SP3, restoring my SageTV directory from backup and hopefully be up and running the same day I get the parts from newegg.

Is it beefy enough to do what I want?

dave

[gplasky]

I would recommend that if you're looking at doing comskip that you buy the most cores and fastest speed you can afford. (Or the biggest bang for the buck) I would recommend going to a quad core (yes AMD has triple cores but again quad will get you the biggest bang for the buck with throwing comskip into the mix.) Phenom II will suffice. Between 2.5-3.0GHz in speed and between 95W to 125W. Look for deals or specials in that range and it should be the best bang for the buck and the performance you need for comskip and recording. Also room for growth. (Adding Playon software on that server maybe.) (I'm assuming no playback on the server-just clients.)

Gerry

[lovingHDTV]

I was just thinking last night about moving my PlayOn server over to the new SageTV server.

I canceled my Newegg order and swapped out for this one:
AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor

It was >2x in cost, but I'm hoping it will last for another 5+ years.

thanks for the input.
dave

[sic0048]

I think you last statement is very true. When building a computer, it doesn't pay to be bleeding edge (too expensive), but the faster you build them, the longer they will last before needing an upgrade. Of course that is baring an actual hardware failure like you experienced. But building a quad core now will allow the computer to function well, much longer than a dual core. At least IMHO.

[wayner]

Why does a quad core help vs. a dual core? Isn't that only the case if you are comskipping more than one file at a time and it would really only matter if it was more than one H.264 file. Won't you get the same performance of dual or quad when you are just comskipping one file - you still have another core to handle other PC processes.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by wayner

Why does a quad core help vs. a dual core? Isn't that only the case if you are comskipping more than one file at a time and it would really only matter if it was more than one H.264 file. Won't you get the same performance of dual or quad when you are just comskipping one file - you still have another core to handle other PC processes.

Future-proofing and options. Like you mentioned with a quad you now have the option of comskipping multiple files. If he moves towards using Playon which not only runs as a service but transcodes video streams to mpg2 it can be done without taxing the core function of the server. And more apps are becoming muti-threaded, multi-core aware.

Gerry

[Oats]

Most people comskip more than one file. I don't have comskip set up for HD yet, but when I had it running for SD you could choose how much CPU it could use. I don't see why you couldn't set it up with the right settings to run 2 comskips on HD while still being able to playback HD content on a dual core. The comskip process would obviously take longer this way than on a quad but how much longer I don't know. I will be finding out soon when I setup comskip on my dual core.

[lovingHDTV]

I figured that with a dual core 1 for SageTV and 1 for comskip I would have been fine, but I did want to move my PlayOn server off the current machine and onto the SageTV server, so I decided to upgrade to the quad core.

Without PlayOn I think I would have been fine with the dual core.

dave

[davephan]

I felt your pain... My first SageTV computer lasted about 3 years, when the mainboard failed. When it happens, there isn't a warning. You're just immediately down. No SageTV anymore!

I replaced the old SageTV computer with a older spare system. I had stuttering problems, unless the files were mpeg2. I couldn't play back any of my compressed videos. I eventually replaced the temporary system with a dual core 3.0 gig processor, which performed much better than the first SageTV system.

The next time I build a SageTV computer, I would like to buy two identical system boards. I will use the second system board in a workstation just for web browsing, etc. If the SageTV fails, even the system board, I can then replace it with the spare system board in the second computer. The SageTV downtime can then be reduced considerably. If system boards aren't purchased together, they need to be purchased very close in time, so they will be identical. Many system boards models don't last long in the market, and you won't be able to purchase the same system board if you wait too long.

If a SageTV system board failure occurs again, I will be prepared, and I can recover the system quickly. It will also buy me time to shop for two more identical system boards, which will be a much more advanced technology at that time, assuming I can run for several years before the system board fails.

If the general purpose web browsing computer system board fails, then I would need to purchase two identical system boards at that time, and rebuild the SageTV and web browsing general purpose computer.

Another option would be to just store the spare system board, just in case the system board breaks. But then you don't know the system board will work, since the spare system board isn't regularly tested.

Some people might consider having a spare system that they could call into action might be a bit overkill. It is so annoying when the SageTV system suddenly failures, it would be really nice to recovery quickly even if the system board fails. I guess that's a sure sign of being addicted to SageTV!


Dave

[CollinR]

I have a backup machine, I have to swap tuners and storage but it's a 5 min deal tops. You only learn this lesson once if you have removed all other method of watching TV.


Further I plan on running my 222 modulated outputs to a couple of sets, I can't believe I am reinstalling coax. I damn sure am not telling the wife.

[heffe2001]

My server is using the 920 Phenom II cpu, same speed, but AM2+, not AM3. I'm running WHS as the OS, SageTV, ShowAnalyzer (2x), Playon, Utorrent, and a handful of plugins for the WHS system, so your CPU should handle XP, Sage, Comskip & Playon just fine. I did put more memory in my box (I'm running 4g), and I'm anxiously waiting for the next version of WHS in a x64 variety so I can pump it up to 8 or more (give Sage 2 or 3 gb of ram for it's caching of artwork, etc).

Originally Posted by lovingHDTV

I was just thinking last night about moving my PlayOn server over to the new SageTV server.

I canceled my Newegg order and swapped out for this one:
AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor

It was >2x in cost, but I'm hoping it will last for another 5+ years.

thanks for the input.
dave

[Greg]

Originally Posted by davephan

Another option would be to just store the spare system board, just in case the system board breaks. But then you don't know the system board will work, since the spare system board isn't regularly tested.

Some people might consider having a spare system that they could call into action might be a bit overkill. It is so annoying when the SageTV system suddenly failures, it would be really nice to recovery quickly even if the system board fails. I guess that's a sure sign of being addicted to SageTV!

Dave

Dave,

Why do you think the system board failed?

- poor design, running too hot, etc?
- just the fact that it's on 24/7?
- are you over-clocking?
- poor ventilation?

Thanks,
Greg

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by Greg

Why do you think the system board failed?

Even with the failed fan, judging from the the age of the system, I'd say it's probably capacitor plague, either on the motherboard, power supply, or both.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Greg

Dave,

Why do you think the system board failed?

- poor design, running too hot, etc?
- just the fact that it's on 24/7?
- are you over-clocking?
- poor ventilation?

Thanks,
Greg

Now that I think back about the problem, I actually had two system boards go bad suddenly. The first one was an AMD XP 2100 system, which was my first SageTV computer. The system board was bad, but the power supply, CPU, memory, and fans were still OK. I don't think heat was a problem, although I don't think heat was a problem. I suppose the cooling could have been better, but I don't know if that would have prevented the system board failure. That computer ran for several years before becoming my first SageTV computer, so maybe it could have been a capacitor problem.

I then switched to an older XP 1500 system that I had on hand as a temporary SageTV computer. That computer was too weak to transcode compresssed videos for playback on the MVP extender. I used that while waiting a few months for the dual core CPUs price to drop.

I replaced the temporary system with an Abit system board and a dual core CPU. That system ran for over a year until the next failure. I think the source of the problem occurred from the power supply. The system board was shot, two new 1 TB drives were shot, and the power supply seemed to be very flaky, which I considered to be shot, and probably caused the whole problem. The CPU, memory, and fans were all OK, so I reused them with the with replacement system board.

I replaced the system board with a different brand, but one that had the same chipset as the Abit board. At that time Abit had gone out of business. I was able to recover the SageTV computer to the new system board using an image, fix some 'devices' problems, and get SageTV working again.

I never overclock. I know some people do overclock to get more 'free' performance. However, there's a risk to overclocking; it puts more stress on a system. I think it just a better idea, but not a cheaper idea, to just buy a faster system.

So, I am actually on my third SageTV computer now. Having gone through system failures, I plan to purchase identical system boards for the next build, which will be very soon. My fourth SageTV computer will be a quad core 3.0 gig computer. I will also build up a replacement general purpose web browsing computer with the same system board. I'm still using that old XP 1500 clunker today for my general purpose computer, and it needs to be finally replaced with something faster.

The disk imaging has provided very good protection. I have run into problems where tuners quit working, and I could not get them to function properly by re-installing drivers. Recovering to an image that was taken at a point in time when the system worked perfectly, immediately fixed those problems. But disk imaging might not protect you from a system board failure problem, although it did in my most recent total system failure.

I use that SageTV system many times every day, and am depending on it working, and staying working. Maybe that dependency is a bad thing, but that's one of the problems with SageTV, that it can become an addiction. So, I think the best proactive approach is to have a backup system or a system that could be used as a backup system.


Dave

[Fuzzy]

My current desktop is running that same motherbopard, and I have been very impressed with it. I'm currently just running a Phenom II x2 onit, but it has the capabilities (as I'm sure you're aware) of running QUITE a bit more. Also, with crossfire hybrid, I could add a relatively simple (read: dirt cheap) video card, and get a respecatable boost in 3D performance, if i need it.

[CollinR]

Originally Posted by davephan

I use that SageTV system many times every day, and am depending on it working, and staying working. Maybe that dependency is a bad thing, but that's one of the problems with SageTV, that it can become an addiction. So, I think the best proactive approach is to have a backup system or a system that could be used as a backup system.


Dave

Keep in mind if you have a cable or sat DVR when it breaks you are just hosed and will eiher have to wait for them to ship you another or schedule a service call. In either case you are better off being in control with SageTV.