Overall setup and usage of HTPC systems & Gear

[wordgasm]

Looking for some input & ideas from you smart ones!

Sorry for the long post and all the details.

I’ve got enough gear I’d think, so now I just want to get it setup in the most efficient/user friendly way and hopefully leave things alone for the most part (as possible), but I can’t make decisions on a configuration. So I’m looking for some input.

I’m getting worn out second guessing myself and changing things up all the time. I need to start some other projects around the house!

 

Current Gear & Useage:

Main HTPC (Media Room): 4u rack mount Lian LU case/intel DH67GD/2600K/12gb/64gb SSD sata III OS drive/W7 64/Ceton/2ea HDHRs(ATSC)/1ea 2tb WD Green EURS drives (recorded tv, advanced format, getting 2nd 2tb EURS next week depending on responses here)/1ea WD 1.5tb Green drive (recorded tv movies, moved from recorded tv drives (MoveTVMovies add-in), not advanced format and only displayed in MC Movies strip/tile)/CIR internal ir/Harmony 900/mini DiNovo/LG BR drive. (HTPC ony, no daily PC usage)

Current use: Main HTPC/MyMovies Client/Recorded TV(with WHS Recorded TV storage)-Recorded TV Movies Storage/BR-DVD TMT 5/Commercial processing.

 

Movies Sever: Norco 10 bay hotswap 4u rack mount case/asus P????/Q6600/8gb/WD 500GB OS drive/W7 64/8 WD 2tb EARS drives for movies(advanced format)/1ea 1.5tb WD Green for DVD storage (not advanced format)/external esata bare drive bay (for off-site backup transfer) esta controllers to multipliers (in WHS server case) for future expansion 8 possible drive bays – (Will probably get 20 hotswap bay norco later this year to consolidate drives-cases)/Samsung BR Drive

Current use: Movies Server (BR-DVD)/Movies ripper (movie only w-ClownBD)

 

WHS: Norco 8 hotswap bay 2u/ECS G8200/4gb/WHS 32/4ea 1.5 WD Green Drives (not advanced format)/Slim BR Drive

Current use: PC backup/MyMovies Server-Database/Music-Photo-Documents & data backup/Squeezebox server/Recorded TV (w-connector software)

 

2nd HTPC (Bedroom/Spare/other): Norco 2u rack mount case/intel H57DD/intel core i5-650/8gb/32gb SSD sata II/W7 64/500gb recorded tv drive/internal CIR ir/Harmony and ir Hot link/BR Drive

Current Use: Spare HTPC (maybe use spare room for an office this summer and use it in there for TV).

 

Extender (Kitchen-Dining-Living): Xbox 360 rack mounted (Main HTPC)/HArmony 1100

Current Use: TV watching and scheduling Recorded TV for Main TV

Notebook-Current Use: Maintenance all machines (concurrent RDP)/Ripping W7 Movie Server RDP/MyMovies mainteance/Day to Day machine-internet-etc.

Overall usage:

Main HTPC: 95% of all movies & TV (TV is 50%/50% HTPC and Xbox 360 extender), last 5% bedroom. Very rarely do we need different programming on the HTPC and bedroom TV. Movie ripping is all handled on the W7 Movie server these days to get movie only (and because of the advanced format drive a not good with WHS).

Future considerations:

1. Next week I’m probably going to purchase a new AV receiver that has 2 hdmi outputs (simultaneuos) from the Main HTPC to feed the Media Room and the Bedroom. This way we get TV-Bluray-Netflix in both locations. For the rare programming conflict, the bedroom TV has cable and ATSC hookups. Both TVs 1080P. Main HTPC audio thru AV receiver 9.2 bitstreaming-Bedroom TV using TV speakers.

2. Vail?

3. Heat and noise are not a consideration since all the gear is in a rack in the master bedroom closet.

4. For the most part whatever the best configuration is, I’d like to do it with existing gear if possible.

5. Upcoming gear and options?????

6. Other? Your input.

7. Commercial processing for skipping/removal

 

Questions based on gear listed above (and menu response times/reading movie iso/recorded tv pooling/tuner pooling/commercial skipping/etc):

1. MyMovies Database-Server Location? How/where would you set it up? For the snappiest/best response times/but no processing slow downs. Per Brian-MyMovies only thumbnails are cached on the local client. All other on data-backdrops, etc on server.

2. Movie Storage: Separate W7 server or connect all the drives to the main HTPC thru a larger hotswap case and e-sata contrllers w-multipliers (or Vail-WHS).

3. Recorded TV Storage? TV Movies Storage? (I want TV movies, the classics and HBO, etc separate from my disk rips/server stored movies). Other consideration commercial skip processing with SA.

4. Music-Photo storage location

5. Questions I didn’t list/think of you think I should be considering/doing.

6. Movies server (if needed) use core i5-650 machine or Q6600 machine?

Thanks a lot for taking the time.

Jeff

[Mike Garcen]

great post jeff, you’ve got quite an impressive setup there…you must’ve known i was going to ask the following question: Pictures???? 🙂

Ok, that aside, i have a question–why do you have two servers? Especially given the impressive size of one of them. Are you using WHS for the backup abilities? If speed is your biggest concern and you have a huge size, there are probably better solutions (like UNRAID, or FreeNAS)

For RecordedTV storage, that’s where the WHS is actually convenient, in that part of the updates are that it can transfer your recordings over to your WHS and then all your systems can see it.

[wordgasm]

great post jeff, you’ve got quite an impressive setup there…you must’ve known i was going to ask the following question: Pictures???? 🙂

Pictures, that could be um…bare-assing …… finishing the rack enclosure and cable management ….. and patching holes painting, new furniture and fixtures, mounting the 9 in 9.2 speakers in the media room are some of the “other projects” I need to get to!

Picures soon… well depends on what you consider soon!

 

Ok, that aside, i have a question–why do you have two servers? Especially given the impressive size of one of them. Are you using WHS for the backup abilities? If speed is your biggest concern and you have a huge size, there are probably better solutions (like UNRAID, or FreeNAS)

I started with the WHS for MyMovies Server, Recorded TV Automated Storage, Squeezebox Server. Really like the no nonsense easy setup pc backup, folder duplication for photos, music, data, and docs. (No duplication for Movies, would rerip if needed)… and maybe soon internet offsite access to the server. Full server failure, pull disk and copy. But had bad rips and bluray stuttering, (was probably the AF drives, or non intel NIC or throttling but thats fixed now). So built W7 server, waiting for Vail. Now Vail and MyMovies server are up in the air, so waiting. Not sure if Im up to learning a new OS right now for UnRaid, FlexRaid or FreeNAS. How tough? (Never used anything but Windows) 

The 2 servers is just where I’ve sortof uneded up at this point. But I’m still on the journey .. end not in sight………….

 

For RecordedTV storage, that’s where the WHS is actually convenient, in that part of the updates are that it can transfer your recordings over to your WHS and then all your systems can see it.

Since I don’t have to worry about space, size or heat with my HTPC case, I’m thinking of adding the 2nd 2tb EURS drive to the HTPC (for a total of 5.5 TB recorded TV storage (that should handle it!), moving to Recorded TV Movies and 2nd Recorded TV drive with batch files. All the R-TV local should make commercial processing easier and faster. (I would think) As opposed to the WHS Recorded TV option.

So my needs for the WHS are dindling, if I’m thinking all of this out correctly. I’m not new, but I’m not that bright about these things. But I still like the pc backup and duplication/failure copying options.

My mind keeps going back to 1 HTPC feeding 3 TVs with the extender for 98% of the viewing, why wouldn’t I just attach the movie drives and MyMovies server to the main HTPC, but I never see a lot of nodding heads on the forums when I bring this up!

I think that’s why the long post and the questions, I’m looking for one of you guys to push me and knock me off occam’s razor. But I’d need that burden of proof  🙂

The principle is often incorrectly summarized as “the simplest explanation is more likely the correct one”. This summary is misleading, however, since the principle is actually focused on shifting the burden of proof in discussions.

Thanks

Jeff

 

 

 

[hed]

Fun stuff.

I currently do the following (similar to what you were talking about):

We have a home theater with a dedicated projection room attached to it. In the projection room I have my server pc (6000, 8gb ram, 6TB raid, 4U rackmount server case) in a A/V rack.

The server case runs my movies and a Ceton infinitv tuner card. The server also functions as a HTPC for the dedicated HT room.

Currently I feed two media extenders (Xbox slims), the server and a XC mini pc with this setup (ceton beta drivers).

As a side benefit, using our network, I can always assign a tuner to my office PC and watch full cable on my office pc, wife’s pc or my laptop. Of course I can also watch my blu-ray collection the same way via wmc/mymovies… 🙂

I love my setup. It’s not perfect but it is a giant leap for this WMC HT junkie.

 

 

 

 

 

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