[RedZoneOS]

Its me again

I need help building a backend WMC computer. I have an old one now using an E2160 intel processor, and an Abit IP35-E motherboard, HD3870, 8gb ram etc. Its using way more power then I think it should.

I have a raspberry pi frontend, I just ordered a Foxconn 847 mini-pc based on recommendations from a different thread, and I'll be buying a few more frontends for 6 or 7 TVs total.

I need a backend setup that will feed 6/7 frontends. I need to be able to feel comfortable leaving it on pretty much 24/7 without feeling guilty about wasting energy! It will likely store a total of 4TB of data at its maximum capacity so that all frontends can access it. All frontends will be using LiveTV from HDHRP and HDHR+... I will be using windows 7 with serverWMC (unless there are better alternatives?)

Should I build a low power backend, and then use a NAS server for storage? Or should I have just one backend doing everything? I dunno...what kind of performance requirements am I looking at? I am barely starting this HTPC stuff so I want to use as few devices as possible to cover my needs.

[RedZoneOS]

anyone?

[Dougie Fresh]

I would definitely have this be a server for both sharing your tuners and storage. I can't see the benefit for two machines unless you already have the NAS.

I am not sure about ServerWMC but if those frontends were extenders, the general rule would be one core per extender. However, it seems from what I've read people can get away with less and that it's rare that all frontends are being use simultaneously.

I wonder how something like the ASRock Q1900B-ITX would do for this build.

[RedZoneOS]

I would definitely have this be a server for both sharing your tuners and storage. I can't see the benefit for two machines unless you already have the NAS.

I am not sure about ServerWMC but if those frontends were extenders, the general rule would be one core per extender. However, it seems from what I've read people can get away with less and that it's rare that all frontends are being use simultaneously.

I wonder how something like the ASRock Q1900B-ITX would do or this build.

thank you, appreciate the response. The frontends are: 1 raspberry pi. 1 soon to be Foxconn 847 mini pc. 3 or 4 additional frontends TBD, haven't made all purchases yet until I feel thoroughly satisfied with the two that I have.

so it seems that there really isn't a true energy efficient backend option? I am expecting at least 2 frontends to be on at the same time, especially in the evening, possibly more...

that combo board you provided seems pretty promising, but is it enough for a backend? I actually have a Q9550 processor that I can use, but the mobo is overkill... wonder if I should buy a compatible ITX board with onboard graphics for it?? Ultimate goal is to have it running 24/7 without killing the bank so I dunno, I feel like even a bare minimum build with my quad core will still take up over 150W?

[tential]

I would definitely have this be a server for both sharing your tuners and storage. I can't see the benefit for two machines unless you already have the NAS.

I am not sure about ServerWMC but if those frontends were extenders, the general rule would be one core per extender. However, it seems from what I've read people can get away with less and that it's rare that all frontends are being use simultaneously.

I wonder how something like the ASRock Q1900B-ITX would do for this build.

I think 1 core per extender is quite overkill for todays processors don't you think? I'm pretty sure 1 core (2 threads) or maybe 2 cores maximum on a 4770k would handle that many but that's just my feeling. I'd love to test this for you actually but my network just doesn't have the bandwidth to handle LiveTV streaming due to the fact that my network is over the power lines.

Edit: I would not use a Q9550 on a server with a 150W power supply. That's quite greedy. That's like 120 Watts just at idle and if you have some other things plugged in? Definitely not going to happen.


I'd test using the Q9550 as the server and note the CPU load it uses. If it's quite low, you might be able to get in with a high end model Kabini and if not, you can use a Quadcore AMD I guess since they come quite cheap but their power consumption is still not that great but if you need the multiple threads it can help. Your best bet though is to see how the Q9550 handles and whether you need multiple cores to handle serving live TV or not.

I'm not aware of anything other than ServerWMC that works with Windows as easily as it does.

I really don't know of anything that's even as easy to setup. Especially if you want to combine a Server+Storage combination. But that's based on my personal knowledge, if anyone wants to comment on a easy to setup option for UnRAID that'd work be my guest.

[renbello]

Besides processor power, you are likely to have bandwidth difficulty getting the media from one server to so many front ends. I use a dedicated network access point just to get seamless live HDTV to one frontend.
My backend set-up is here if u want to see it:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1723404