[TeknoJnky]

I searched around a little and didn't see anything relevant..

I am thinking about a centralized htpc and was wondering if anyone has built a single PC/server that can run multiple XBMC instances out to different TV's.

IE, One PC in a closet/central location, with separate HDMI/Video to different TV's (living room/bedroom/etc).

I would expect multiple video cards to be a requirement unless there are some dual HDMI out cards.

But what I am curious is how to best handle separate audio streams and remote control for the individual instances. USB/Extenders could possibly used for IR or maybe a centralized bluetooth that supports multiple remotes.

Ideally, such a setup would act as a heavy duty centralized audio/video server:

- run an individual xbmc for each tv for stored audio/video media (with individual controls/video/audio)
- ideally with a single hdmi connection carrying audio/video
- preferably running from a single xbmc folder and/or with a local shared library/profile, not sure the performance/compatibility of such
- via optional multiple tv cards, be able to watch/dvr multiple simultanious OTA/cable/sat tv streams (using myth tv or whatever)
- media could be stored locally or via nas
- linux/windows doesn't matter

Has anyone successfully built such a beast?

[althekiller]

Sounds cost prohibitive. It would have to be one HELL of a system to even run two instances of XBMC. Even then I doubt you could con opengl into syncing to multiple displays so there would be tearing on all but one. You can build a couple linux based, VDPAU capable, system with an atom330 mobo and PCI gf8400gs for <$300 each and eliminate all the complications.

[TeknoJnky]

Hmm, I would think a quad core/4gb ram and suitable graphic card(s) would suffice for a couple instances at least.

Last time I checked, XBMC/win32 was only using a ~200 megs of ram. CPU use is of course dependent on what your trying to play.

I can run xbmc on either monitor of my current system, quad core/8800gt dual monitor, and both were the same speed as I recall.

I tried running 2 instances a while back, but it would only allow one and I didn't bother looking further then.

[ingeo]

Not sure how well this would work but perhaps you could setup the machine to load two virtual machines and split the RAM and CPU evenly between them.

You'd need to install a virtual server on the computer first and then load two copies of your OS + XBMC virtual host.

I would think you would also need two:

*USB receivers
*Video cards
*Sound cards

I do not have any experience setting up a virtual server but its a thought that might work.