HTPC Server w/HTPC extenders

[bkasprowicz]

Hello everyone

I have just switched over to a HTPC setup to act as my DVR and movie library. The system I am currenlty using is an old Dell XPS 410 that I got for free from a coworker. I am planning on building an entire network of HTPC's or extenders over the year. Right now I am using the Infinitv 4 tuner with 1 echo extender.

While I am only doing research at the moment, I did come up with a neat idea that may be the best solution for our needs. I am not sure how it will work so I need others experienced opinions. I will have 5 tvs running off this setup.

I want to build a Server that will be in basement next to my home network setup. My house is all wired cat6 and ready to go. The server will have 1-2 Infinitv 4 tuner cards which will give me 8 tuners total. There will be a Hdd/ssd for the OS, 1 for recorded TV, 1 for movies, and others for backed up data.

Then, I will build 2 small, quiet, and energy efficient HTPC's capable of playing blu rays. One for the living room and other for master bedroom. There will be 2 echo extenders for the kids rooms.

Now, I would network bridge 3 tuners to the living room HTPC, 3 to the master bed HTPC, and leave 2 on the server for the extenders in kids rooms.

Now I know how the extenders work so there is no question there. My question now is it possible to record a show on the living room HTPC and have to store it directly to the server in the basement. That way all the recordings would be on one hard drive and share-able among the 3 systems.

I would like to have one central station that has all our home media accessible at all times. I like my stuff to look neat and uncluttered. I don't want a tower sitting next to my TV but something about the size of my old directv receiver will be fine. Cases that small do not have much room for the amount of hard drives that I want in the center of the HTPC setup.

Once again I'm still doing research so any input or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wolfshadw]

You should be able to create a network shared drive on the media server in the basement and tell your other HTPCs to save recorded shows to that location. However, I don't think you will be able to view the programs other HTPCs record. I think what you'd have to do is once a show is recorded, move that file to the Pictures and Videos location (assuming the file is marked Copy Free) and view your recorded shows from there. Assuming all HTPCs and extenders have the same Pictures and Videos location, anything stored there should be viewable from any device on the network.

-Wolf sends

 

[bkasprowicz]

My recorded shows are showing not copy protected. I did play around alittle bit this morning. I shared the recorded TV and movies folders on the HTPC in the living room over the network. I then went onto my desktop and opened media center and added those 2 folders. All my recorded shows and movies showed on the desktop the same as the HTPC displays them. I was able to watch a ripped DVD without any issues but when I tried to watch a recorded show it would act like it had to buffer every 2-3 seconds. I copied that same recorded show to the desktop and watched it with no issues. There is cat6 with 1gb switch running between the systems so I know its not the network. Is it possible the Dell isn't powerful enough for this?

I don't know why i didn't think of this before. I am going to setup one of the ceton tuners to network bridge with my Desktop. I will record a show on the desktop and set it to record to the HTPC in the living room.