[mythtv-users] Slave Backend requirements

Tyler T tylernt at gmail.com
Wed Aug 21 01:13:08 UTC 2013


>> Just hang a dozen tuners off one master BE.
>
> You would be hard pressed to find a machine that could actually handle a dozen USB tuners.

They make tuners with other interfaces. ;) Actually, most motherboards
have at least two (more likely four) USB host controllers, and should
handle at least two tuners per controller (only 20Mbps per tuner out
of 280Mbps theoretical max per USB controller). A proper master BE
should have at least four PCI-e slots to host dual-tuner cards, no
shortage of bandwidth there for 8 streams @ 2000Mbps for 1x PCI-e. And
a gigabit NIC (or two) should handle quite a few network tuners such
as the HDHR at only 20Mbps per stream with plenty of bandwidth left
over for remote FE playback.

> Another reason (and this is one of those extreme edge cases)
> is if a particular content source can only be obtained from one
> location far from your master BE.

Seems like it would be cheaper/easier to use a network tuner like a
HDHR in a remote location? Or a USB-over-IP device.

> And SBEs can have content storage, so it is an alternative
> (for some) to add additional storage.

NAS seems cheaper/easier than a full-on second PC, if your master BE
can't hold any more disks...


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