Sage on Win2k3 server

[felixrosbergen]

Hi All,

I have been wanting to run a full windows server for my home network and thus woudl like to install Windows 2003 Sever. I know this is overkill for home use, but i want to use it to gain experience to assist with IT issues within the small company i work for.

At the same time i aslo want CQC and SageTV. Will those run on Win2k3 server?

Also what is the likelyhood of the tuner cards for sagetv working under Win2k3 sever?

With all the various hardware pieces and other software that would likely run on the same box as CQC and Sage i am starting to think WIn2k3 server would likely be a major issue due to driver incompatibilities and such.

Any advice from those that mayhave been there before??

 

[IVB]

Dunno about W2K3/Sage, better question for the Sage forums. Also no idea about CQC, that OS is beyond my skills.

What hardware or software other than tuners would you be putting into it? Would you have any other CQC servers, or would this be the only one?

The one thing that I'd be concerned about is that you talk about "gaining experience" - would you be doing things on the box that result in instability, which would make any Sage or CQC server cringe?

 

[felixrosbergen]

Hi IVB,

You might be right that a CQC/Sage box is not the best place to also experiment with an OS.

My plans were to have CQC and Sage (as a sevice) on the same machine. Possibly some other function would need to be added as well (e.g. XM radio via internet, additional serial cards,etc). My guess is that WinXP Pro would be much better suited than WIn2k3 server for the compatibility of the drivers.

The reason i was thinking about combining them was partly due to hardware investment but also because of electric bill for running 2 machines 24/7.

Does anybody have a ballpark cost for runnig a machine 24/7?

I checked my last electic bill and my rate seems to be $0.17 / kWh. If my computer power supply sais 450Watts, does that mean i'm paying .45*.17 = $.08 / hour which equals $1.84 per day (doesn't sound that bad) which equals $56.92 per month (this actually seems like a lot...and having 2 machines would obviously double that)...

Does a 450w PSU in a PC really use .45kWh?

 

[Waynedb]

Does a 450w PSU in a PC really use .45kWh?

That is how much power it is capable of delivering, to measure actual power usage I use a Kill A Watt meter like this.
http://www.p3international.com/products/sp...0/P4400-CE.html

 

[Helheim]

I'm running SageTV, DVBDream, TheaterTek and CQC all on the same Windows 2003 x64 Server machine. Seems to work fine for me. Not sure about various tuner drivers though.

 

[IVB]

Electricity is a real issue, i'm suffering that right now. Tough call, experimental vs money.

 

[Waynedb]

Electricity is a real issue, i'm suffering that right now. Tough call, experimental vs money.

I am paying over 20 cents a KW here in So. California, whenever I buy an electric appliance it has a yellow tag telling you how much it will cost to run based on about 8.4 cents per KW. I want to know where to get those 8.4 cent KWs because I could sure use some.

 

[IVB]

yeah, i'm in NorCal, and IIRC I'm at >300% "appropriate" usage so I'm getting hosed on the incremental electricity cost. I'm actually swapping out my high-powered PCs for low-powered (looking at 60W mITX as we speak), which is just fine for a CQC server.

 

[felixrosbergen]

I'm running SageTV, DVBDream, TheaterTek and CQC all on the same Windows 2003 x64 Server machine. Seems to work fine for me. Not sure about various tuner drivers though.

Helheim,

This is good news....do you have tuners in your machine? If yes, please let me know which ones...I would likely be mainly using Haupage tuners...does the 64 bit vs 32 bit make any difference? I assume the 64 bit will run any 32 bit programm right?

 

[Helheim]

This is good news....do you have tuners in your machine? If yes, please let me know which ones...I would likely be mainly using Haupage tuners...does the 64 bit vs 32 bit make any difference? I assume the 64 bit will run any 32 bit programm right?

I'm using a SkyWalker-1 DVB-S tuner and it works fine but not sure about Haupage tuners. The SkyWalker has 64bit Windows 2003 drivers. Yes the 64 bit will run most 32 bit programs.

 

[DavidL]

I had Sage running on both Win2003 32 bit and Windows Home Server (based on 2003 32 bit). MainLobby suite running on both. TheaterTek as well. Note: turn up hardware acceleration for graphics for video to run...that trick will save you a few hours :angry:

I haven't tasked Sage all that much, so am hesitant to say "it works". But, ML and TT work well on it.

 

[heffneil]

I had Sage running on both Win2003 32 bit and Windows Home Server (based on 2003 32 bit). MainLobby suite running on both. TheaterTek as well. Note: turn up hardware acceleration for graphics for video to run...that trick will save you a few hours

I haven't tasked Sage all that much, so am hesitant to say "it works". But, ML and TT work well on it.

How do you use Sage with MainLobby? I know you are a main lobby guy but I kinda wonder why someone would use both? I guess there is some HA stuff you could do with Main Lobby right? I thought putting too many layers over top of the TV would drive me and the rest of the family just crazy!

Neil

 

[smee]

I've been running SageTV on a Windows Home Server machine for a couple weeks now and everything seems to be working fine. I've just got one tuner in the box. It's a Hauppauge 1600 tuning both analog and Clear QAM over cable (but I can only get 3 digital channels right now). No problems at all setting up the tuner.

WHS is based on server 2k3 but I don't know what the differences might be. I'm running the version of Sage specifically for WHS.

I do not have a display on the server. Interaction with Sage is through a couple extenders (Hauppauge Media MVP and the Sage HD-100) or placeshifter. There were no problems setting things up.

 

[SkyBolt]

I have been running SageTv as a service on 2003 server along with HS2 for some time now. I Use two happauge MCE150's with added input. The server is a P4 2.8 with 1gig ram. Sage has 4 clients and the server has 2TB's of video storage as well. It also steams audio over the internet and runs two RDC's. My average CPU util is <20% - jumps to 60% when recording and watching live tv at the same time. All in all I have Zero problems with the server running Sage and HS, not sure how CQC will imapct a system. IVB may better answer that. BTW - I think runing 2003 server is perfect for home use, as long as your not runnig an AD tree, that has too much over head for home use.

Just my 2 cent's

-Skybolt