high end setup planning help

[Withbothfeet]

Hello everyone!
I just stumbled across gbpvr yesterday so I am a noob, but have spent every waking moment since, reading the docs and the forums to get me up to speed (well, as much as I can be), but I still have a few questions, mostly related to system design. Most of it is hardware related so I stuck it here, if one of you admins feel it better suited in another section please feel free to move it to the appropriate section.

Some questions are answered here already but I am a little foggy in terms of what I read, or what I read doesn't necessarily apply to what I am trying to do. Some answers I couldn't find. Please excuse me for any redundancy.

I am in the planning stages of setting up a rather large system, maybe I am biting off more than I can chew, but that has never stopped me before.
I am not sure if my goal is even possible, and am looking for some guidance.
In advance, I appreciate any help/input.

Goal:
My goal is to have gbpvr available to all client computers in my house via my 10/100/1000 copper network including 3 daily use computers (wife, son, mine) and to a dedicated HTPC in the family room.
I want any 3 family members to be able to watch and/or record what ever analog TV program they want, independent of what someone else is watching/recording. (basically)

Hardware: (current)
- Server: Dell 4400 Dual 1Ghz Xeon, 3GB ECC RAM, 2TB e-SATA storage
- Clients: well, lets just say the slowest is a 2.4Ghz P4, 1GB RAM, GeForce FX5600 based machine.
- The rest are basically mid-high end gaming rigs that (greatly?) surpass minimum system requirements from what I have read.
- 10/100/1000 unmanaged 24 port switch with jumbo packet support.
- An old PCI All-in-Wonder that is going to be replaced ASAP!!!
- Yamaha multi zone receiver (forget model off hand), Zone 1 is the family room, Zone 2 is in the backyard, Zone 3 is in the dining room...


Hardware: (planned)
I am planning on getting 3 Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE's and sticking them in the server. Each person in the house (in theory) will get their own personal remote.

Other:
I know I need gbpvr on the server and slimm's client on the rest.
I already have my entire CD music collection backed up on my Server.
I already have my entire DVD movie collection backed up on my Server. All AVI compressed, mostly Xvid, some in Divx, none MPEG though.
I already have a "mini" windows 2k3 domain setup on a server with shares and mapped drives for all the clients to access the resources.

Questions:
1. Well the obvious question is... Will it work?

2. Should I amplify the analog cable signal? If so, what do I need? How should I configure the inputs? (use "[insert model/brand/specs]" signal amp, and "[insert model/brand/specs]" splitter to each input on the 500's, etc...)

3a. If I switch to digital cable in the future (Time Warner) with the set top box, can I bypass the box and go direct to the 500's without losing channels above 125?
3b. And if so... Should I opt for a different set of dual tuner "analog or digital" model cards and what do you recommend?
3c. Can I even do this in my "planned" environment? Can you propose an alternative that will work?

4. I am not interested in "over the air" HDTV, since there are only 5 HD stations in my area, and I don't really watch any of them (except when football is on, real football, not soccer ), but I may be interested in Direct TV (digital signal, not sure what kind though). I have read that there is no PC hardware to descramble (is that the right word) the SAT signal... ok fine, but...
4a. Is there a way to use gbpvr on an HTPC WITH the set top SAT receiver to get at least DVR functionality?
4b. What functionality would I have, or not have, if I can even do this?

5. I have read some thing's about using UNC's instead of drive letters. Does this apply to "mapped" drives?
How does gbpvr know the difference, since the mapped drives are mapped using UNC's (net use X: \\server\share) in the first place, and when I setup gbpvr it would be pointed to "X:\folder\files" on initial setup.

6a. Any recommendations for storing and organizing recorded programs?
Right now I have all my movies in one big folder in the format - program name.season-episode.avi.
6b. What format will gbpvr save the files and should I change the naming structure of the existing files to match the new ones?

7. Here is another of the "foggy" ones... Transcoding... Can I save all my newly recorded (once the system is running) programs to Xvid.avi or am I stuck with .mpg?

8. Does gbpvr support domain logons or would I have to manually do that at the OS level? Any tips or workarounds?
I do have some "adult" material for the wife and I to enjoy... but Jr. will never have access to it.

9. Are there any other issues that I should be warned about when attempting a system of this size/design that anyone can think of?

Thanks in advance!!!

[Fatman_do]

Here is a few answers

Hardware: (planned)
I am planning on getting 3 Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE's and sticking them in the server. Each person in the house (in theory) will get their own personal remote.

How do you intend to have those remotes access the server from other rooms??
(another option is the hauppauge MediaMVP. Plug into network, then to tv, do not need to use other pc's then for tv viewing.)

Other:
I know I need gbpvr on the server and slimm's client on the rest.
I already have my entire CD music collection backed up on my Server.
I already have my entire DVD movie collection backed up on my Server. All AVI compressed, mostly Xvid, some in Divx, none MPEG though.
I already have a "mini" windows 2k3 domain setup on a server with shares and mapped drives for all the clients to access the resources.

GB-PVR also has client server support built in. In the config app, point the clients to the server.

7. Here is another of the "foggy" ones... Transcoding... Can I save all my newly recorded (once the system is running) programs to Xvid.avi or am I stuck with .mpg?

Programs can be post-processed and converted. Quite a bit of topics here to follow once you are ready to set it up.

8. Does gbpvr support domain logons or would I have to manually do that at the OS level? Any tips or workarounds?
I do have some "adult" material for the wife and I to enjoy... but Jr. will never have access to it.

There are video plugins that provide options for pin numbers to access restricted material. You also can specify what folders to look in on the clients, and omit the private ones on Jr's PC.

9. Are there any other issues that I should be warned about when attempting a system of this size/design that anyone can think of?

I think Tipstir has a system that is on par for what you are attempting.

[Withbothfeet]

Here is a few answers
How do you intend to have those remotes access the server from other rooms??
(another option is the hauppauge MediaMVP. Plug into network, then to tv, do not need to use other pc's then for tv viewing.)

a remote thats not a remote? LOL... Haven't got that far in detail yet... IR Blasters maybe?
I already have the PC hardware all setup and running for each person, it's just a matter of adding the PVR (gbpvr) functionality to them, so I don't really see the need for additional client hardware (MediaMVP's). Maybe for the HTPC in the family room though.

GB-PVR also has client server support built in. In the config app, point the clients to the server.

Ok... that clears up some other confusion too!
But if it's built in... why did slimm create his client piece?

Programs can be post-processed and converted. Quite a bit of topics here to follow once you are ready to set it up.

Great! Thanks! I'm still reading... (and learning)

There are video plugins that provide options for pin numbers to access restricted material. You also can specify what folders to look in on the clients, and omit the private ones on Jr's PC.

Nice features.

I think Tipstir has a system that is on par for what you are attempting.

Thank you VERY much! I was hoping to find a blueprint/prototype to reference. At a glance... his system answers some other questions that I hadn't yet asked.

Thanks again!

[Fatman_do]

You can download the gb-pvr software and play around with it on your pc without a capture device (you won't be able to record), and see how it functions for you.

About the slimm client question, I don't know exactly what it does, but sometimes features that were once only found in plugins end up being added to the core functionality of gb-pvr.

About the remote question, if using pc's for viewing, you may not need remotes, since mouse+keyboard support is included.

[Ted the Penguin]

Ok... that clears up some other confusion too!
But if it's built in... why did slimm create his client piece?

he did it before client support was built in

2. Should I amplify the analog cable signal? If so, what do I need? How should I configure the inputs? (use "[insert model/brand/specs]" signal amp, and "[insert model/brand/specs]" splitter to each input on the 500's, etc...)

you shouldnt have to, but the best way to find out is to hook them up and see if there is any problem with signal quality.

3a. If I switch to digital cable in the future (Time Warner) with the set top box, can I bypass the box and go direct to the 500's without losing channels above 125?
3b. And if so... Should I opt for a different set of dual tuner "analog or digital" model cards and what do you recommend?
3c. Can I even do this in my "planned" environment? Can you propose an alternative that will work?

well. the loaded question you go for

if you switch to digital cable, you will have to get a set top box for every tuner you want to have digital channels, and you will also need something to change the channels on each of those STBs. this answers another of your questions too.

basically how GB-PVR works with a set top box is... the set top box is connected to the tuner card somehow, lets say with svideo. gb-pvr uses the svideo input of the tuner to watch the set top box, when you want to change the channel of the set top box you need a way to interface with it. the most common is the IR blaster, which emits an IR signal is received by the STB. another is a serial channel changer, I know (because I use it) one exists for the motorola DCT2xxx series of boxes. I have also heard of firewire interfaces to change channels (and do much more). or any other interface that you can create an executable for that accepts the channel number as a command line argument.

now you will have problems with multiple set top boxes and IR blasters, because of crosstalk. also I am not really sure how you would go about getting multiple IR blasters to work. I know if you can change channels using serial you can have as many as you want, all you have to change is the config file for the serial changer, and it will work on whatever serial port you specify (one per STB)

I stop now, let me know if you want more information about this.

5. I have read some thing's about using UNC's instead of drive letters. Does this apply to "mapped" drives?
How does gbpvr know the difference, since the mapped drives are mapped using UNC's (net use X: \\server\share) in the first place, and when I setup gbpvr it would be pointed to "X:\folder\files" on initial setup.

there are no problems with mapped network drives, and I think UNC paths are ok too, not sure

6a. Any recommendations for storing and organizing recorded programs?
Right now I have all my movies in one big folder in the format - program name.season-episode.avi.
6b. What format will gbpvr save the files and should I change the naming structure of the existing files to match the new ones?

take a look at the plugins for info on organizing your programs, video archiver is a good place to start.

GB-PVR stores each programs episodes in a folder, so in the recordings directory there will be a folder for each program, then I for get the exact file naming format (I am not in front of my PVR) but it contains program name and date I think.

8. Does gbpvr support domain logons or would I have to manually do that at the OS level? Any tips or workarounds?
I do have some "adult" material for the wife and I to enjoy... but Jr. will never have access to it.

I am not sure what user GB-PVR uses, sub will be able to answer that.

here is my stab at a solution, if you separate the restricted content so it has to be mapped through a network share separately, that would solve him viewing it in his room. also fatman suggested plugins, those sound good for you, that way they can be on the living room PC for when Jr. is away




since you are putting this much money into a setup, I assume you have a HDTV, make sure you take a look at sassari for a skin, it is the only widescreen skin for GB-PVR (to date)

Good luck

[folkboat]

Coupla thoughts on remotes, and other stuff.

We have 4 locations that access GBPVR, 2 have a modest home theatre system using MVP's (looking at some really THIN clients, though) the third is the base "Server" also with modest home theatre system.

Lastly the fourth is simply an MVP driving an LCD TV.

Three locations use the same remote OFA 8810, the fourth is an OFA 8910 which use IR and RF to signal a component. (components are inside a cabinet). All the remotes were programmed via computer using a JP1 connector. These remotes control 19 components, from 12 different manufacturers. WAF factor is high due to the remotes all looking the same and the buttons all perform the same functions at each location.

But alas, Daddy has a new toy.......bought an iPaq rx3115 PDA off ebay. It has IRDA, Bluetooth and WIFI. There is a program on the device "Nevo" which
allows for control of any IRDA device. Additionally "Nevo" will transmit WIFI signals to any "wireless" computer in the house. You can "launch" a media player and play back music on any "wireless" computer on your network without turning its TV/Monitor on. The playback controls are on the PDA. Each room/location can be seperatly defined ie: bedroom, lounge, kitchen etc.

Its a very cool device, however it has no hooks into GBPVR other than IRDA control of a GBPVR box. OTOH now that GBPVR is client/server.............

Apparently "Proximis" the Girder developers have a similar product - anyone tried it - does it work with GBPVR.

Ok I'm done rambling.

Regards

[blizard]

he did it before client support was built in

I am not sure what user GB-PVR uses, sub will be able to answer that.

here is my stab at a solution, if you separate the restricted content so it has to be mapped through a network share separately, that would solve him viewing it in his room. also fatman suggested plugins, those sound good for you, that way they can be on the living room PC for when Jr. is away

From what I can see you will use Windows 2003 to control your network. You should be able to use User log (Control Panel>User Accounts;Administrative tools>Computer Management should also give you the same tool - I use Windows XP x64, so it could be that you have to look around in Windows 2003) on to set up restriction and you could also use different account profiles to prevent any changes you don't want to your system (+network) or to access any folder (adult content). That would be the most efficient way to control any network and to keep things under control.

All version of Windows XP professional support this feature, even th old Windows 2000 pro had user profiles and ability to control what folder/files that a user would be able to access. I forgot that you also can change directly in properties for each filer and file security setting. That way you can also make some files "read only" if you want too protect them from being changed or deleted by another user.

[folkboat]

In case anyone was reading my rambling post re: remotes and other suff!!

A clarification the OFA remotes I use are 8910 for IR and 9910 for IR/RF.

Regards