Question on video files via LAN

[stevech]

On simultaneously recording and playing back videos where the disks are accessed via a LAN...

With the Windows XP file sharing (not Win Server),

And with a 100BT LAN, is simultaneous record/play taxing the LAN's latency to the point where if there's an FTP at 5Mbps on my PC that it will affect the video file transfers?

Same question, but where the speed is a high signal quality 802.11g W-LAN for the Sage server, usually 54Mbps air bit rate (yields about 24Mbps at the TCP layer).

[mike1961]

You know - you could be recording 4 shows at once and it won't make a difference because you have to remember the shows are being recorded on the file server and are not streamed over the LAN (unless you have 4 computers watching those shows at once). Otherwise, recording is totally free of LAN activity. It's only what you watch. This of course assumes a standard setup where the file server has all the tuners which is recommended.

Otherwise, it's still no problem. Figure at DVD quality 3.2 gb / hour = 3200 megs/hour * 8 / 3600 = 7.1 megabits / second. 2 gb/hour = 4.5 megabits / second. Certainly a far cry from 100 megabits / second. But, realistically a cat 5 gets maxed out around 60-70 megabits / second. So you can easily watch several shows on different TVs while recording all you like so long as your file server can handle the load. Most users these days have a Hauppauge or ATI tuner(s) because they do the hardware encoding on the board. I've gone to the task manager on my file server while recording 4 shows at once and 98% of the resources are still free. I've also even done a windows copy of a large 5 gig file (which really maxes out the throughput on the LAN) still without interruption to the show I might be watching on another TV/computer. Some users will alter the maximum speed their cards can transfer in the software so as to not create a load when copying but it hasn't been a problem for me. I have a 1 gb card in the server but my cables, router and all other cards are 100 mbs and no problems at all.

Regarding wireless - I have not tested it much but I've heard other users who have random problems which may have more to do with the wireless issues and how good the signal is. Be sure you don't have too many walls blocking your line to the router and it's best to have a static IP. Even better - always go cable and not wireless if possible, it's just better.

Mike