Minumum Hardware Requirements for a SageTV Server

[shocksyde]

Hello Sage Community.

Been lurking for a while and am soon to take the plunge into SageTV.

I was wondering what the minimum specs to run a SageTV server would be if I intend to have 2-3 Standard Def tuners and 3 HD tuners? The system will also have around 1TB of storage.

At my disposal I have an AhtlonXP 3000+ (400fsb Barton) on an nForce2 mobo with 1.5GB PC3200 RAM. Will that cut it? The system won't be displaying any video, only sending it to clients.

[ke6guj]

That server should server your needs just fine. A basic Sage Server can be run on stuff in the 500-1000mhz range, but having the extra horsepower will help you in the long run.

With the extra power, you can do things like run commercial detection on the shows and use the transcoding features of Sage to reduce the storage size of a show. If you are using the Placeshifter client (Sage over the internet) or trying to watch non-mpeg videos on the MediaMVP-SageExtender, you will need horsepower for the server to transcode that as well.

[shocksyde]

I don't plan on using Placeshifter or anything like that, so I guess I'm in the clear. Thanks for your input.

[ybrew]

Originally Posted by shocksyde

Hello Sage Community.

Been lurking for a while and am soon to take the plunge into SageTV.

I was wondering what the minimum specs to run a SageTV server would be if I intend to have 2-3 Standard Def tuners and 3 HD tuners? The system will also have around 1TB of storage.

At my disposal I have an AhtlonXP 3000+ (400fsb Barton) on an nForce2 mobo with 1.5GB PC3200 RAM. Will that cut it? The system won't be displaying any video, only sending it to clients.

Yeah, I doubt you'll have any problems.
Although you'll likely be surprised by how quickly your disk space gets eaten up, especially by the HD.
I've got about 500 gigs of disk space with 4 SD tuners. I'm always watching my space utilization. I'll probably only be able to add another 500 gig when I add my HD tuners, but I'd prefer more.

(it's amazing how many episodes of spongebob squarepants I record!)

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by shocksyde

I don't plan on using Placeshifter or anything like that, so I guess I'm in the clear. Thanks for your input.

If your not planning on doing anything like placeshifting or commercial detection, you are more than in the clear. Plenty of left over CPU time. What I was trying to say that your system would have enough power to do those CPU-intensive tasks.

As a recommendation, be sure that any SD tuners you get are hardware-based tuners instead of software-based tuners. They are better supported and normally have less issues.

[blade]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

A basic Sage Server can be run on stuff in the 500-1000mhz range, but having the extra horsepower will help you in the long run.

My Sage server was a celeron 366 mhz machine with 4 sd tuners up until a couple of months ago. Worked fine.

[shocksyde]

Oh I didn't mention, the SD tuners are a Haupp 500MCE and a Haupp 150MCE, the HD tuners are going to all be Avermedia 180HD