number of required licences

[Tikker]

I've searched around, and haven't seen a completely unambiguous answer, so I'll ask again (sorry in advance if this gets asked a lot)


I'm considering making the switch from MCE 2005 to SageTV. the main reason for this is to have all my tuners in 1 server, and allow any HTPC or laptop on my network to have the full media center experience


I have:

1 fileserver
2 HTPCs
2 Laptops
2 Desktops

Do I need to purchase 1x server licence, and 6x client licences? or is it just 1x server and 1x client ?

[SHS]

1 server plus 6 client

[GKusnick]

Depends on what kind of client you want to use. SageTVClient (the fully featured LAN client) is licensed per client machine, and you install the license on the client. So you'd need one license per client, for a total of six (assuming you install the server software on your fileserver).

Placeshifter (the lightweight portable client) is licensed per connection, and you install the license on the server. So for Placeshifter use, the number of licenses you need depends on how many simultaneous client connections you need. So if you never have more than, say, two clients at a time turned on, then two licenses is all you need.

If you plan to take your laptops on the road and connect to your server remotely over the Internet, then Placeshifter is the appropriate client for that. For stay-at-home clients, SageTVClient offers more flexibility in configuring decoders and other playback options.

See this FAQ for a detailed comparison of SageTVClient v. Placeshifter.

[sainswor99]

*** 500th post ***

Just to amplify GKusnick a bit.

To me, the choice between Placeshifter and Client depends on how you use the client (little c) pc. If you're using the PC primarily for a media or HTPC, then I'd recommend Client with no reservations. If you just want to watch TV on your desktop while working on something else (like I'm doing now), then I'd be more likely to recommend Placeshifter because of the cost savings of a concurrent-use plan.

Since you differentiated between your HTPC's and the rest of your machines, I'd probably suggest something like

1 server
2 Client licenses (for your HTPC's)
2 Placeshifter licenses (for everything else).

Stu