Using two Sage Servers

[gandalf]

Does anyone have experience of using two Sage servers on the same network?

What I am looking to do is set up basically a "his and hers" SageTV system where we can both have our own SageTV system on the LAN. The solution would run two servers, each with their own set of tuners. We would have separate Sage Clients tied to each server so there should be no conflict there.

I can't see any reason why this should not work (unless there will be a static port conflict somewhere) - but equally I can't find any discussion around it being used - hence the post. My main concern is over port clashes where two clients need to work to two different servers. I may need to engineer separate LANs if that is an issue.

If it works, the next step would be to see if recordings done on one server could be copied over to the other server - sort of like "here is a recording I made - have a copy".

The overall aim is actually to gradually separate into two fully separate TV systems as we get divorced - but that is another story. For now I want to start migrating to a self-contained SageTV system for my wife that will eventually become her property. The more I looked into it, the more I saw advantages beyond my own need - for example where different family members have different likes & dislikes (anyone got teenagers).

So - two questions:

Q1) comments re using more than one SageTV server on one LAN

Q2) possibility of copying recordings from one to the other

[brewston]

When my new server had a period of instability, i ran two at the same time. I have a HD200 so just pointed that at one of them. I even moved recordings taken from the backup server (when the new one was down) onto the new one, but I did it by copying the wiz.bin over the previous one. Sounds like you'd be merging recordings. In which case, move the file over and use the web server to import it

[SWKerr]

I ran two servers for awhile in a setup using the second as a network encoder. What I learned is that there is no problem launching the server under its own setup or running as a client pointing at the other server.

You can launch the server executable with the "-client" option and it will point to the other server and behave just like a SageTV client. It will not interfere with the recording functions of the server. You can have a shortcut to run local and another to point to the other server. If I remember correctly each can have its own backgrounds and setup.

You could use something like EventGhost and assign each one a separate button to go back and forth.

Not sure about how the extender would work but a separate Client machine would work the same way with the "-connect hostname" option. Different shortcut point to different servers.

[jerryt]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

You can launch the server executable with the "-client" option and it will point to the other server and behave just like a SageTV client.

Could you provide more details on how to launch a server executable as a client?

Found it page 260 of the manual.

[jlampson]

I just want to say thank you to suggesting the XML Import feature in the web server. I had to go to Videos in order to view the files copied over from my other server (running a few analog recordings per week) and this makes it so much more streamlined!

[sic0048]

I guess I am having trouble seeing any benefits to running two systems. If you have double the tuners (and have a modern computer to run them all in), why not run 1 server. You might want two different extenders or clients so you can each be watching different shows at the same time, but that doesn't require running separate servers.

Running one server with enough tuners to satisfy both users is definitely the most common solution.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by sic0048

I guess I am having trouble seeing any benefits to running two systems.

Originally Posted by gandalf

The overall aim is actually to gradually separate into two fully separate TV systems as we get divorced - but that is another story.

Is the reason for 2 systems a little clearer now?

Gerry

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Is the reason for 2 systems a little clearer now?

Gerry

Sorry, I guess that is what I get for not reading more closely.

[jlampson]

My reason is a little different, thank goodness:

I have an old P4 system that accepts full-height PCI cards. I had a 150 and a 1600 in it. There were some chipset issues with the 1600. I then switched to a dual-core system that only took HALF-height PCI cards, but it also had PCI-express. I picked up a 2250 and it is hooked up to my OTA-HD antenna. My 150 won't fit, quite simply! I have my old system running just one input which records the 3 or 4 shows each week that air on Nickelodeon or USA.

I'm going to take some time in the next few weeks to see how well I can get ClearQAM to work on my 2250. Till then, I've got my 150 recording to a share on my newer PC and I'll run the import once a week (after verifying my backup) to get those shows to appear in Recorded TV for WAF purposes. Before, they were going into Videos, which was okay with me, but I do prefer them to be streamlined, which this is great for.

Thanks again!

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by jerryt

Could you provide more details on how to launch a server executable as a client?

Found it page 260 of the manual.

I don't use it this way anymore but it was saved in my setup notes. "kerrhome" is the name of the SageTV server.
"C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\SageTV.exe" -client -connect kerrhome

[Fuzzy]

If your need for multiple servers is simply a tuner compatability issue, like jlampson's case, you are better off running one of those servers as a 'network encoder' (check the sage manual for details). This would provide you with all the tuners, but would keep it all in the same 'system', so you wouldn't have to decide which 'server' to connect your clients to.