Media server OS? WHS or windows7

[cansat]

Hello
Try to get your input on what OS to choose.
Got 2 HD200 & 1 HD300 all the DVD/Bluray are on SATA drives. GA-MA78GM-US2H Motherboard.

Thanks

[mayamaniac]

SageTV works perfectly fine in both OS, so it doesnt' really matter.

The only advantage that Win7 has is Media Center, and that is needed for the Ceton tuner with the SageMCTuner app.

You should decide base on what each OS offers. WHS offers better backup solutions, but it can't back itself up. But Win7 is probably better for all purpose OS.

[Ericft]

I tried WHS several times and just couldn't get flawless operation for my extenders and HDPVR...it seemed like such a simple solution because it would be one PC always on....i then tried Win 7 and it was awesome...hardly ever an issue, no lockups with my hdpvr, and now I use an UNRAID server for my acronis backups and media storage...and just like the above poster said, WHS cannot be backed up which is a real pain...my 2 cents...

[davephan]

I think Windows 7 is a better choice than WHS for recoverability. The SageTV computer will very quickly become a 'critical' computer that can't have a lot of downtime. If you have problems after an upgrade, patch, or anything else, then you'll want to be able to very quickly recover your computer back to a point in time when everything was working perfectly. You can do that with disk imaging, either with freeware or commercial software. Disk imaging does not work on WHS. Therefore, WHS requires a painful and time consuming scratch rebuild to recover. It takes about 30 minutes to recover my SageTV computer with an image. Most of the 30 minutes is unattended.

You can expand your storage out to several TB and use RAID or some other method to protect your files. If you need to have a lot of storage space, then you could use a second computer for your video library running unRAID or some other efficient file storage technology.

Dave

[cansat]

Thanks to all of you who replied that makes it a shorter task.

[DaveS]

I'm thinking of moving from XP to Win7, but I don't know whether to go to the 32 bit or the 64 bit version of Win7. Can anyone advise on the pros and cons of the 64bit version?

[mayamaniac]

The main difference is 32bit OS is limited to 4GB of memory, while 64Bit is not. I forgot what's the limit for 64bit, but it is ridiculously high.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

The main difference is 32bit OS is limited to 4GB of memory, while 64Bit is not. I forgot what's the limit for 64bit, but it is ridiculously high.

Also, if you plan on using or are using FireWire channel changing or recording you'll have to stick with 32-bit due to the fact that those drivers are not available in 64-bit.

[DaveS]

Thanks! I am running FireWire to change channels on my HD-PVR, so sounds like the 32b version is the way to go.

Thanks again.

[davephan]

When thinking about choosing the 32-bit or 64-bit operating system for SageTV, you should think what benefits you will gain with 64-bits. Since SageTV does not consume more than about 1 to 1.5 gig RAM at the most, you'll never need more than 4 gigs RAM. I don't know of any other reason for 64-bits. There are a lot of downsides to 64-bits, mainly the lack of drivers.

Dave

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by davephan

When thinking about choosing the 32-bit or 64-bit operating system for SageTV, you should think what benefits you will gain with 64-bits. Since SageTV does not consume more than about 1 to 1.5 gig RAM at the most, you'll never need more than 4 gigs RAM. I don't know of any other reason for 64-bits. There are a lot of downsides to 64-bits, mainly the lack of drivers.

Dave

That may be true if all you're going to do is run SageTV. However, if youre going to do more with your system then the availability of more RAM in 64bit is definitely needed. 64bit driver suppor is a moot point. With Windows 7 64bit drivers are a requirement for logo certification. The only reason there are no 64bit drivers for FireWire recording and channel changing is that it's a dead project in a niche market.