SageTV Server on a NAS

[tmiranda]

I've been thinking about how to simplify my Sage server. I have always used a fairly large PC capable of holding multiple drives. In the past I had a smaller form factor PC with the recording drives on a NAS and while this worked there were sometimes performance issues under heavy load. It dawned on me that having the server software running on a NAS would be an ideal solution.

I know unRaid is available but that's essentially the same (in my mind) as running the server on a PC.

Are there any NASs out there capable of running SageTV? Do any of them support Java applications?

maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree and I should just go the unRaid route. I just have had such good experiences with ReadyNAS (a low-end NAS) that I'd love to see Sage run on a simple box like this. The thing is small, quiet, cheap, easy to configure, has zero maintenance, and is very reliable. Everything I want from my SageTV server.

[jusjoken]

I use an older QNAP with 6 drive bays and boot it with unraid. Works great and i seldom have any issues. It quietly just runs.

k

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by jusjoken

I use an older QNAP with 6 drive bays and boot it with unraid. Works great and i seldom have any issues. It quietly just runs.

k

So unRaid is the OS on the box? Does it support the Sage docker?

[gclayto]

I've been running my Sage docker on a Synology DS218+ with no problems. The price and performance with this configuration are hard to beat.

[tvmaster2]

I have little idea what any of you are saying, but it sounds very intriguing - a quiet, low-power NAS for Sage. I shall keep reading this thread

[jusjoken]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

So unRaid is the OS on the box? Does it support the Sage docker?

No QNAP have their own OS but i set it to boot from USB and boot from unraid instead which supports docker and all unraid features.

k

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by gclayto

I've been running my Sage docker on a Synology DS218+ with no problems. The price and performance with this configuration are hard to beat.

Cool. How good is the CPU? Can it handle real time transcoding?

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by jusjoken

No QNAP have their own OS but i set it to boot from USB and boot from unraid instead which supports docker and all unraid features.

k

Got it. Thanks.

[gclayto]

The DS218+ has hardware decoding capabilities and can handle 4k. Here is the spec from their website.

CPU Model Intel Celeron J3355
CPU Architecture 64-bit
CPU Frequency Dual Core 2.0 (base) / 2.5 (burst) GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)
Hardware Transcoding Engine H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30

In real-world use, it just works. I haven't noticed any performance differences between the DS218+ and my old PC server running Windows7 with an AMD fx8350 8core. Except for its quieter and uses much less power.
When I first started using it I monitored the CPU performance closely, I never saw it run much above a 50% load. I'm running a couple of Dockers on the DS218+ and use it to back up my windows boxes. It has more than enough horsepower to run Sagetv.
The price is the best part with a 4Tb Raid 1 and 4Gb of memory I have less than $400 invested.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by gclayto

The DS218+ has hardware decoding capabilities and can handle 4k. Here is the spec from their website.

CPU Model Intel Celeron J3355
CPU Architecture 64-bit
CPU Frequency Dual Core 2.0 (base) / 2.5 (burst) GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)
Hardware Transcoding Engine H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30

In real-world use, it just works. I haven't noticed any performance differences between the DS218+ and my old PC server running Windows7 with an AMD fx8350 8core. Except for its quieter and uses much less power.
When I first started using it I monitored the CPU performance closely, I never saw it run much above a 50% load. I'm running a couple of Dockers on the DS218+ and use it to back up my windows boxes. It has more than enough horsepower to run Sagetv.
The price is the best part with a 4Tb Raid 1 and 4Gb of memory I have less than $400 invested.

Good info. Thanks. I have been doing some reading and it seems like a good way to go. I am currently using a machine that I built but it is way overkill.

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by gclayto

The DS218+ has hardware decoding capabilities and can handle 4k. Here is the spec from their website.

CPU Model Intel Celeron J3355
CPU Architecture 64-bit
CPU Frequency Dual Core 2.0 (base) / 2.5 (burst) GHz
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)
Hardware Transcoding Engine H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), MPEG-2 and VC-1; maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); maximum frame rate per second (FPS): 30

In real-world use, it just works. I haven't noticed any performance differences between the DS218+ and my old PC server running Windows7 with an AMD fx8350 8core. Except for its quieter and uses much less power.
When I first started using it I monitored the CPU performance closely, I never saw it run much above a 50% load. I'm running a couple of Dockers on the DS218+ and use it to back up my windows boxes. It has more than enough horsepower to run Sagetv.
The price is the best part with a 4Tb Raid 1 and 4Gb of memory I have less than $400 invested.

I just bought a 1019+ and have been wondering about doing this... I run two HD-PVRs tho - they connect to my Sage server by USB so... think I would be stuck with a Win box with SageTV anyways as at least an encoder.

[Carlton Bale]

Black Friday is upon us. A Silicon Dust HDHR is a much better tuner solution for a NAS. Is it possible to install the HDHR drivers into a docker image?

[gclayto]

SageTV just finds the HDHomerun on the network. Select them as a video source, set up and go.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by gclayto

SageTV just finds the HDHomerun on the network. Select them as a video source, set up and go.

This would be the same case for OpenDCT (on Linux and Windows). They just use a proprietary communication protocol, so the drivers aren't really needed to discover and use them. Under Windows, the drivers are only needed because SageTV chooses to only talk to it via the BDA drivers.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Carlton Bale

Black Friday is upon us. A Silicon Dust HDHR is a much better tuner solution for a NAS. Is it possible to install the HDHR drivers into a docker image?

only if you live 35 miles from a transmission site, unless there’s a cable-card HDHR?

[jpwegas]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

only if you live 35 miles from a transmission site, unless there’s a cable-card HDHR?

The HDHR Prime (HDHR3-CC) is a 3 tuner cable card tuner, but it's not likely available in any Black Friday deals as the stock of them seems to be exhausted. Guessing production was stopped last year due to the expected (but long delayed) 6 tuner cable card version.

--John

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Good info. Thanks. I have been doing some reading and it seems like a good way to go. I am currently using a machine that I built but it is way overkill.

It might be overkill for just SageTV but once you get unRAID installed and realize that testing out things like Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, Sonarr, Radarr, etc, all become just a click away, you might just end up with a machine that is running 10+ docker containers + windows VMs (as I am).

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by stuckless

It might be overkill for just SageTV but once you get unRAID installed and realize that testing out things like Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, Sonarr, Radarr, etc, all become just a click away, you might just end up with a machine that is running 10+ docker containers + windows VMs (as I am).

I have debated unRAID for some time. My current linux server has several drives, some EXT3 and some Windows formatted. Can I try unRAID on this system without reformatting the drives?

[alfi33]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I have debated unRAID for some time. My current linux server has several drives, some EXT3 and some Windows formatted. Can I try unRAID on this system without reformatting the drives?

unRAID is installed and boots off a USB flash drive. So you'll need that plus at least 1 drive (that unRAID will format) to try is out.

It really is a great multi-purpose home server. Definitely one of the easiest ways I've seen to run Docker containers.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I have debated unRAID for some time. My current linux server has several drives, some EXT3 and some Windows formatted. Can I try unRAID on this system without reformatting the drives?

Originally Posted by alfi33

unRAID is installed and boots off a USB flash drive. So you'll need that plus at least 1 drive (that unRAID will format) to try is out.

It really is a great multi-purpose home server. Definitely one of the easiest ways I've seen to run Docker containers.

As alfi33 said, it boots from USB and require only 1 drive. So, to try it out, it can be pretty risk free. I would, however, disconnect all drives except for 1 drive that you want to play with for unraid, that way you don't accidentally destroy your good data drives by accident. From an investment point of view, I think you can try unraid for free, and then the license is a 1 time $60 license (I think -- been awhile, but, it's not expense)