NUC/Beelink Question

Playground Hardware
#1

I am thinking about getting a lower end NUC or Beelink device to put Ubuntu Server and Channels onto. I will only have Channels DVR on this device and I guess I will have a powered usb drive attached.

After reading the forums and seeing that it is more than capable of watching content on my local network without issue, my biggest question is how much of a drop will I see regarding the commercial cutting aspect?

I am currently running Ubuntu Server on a PC with AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and Nvidia GTX 1060 gpu for the purpose of transcoding.

It will currently cut the commercials for a 30 minute show in about 32 seconds and an hour long show in about 2-3 minutes.

This setup seems like a bit of overkill for my purposes but I don't want to lose too much time on commercial cutting. I don't mind it taking a little longer, but not too much.

Anyone have a similar setup with experience in these times?

I am looking now at this device: Amazon.com

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#2

I use an old 4th generation Intel (i3-4330), and it performs great. I have Comskip set to use 2 threads, and an hour-long program takes about 20 minutes or so to complete.

Anything you buy today is probably going to far surpass that.

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#3

I was actually hoping you would reply. :grinning:

I think I will pull the trigger then. I would have no issue with 20 minutes to cut commercials on an hour program.

I have also read that Beelink seems to be a good product as well as the NUC.

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#4

I'm personally partial to Gigabyte Brix, as I find them better priced than Intel's NUC, but go with whichever you prefer.

#5

I have looked at those. I think I will go with the Beelink. There is one on Amazon with the specs I am looking for with a decent price point.

#6

I picked up an i5-6500 board cheap on ebay and migrated my server there (running Debian). Hour long TV show takes under 3 min for commercial processing w/two threads.

#7

I ended up ordering this Beelink from Amazon: Mini PC, Beelink Mini S Intel 11th Gen 4-Cores N5095, Mini Desktop Computer 8GB DDR4 RAM 128GB SSD, Mini Computer Dual HDMI 4K UHD/Gigabit Ethernet/Dual WiFi/BT/VESA for Home/Office

I threw Ubuntu Server 22.04 on it so far I am satisfied. I have only recorded two 30 minute shows and the commercial detection took around 2 minutes. No other performance issues so far that I have seen.

I also added a 1TB SSD because there is space made for that under the top of the case. I decided to just do that rather than run an external HDD connected to it.

I just added my movies today and it's currently running the video indexing. That took about 2 days even on my bigger server because I so many ripped Blurays. CPU is running about 30-40%.

I am giving this information in case anyone is looking for something similar in the future.

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#8

how satisfied have you been with ubuntu server? Are you using it headless?

I've been toying with the idea of spinning a Linux Distro just for Channels DVRs because Im tired of ads from all the streaming sticks.

Use Anbox to emulate android apps. use kodi as a launcher.

#9

I love ubuntu server. Yes, I run it headless. I do have webmin installed so I can easily see some data like cpu usage and temperature without having to ssh into it. But otherwise I do all the setup via the command line.

It uses so little resources on it's own that it runs Channels really well. Win 11 has so much "stuff" on it that I don't need nor will ever use for the running of my dvr that it makes sense to use Ubuntu.

#10

I like DietPie. They have an image for normal PC's.

#11

I've never looked at that one. I may check it out just out of curiosity. I am too often changing my software.

#12

I also use Ubuntu headless and highly recommend it. However, it won't do anything to get rid of streaming stick ads. That I am afraid, is solved by switching to Apple TV :grin:

#13

I too have used Ubuntu server in the past....but have mixed feelings since they started using snaps for more and more pkgs. My latest build for a new Channels server was a headless install of Debian 11.

#14

haha, or running a linux system as the head. :stuck_out_tongue:
but thanks for the input on the server software. I may try using the system for both the server and the head.

i wont give apple business on ethical reasons.