Practical Lowest Hardware Requirements for DVR

Channels DVR Server
#1

I've been using Channels for a number of years now for my OTA TV viewing. Originally I used the DVR a fair amount, but not much these days. (TL;DR version: We are in a rural area and did not have good internet for a while, so I bought DVDs of all the old shows I'd watch and ripped them to my server, so I can often just find what I want there than need to record an episode.)

I do use the commercial skip feature.

I'm currently using a computer for nothing but Plex and the Channels DVR. It looks like I'll be able to eliminate Plex soon, so I'll be using this system for only Channels. It works fine, but it's older and, for some reason, even when I set the BIOS in this system to "Restart after Power Loss," it doesn't restart.

I'm thinking about what I can do with Channels when I ditch Plex. I'm wondering what kind of system I can put it on at that point. I don't have extra non-desktop systems (that will get turned on and off at times). Will any Raspberry Pi model, like a 4 or 5, be powerful enough for this?

I also have an old Mac Mini, at least 10 years old, that I'm thinking of changing over to Linux. I'm guessing that would likely be too old for this, though.

I know there are official specs, but I'm wondering about what I need to look for in terms of real world operation to be able to run this on a small system.

Another consideration is that I have Home Assistant running on a Raspberry Pi right now. While I've always used a Pi for HA, I know it can run on something bigger in a container. So I'm also wondering what I'd need for Channels to work with something like a home automation program like HA sharing the system.

#2

A Beelink with an n100 or n95 cpu. Install Ubuntu server would be ideal. You could probably even move your HA to it as well. I’m sure these will go on sale on Amazon for the holidays for sub $150 depending on storage size.

#3

My experience has been that any mini PC running an N100 CPU or better will make a perfectly fine Channels server, and they run about $150. There may be something smaller that works, but the N100 and above is a sure thing. The Raspberry is no longer supported -- I just replaced a Raspberry Channels server with an N100 for a friend.

There is a report from another user that the N95 works well also.

#4

Okay - found some. Hate waiting, but it might be worth it. Since I have a system that works (even if I don't like it), I can't justify spending too much on a new one, so I guess I have to wait!

Any idea if it (the N95) works well enough it could handle Home Assistant as well? (I take it the N100 would probably do well with Channels DVR and Home Assistant?)

#5

There is no performance difference in the n95 vs n100. Performance is the same except the n95 is 15 watts and the n100 is 6 watts. The n100 will likely be cheaper because it is more available.

#6

I run a Beelink N100 using Windows 11 Pro. I have both Channels and Plex running on it. Besides this, I've setup virtualization using Hyper-V and have another Windows 11 Pro system running virtualized. That system runs my network monitor and also backup auscultator and everything is snapp. I'd expect a typical Home Assistant setup to be fine.

#7

Providing your using hardware encoding/decoding, I've found Raspberry PI to be the most cost effective. Cold boots in less than 2 seconds, quiet enough to sit behind my TV without being noticed.

I've recently switched to using a CM5 with a Waveshare 'B' base-board case with a 1TB Genx3 NVMe SSD.

Cost 2GB RAM, CM4 with 16GB eMMC. £48
Mini Base board + Metal case + PSU. £32
1 TB RPI SSD £64

Total £144

If you just want to watch live TV and only occasional recordings you don't need 1TB, or you can use a slower but adequate USB3.1 external drive.