Starting from scratch.. ssd? Transcoding?

[Mjebc]

Hello!

TiVo is dying. Spectrum is going high split eventually…. Maybe.. So we have been looking at options.

I have been testing on a Toshiba Satellite C55-A and Apple TV, just recording one TVE program and watching it later to test. I was surprised even commercial skip works.

However if we go all in we will be recording multiple TVE and plan on getting a HDHomeRun to record locals. I get them all in TVE but I’m old school and we also want NBC so the antenna will be priority.

We also will depend on this outside of the home, when traveling and also our second home which relies on cellular internet.

So I have a z620 I plan to throw at this, it isn’t being used for anything and while I don’t remember the Xeon specs I know it has 24gb ram and a crappy desktop nvidia.

Would I have to worry about transcoding a stream, recording multiple streams at the same time? Maybe a custom watch.spectrum.net chrome channel?

Would it be better to stream out of home in another app, emby?

I have some spinning disks I can use for a backup system using rsync but ssd for the main 2tb (comparable to the TiVo)? Any recommendations here?

As far as installing channels I’m good enough to get around in Linux. How would you do it if I wanted to ever use this box for anything else like hass, docker?

Appreciate any help as we jump into this. It’s all new to us but we need to prepare and streaming services aren’t really appealing to us.

[Rice]

I don’t normally bring up electricity usage for servers because it is normally not that big of a difference but the Xeon in that system is what 130 watts with the performance of chrome book. I get that it’s free and laying around but might I suggest picking up a mini pc. For example this Beelink is 4 times faster and runs on 10-15 watts. https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-Graphics-Desktop-Computers-Support/dp/B09SHSQ5CF/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?crid=2I2VTMJ03MGTB&keywords=beelink+mini+pc+i3&qid=1699716204&sprefix=beelink+mini+pc+i3%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-16&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0
If the 500gb drive is not enough then get an up to 2tb Samsung drive to replace it. Throw Linux on it and it will be bulletproof and pay for itself in a year or two on electricity savings.

[Morris_Altman]

I agree with Rice on electric consumption and how to avoid it. The system he recommended will commercial skip much faster than the even more energy efficient PI systems that some use. It also has the CPU power to transcode for off site viewing. Off site viewing experience will vary based on the link speeds and if there bad, you can copy the file down to a local system and then view from there using VLC, what ever. TVE is a great way to save tuners if you have multiple recordings at the same time. Be aware that TVE may not get the same quality video and/or audio as you get from antenna and/or cable. This will depend on your provider. The Channels developers created custom commercial skipping for TVE sources that work great, better than the open source commercial skipping software that is used for antenna and cable. I'm an ex TiVo user as many hear are and Channels DVR is a superb replacement.

Enjoy!

Morris

[slampman]

@Mjebc

So I have a z620 I plan to throw at this, it isn’t being used for anything and while I don’t remember the Xeon specs I know it has 24gb ram and a crappy desktop nvidia.

I have 2 Z620s and they are sitting in my PC boneyard. I agree with everyone else, get a beelink

@Mjebc

Would I have to worry about transcoding a stream, recording multiple streams at the same time?

It will handle it fine but if you dont need to transocode then dont. I have original quality set for everything. I have fiber and also verizon unlimited 5g.

@Mjebc

I have some spinning disks I can use for a backup system using rsync but ssd for the main 2tb (comparable to the TiVo)? Any recommendations here?

You mention Linux. I highly recommend that you install ubuntu sevrer on the beelink. I cringe when i read people installing windows on this and call it headless...

You may want to consider a setup like i have. I have a 2tb ssd and then a 15tb spinning disk. Then i have a cron job that runs every night at 3am and copies anything on the ssd that is over 30days old to ths 15tb drive (preserving the same dir structure as the 2tb drive so channels can find it). Best of both worlds. Id be happy to share my script with you if you like.

@Mjebc

How would you do it if I wanted to ever use this box for anything else like hass, docker?

Im old school. I would keep this beelink as a dvr and do something else for a docker server. But that is just my opinion.

[reneg]

I'm using an even older Z600 with 24GB RAM and if you decide to use your Z620, it will be fine. I run Channels, Plex & video editing on this box and it handles everything I throw at it. Both Channels & Plex run off HDDs, but I do use a SSD for video editing.

[GTFan]

@slampman

You mention Linux. I highly recommend that you install ubuntu sevrer on the beelink. I cringe when i read people installing windows on this and call it headless...

It's not cringe worthy, as long as you tweak a few update settings Win11 runs fine headless. Yeah Linux is better (I used to be a Linux dev/sysadmin) but I run Channels with TVE and HDMI and Chrome capture in Docker with no issues. No more or less hassle especially with WSL2 installed if you want to run scripts etc.