Terramaster VS Raspberry PI

Playground Hardware
#1

Hello, I was given a gift card to an electronics store as a gift, the store does not currently have a website because they are relatively new, but I can both in person and through social media apps and platforms make purchases. So currently I am a ChannelsDVR user and I am considering upgrading the server that I run your service on wich is called the:”Terramaster F2-221”, which is this exact same one from this website here: PRESS

BUT although the Terramaster F2-221 normally comes with 2gb of memory, I have expanded the memory ram to its full capacity, which is 10gb. So the only difference from the specifications that you saw on the website I provided above is that the ram would be 10gb. And because the Terramaster F2-221 did not come with a hard drive I bought one that I am currently using called the “Seagate BarraCuda 1TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache” which is the exact one from this website right here: Amazon.com: Seagate BarraCuda 1TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6 Gb/s 7200 RPM 64MB Cache for Computer Desktop PC (ST1000DM010) : Electronics

BUT the store that I was given the gift card for currently has one device available that can be used as a server and can run ChannelsDVR on, which is called the "Raspberry Pi 5 8GB RAM BCM2712" and it is the exact one from this website here: Amazon.com

However it does not come with an SD-card, a USB drive or a power supply, but luckily I have an SDcard that I will use which called the “PNY 32GB Elite Class 10 U1 V10 SDHC” and is the exact one from this website right here: Amazon.com: PNY 32GB Elite Class 10 U1 V10 SDHC Flash Memory Card - 100MB/s, Class 10, U1, V10, Full HD, UHS-I, Full Size SD : Electronics

I also have a USB 3.0 Flash Drive that I will use called the “SanDisk 512GB Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ48-512G-G46” which is the exact same one from this website below:

https://a.co/d/8cYPFVi

And I have bought a power supply that I will use which is called the “GeeekPi 27W Power Supply for Raspberry Pi 5” which is the exact one from this website right here:Amazon.com

So because I am looking to upgrade to a better server to run your ChannelsDVR server on, I don’t want to waste money buying a product that will either be just as good for running ChannelsDVR as the one I currently have or that is not as good as the one I currently have, but I don’t know much about these topics because I am relatively new at this but because you provide support, which I appreciate, I was wondering if you could help me know which device is better so that I can make the right decision? Thanks in advance!

#2

Raspberry PI is not very good for hosting Channels DVR it is the bottom of the food chain. A mini PC with at least an intel N95 will perform much better.

#3

Is there any one example in specific that you could give me a website link to? Thanks in advance

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#4

Amazon.com: Beelink Mini PC, Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake- N95(up to 3.4GHz), 8GB DDR4 RAM 256GB M.2 SSD, Mini S12 Desktop, USB3.2/WiFi 5/BT4.2 for Home/Office : Electronics

You can attach a USB 3 drive with whatever size you want.

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#5

thank you so much brother I really appreciate it? Have you ever used it?

#6

Yes it is a great Channels DVR server ... you can even throw Linux on it if you prefer ... Has Several USB 3.2 ports so you can always add storage the Pi's are much more limited... and much underpowered.

#7

Hello brother one last question I appreciate you're recommendation but if you had to choose between the 2 devices that I mentioned in my question which one would you choose, because remember I am limited in what I can choose from one small store and from a small budget. So between the Terramaster with the specs that I detailed and the raspberry with the specs I detailed which one would you prefer? Thanks in advance!

#8

Honestly, the Terramaster is much better than the Raspberry Pi 5 for channels.

The Pi 5 is not officially supported yet (search these forums and you'll see issues others have had)

It also lost video acceleartion that the Pi 4 came with.

While the Terramaster has an older processor, it is more well supported and it has intel quick sync for video acceleration.

#9

@TaliandTony I totally agree with @Dxcv

#10

Thank you so much to you both

#11

Sorry for the bother brother, you have been very nice, if I could just ask one last question please, if you had to recommend a mini pc like you did to run channels dvr but unfortunately I am limited when it comes to the amount of money I can spend to a max of about $110 dollars as opposed to the $139 that the device you recommended earlier cost, could you lead me to a link of a mini pc that you would say is the best for running channels dvr within that price range? Once again thank you so much you have been very kind, I truly appreciate it!

#12

Something like this is going to be your best bet: Amazon.com

It does not have an OS, so you will need to put Linux or Proxmox or something on it to manage channels.

In terms of processor, better than your Terramaster is going to be an N5095 or N95. The N95 mini PCs are just out of your max price though.

#13

Thank you so much brother you are a life saver, now let me see how I can get the money for that lol I'm probably just going to wait until my nest paycheck, but just to make sure do you think that last mini pc link you jt's sent me would be better than the current Terramaster that I have right now, not just the raspberry but also the terramaster f2-221? I just wanted to confirm.

#15

I just want to start off by saying without knowing what you are currently using Channels for and what else might be running on your Terramaster it is a little hard to gauge if moving to a Mini PC will benefit you. Channels DVR is a very lightweight piece of software and it is designed to run well on a variety of hardware. This is especially true of the docker implementation, which based on your other thread is something you are already doing. Whether you see performance gains will be determined by what you are trying to do with it.

That said, the N5095 in the Mini PC I recommended is newer and faster than the J3455 in your Terramaster. If you are doing any of the following you will probably see a performance bump:

Streaming multiple channels to multiple client devices at the same time.

Watching/Recoding multiple channels at the same time.

Processing guide data for any live channels.

Updating metadata on your imported tv shows and movies

Remuxing streams (or transcoding to a lower quality) based on network conditions and the clients capabilities.

It also has the added benefit of freeing up your NAS device to do other things.

Bottom line and the best advice I can give is going to be this:

If Channels is doing what you want right now and you are not having any major issues, such as constant buffering, freezes, etc. it is probably not going to be worth upgrading right now.

However, if you are seeing issues, or you want to run some of the other services mentioned on this forum, such as Chrome Capture, Pluto, Plex Channels, etc. have the extra processing to run additional docker containers would be worth it.

#16

Thank you so much for your time brother I truly appreciate it and yes I have buffering issues and yes I do all of the things that you mentioned except maybe the remuxing and yes I have experienced much buffering and slower processing ever since I began using channels, and not to mention I would like to run other none tv related apps on my terramaster so yes I definitely will make the change, but once again thank you so much brother, take care!

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