Medusa PVR anyone?

[Mobious]

Hello,

I was just given the go ahead to purchase and set up the Medusa PVR here at work to record local and cable news broadcasts. Then streaming some footage over our LAN and burning some footage to DVD. I will be installing "Medusa" in a new DELL PC.. Not sure on the full specs but it will have a large HD.. 300Gig or better..And a large LCD Display.. I love being the only Techno Geek here..

Anyway.. My questions..
Has anyone set up a Medusa in their home?
What are some of the the initial problems that you had?
Any recommended system specs aside from what is listed?
Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks

[rdb4133]

Well I don't have a "Medusa" (6 Tuner) setup, I have more like a Medusa Jr setup (2 PVR-500 dual tuner cards) and I have recorded 4 shows at once and it barely takes up any resources. Beyond TV has handled it perfectly. The only thing I would recommend is to try to stick to the same cards/same brands. If you don't want to take up many PCI slots I would recommend the PVR-500 card. Just make sure you load the latest drivers off the net for it. You'll also have to make sure to purchase the additional tuner licenses, because BTV only offers support for 2 tuners from the get go. Also if you are recording several shows in a row on the same channel and you have setup some padding for the shows it would probably be best to manually assign those shows with the same tuner in the Recording Properties/Settings of those shows.

[cpmiv]

With that many tuners make sure you get some good splitters. Either that or an amp.

[dequire]

Also, make sure your destination hard drive is separate from your OS hard drive (not just a partition). I have three tuners (pvr-250), and a couple of Link machines. While I could record 3 shows at once with no problem to an OS drive partition, when one or more Link machines were viewing a recording on top of all that, the Link machines froze. Since moving to a physically separate drive for recordings, all is well.

[PBMax]

Originally Posted by Mobious

Hello,

I was just given the go ahead to purchase and set up the Medusa PVR here at work to record local and cable news broadcasts. Then streaming some footage over our LAN and burning some footage to DVD. I will be installing "Medusa" in a new DELL PC.. Not sure on the full specs but it will have a large HD.. 300Gig or better..And a large LCD Display.. I love being the only Techno Geek here..

Anyway.. My questions..
Has anyone set up a Medusa in their home?
What are some of the the initial problems that you had?
Any recommended system specs aside from what is listed?
Anything else I should be aware of?

Thanks

Make sure to take pictures Mobius. I would love to see another Medusa create by one of the SnapStream users.

[btvfreak]

Wow, where do you work and where do I sign-up?! I'd love to build one of these bad boys on my company's dime.

I wouldn't go the pre-built route unless I had to. If your company is willing, then you should ask to build the system with the components of your choice. But, if this is just going to be a server, then I guess it's not as big a deal.

[jmtyra]

If you're running this on a LAN, be sure you setup a RAID, especially if you're serving multiple users at a time.
I've got a 1/2 pint Medusa, specs in my sig, and it runs nicely.

For the network, I'd suggest the highest bandwidth connection to your LAN that you can get access to. If you have a datacenter, then setup your system there, and tap into your core router if you can.

I'd suggest a bridged multiport connection across two managed NICs vs. single integrated NIC.

Oh, and RAM, lots of RAM.

Only other side note, make sure you setup some type of defrag nightly, or hourly like I do, it'll make your RAID run smoother/quicker.
If you're wanting to recover the shows should a HD die, then go RAID 5, else go RAID 0, or for mirroring and stripping go RAID 0+1.

Have fun building that Medusa!

[Mobious]

Thanks for the advice!

I work for the Atlanta Police Department.. Our 'new' chief is very up on getting us into the 21st century.. He has allowed me to buy allot of new techie stuff.. I am in heaven..(c:

I will be ordering the Medusa PVR package from SS so the cards should all be the same.. There are already 4 split cables at the location where the pvr will be. What type of amp do you suggest?

Will setting up a raid fix the problem of Link locking up?

Unfortunately, I have to go with a Dell Desktop.. Fortunately I have the say on how it will be built..

I will send in some pictures when we get everything going.. The setup wont be to fancy but I think it will be the first photos sent in of BTV set up commercially.. (c:

[merrypig]

Is this so you can record COPS to show your family when you guys star in it?

[Mobious]

LOL.. No not really.. Just local and cable news broadcasts.. We have VHS tapes of all of the cops episodes from Atlanta.. Most un-edited.. Very funny stuff..
(c:

[jmtyra]

The btv-link locking up depends on the root issue.
It could, if your I/O is bottlenecking, but won't if it's another issue.

Tough to say, sry.

[Mobious]

Welp.. Dell is giving me some problems.. well.. Lack of customer support..

Our rep just doesnt understand plain English.. "I need a machine with 3 available PCI slots, not 2 PCI and 1 used PCI-E slot"

[rdb4133]

You are probably better off building it yourself or getting it custom built and choosing the parts yourself so that you know what you are getting

[Mobious]

Yeah I would like to but can not with this one.. It is for work

[MJC]

Originally Posted by Mobious

Welp.. Dell is giving me some problems.. well.. Lack of customer support..

Our rep just doesnt understand plain English.. "I need a machine with 3 available PCI slots, not 2 PCI and 1 used PCI-E slot"

I'm also from Atlanta and use a 2 channel BTV on a Dell. Other things to be aware: Dell's fans are notoriously noisy. May not be a problem down at the station.

Also, there's no hardware sensor for temperature on the motherboard, unlike other manufacturerers. Some of the fixes that can be used are problems on the Dell, because Molex connectors to fans are proprietary, rather than standard shape.

I've had difficulty using the PCI slot next to the video card, since stuttering occurs. This is traced to the interrupts.

Bottom line: The Dell can be used, but it's not ideal.

MJC