Monday 14 December 2015

Stir Crazy

More rain today and it's forces to continue like this until next Friday.  I've been sitting in the chair so long I've worn a hole in my jeans (and I'm not exaggerating!).  Fortunately I have two spare pairs in the foot locker.

Hopefully the canal maintenance stoppages will end on time and we can start moving again.

The security problem with the new 'Open Live Writer' program doesn't appear to have been fixed so I'm having to write this directly into Blogger.  Hence the excessive number of errors.

The Project - Media Server Hardware.
The recognized requirement for transcoding 1080p HD video is to have a cpu with a passmark of 2000 for each video being simultaneously streamed over the network.  Of course some clients don't require the video to be transcoded and will accept it in it's original format.  These are devices that are capable of displaying 1080p (HD TV).  Devices that will require the video to be transcoded include tablets and smartphones.  I'm going to assume a maximum of three clients will need their video feed to be transcoded.  This means I need to look for a cpu with a passmark greater than 6000.
I went to the website Passmark Software and looked for a suitable cpu.  Eventually I selected the AMD FX-8350 which has eight internal cores and is considerably cheaper at approximately £70 than the equivalent Intel cpu's.  It also has a passmark exceeding 8000.

The best motherboard I can find is an ASROCK.  It has five internal sata HDD connections so plenty of capacity for the NAS.  The combined cost is approximately £120.  Of course I won't be buying or building the NAS media server whilst we are on Waiouru.

Client Hardware

This brings me to the client hardware.  There isn't much I can do about changing the hardware for the tablets and smartphones as they have their computing power inbuilt.  But I think there are some options when it comes to the TVs.  After some research I have decided to use a Raspberry Pi as the client for the TV.  We could buy a 'Smart TV' but might then be 'locked in' with the manufacturers operating system.  The Raspberry Pi provides more alternatives and has a minimal cost of approximately £30.  I don't believe the difference in cost between a smart and dumb TV is £30.  Remember I'm trying to keep this setup cheap!

Wake up Bill...... I know you find this project stuff difficult but do try to keep up!

4 comments :

Nev Wells said...

Mmmm should we be reading into this project the timings for the end of boating as Moore's Law will see your hardware spec out of date in 2 years .....

Tom and Jan said...

No Nev..... it will just be cheaper! 😂

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Look, Tom, I know you have to have something to do when it rains and you're stuck inside. But couldn't you try to master macrame, or sewing so you could mend your holey jeans, or better yet, make some more?
While your techy problems are interesting for you to solve, they only save you money because you don't buy the commercial off the shelf solution. It would be MUCH cheaper not to covet the solution at all and do something useful like sewing or macrame, knitting or sudoku, jigsaw puzzles or reading ...
Cheers, Marilyn

Tom and Jan said...

Marilyn I see you're with Bill on this one!