Please pardon my ignorance on this but I am a very literal person and have some confusion over the frontend vs. the backend

Can I run a system with only a frontend? Or must there be a backend to record all the programs. It's my understanding that the front end just displays the GUI for choosing programs and such, whilst the backend actually records said programs? Or can one pc do both?

Thanks in advance.

B.

By default KnoppMyth will run both the frontend and backend on the box you install it on. You do not need more than one box for a basic MythTV system. However, you can have multiple frontends talking to a master backend server to be able to view media on multiple TV/monitors.

NetWhiz

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Love your TV, just don't *Love* your TV.

Ah-HA! You've given me a major Ah-Ha moment!

Now I get it. So simple.

So If I have multiple frontends they can pull saved shows, etc., from a (1) backends?

One frontend in living room? One frontend in study? One frontend in bedroom? And they are all pulling different shows from one backend in basement?

Is that the theory?

Thanks,

B.

Correct. Now, only one frontend may watch an input at once iirc (i.e. one TV tunner per frontend). But they each can watch recorded programs, movies, pictures, music, media, etc. at any time.

NetWhiz

_________________
Love your TV, just don't *Love* your TV.

So, if you have one Master back end (which can be on the same computer as a frontend) serving 3 frontends, it probably is useful to have 4 tuners (one for each TV, and one for recording a show)

Also, with backends, you can have multiple. One Master, and a couple slaves. And they still all share content, and can distribute the load if 2 shows need to be recorded at once or needs to run jobs etc.

Its a pretty cool design. Only deal is, once you get around 3 or 4(?) frontends, it saturates a 100 mbps network. If you plan on doing it throughout your house, it is probably benificial to run gigabit, cause its not too much more expensive now as it used to be.

well yes, but then again most of us don't have more than 3 or 4 tv's in the house period much less that are all in use at the same time.

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Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

so many posts so little money this thread explains it a bit better (frontend/backend, slave/master setups) thanks!

i'll definetly have to look at this in teh future