PC as Extender, Where does it Record?

[Mike7143]

Hello all,
Looking to recycle my old desktop into a HTPC in the living room and I need more info on how recordings work with 2 PCs. If my Ceton InfiniTV4 PCIe says in my new desktop and I just let the HTPC have 1 of the 4 tuners, when I record a show, will it record to that PC's local drive or will it record to the PC with the Ceton card? I really would like the HTPC to work just like an extender, just uses a tuner and when I record something, it records on the main PC with the Ceton. I guess alternatively, I could just move the Ceton to the HTPC, but just curious how this works and would like to keep all files on 1 physical machine. I've always had a 360 (and shortly a Ceton Echo) in the living room with the PC in the office serving/recording.
Thanks,
Mike

[staknhalo]

Take the drive your main HTPC currently records on and map it as a network drive on the new 'extender' PC. Set that drive as the recorder storage for the new HTPC. For any copy encrypted/flagged shows - you will only be able to watch on the actual PC that did the recording.

[foxwood]

A PC can't be an Extender - it's just another HTPC, with it's own guide, and it's own set of recordings. The recording will always be stored on the PC that is using the PC, which in the case of a shared tuner is not the PC that is physically hosting the tuner.

[Doctor Feelgood]

I wish PC hardware could be converted in to an extender!

[Mike7143]

I guess I'm confusing two things. The Ceton is in the office PC, the other PC in living room isn't an extender, it's just another PC that would just borrow tuners from the Ceton in the office PC. So, that means it'd save recorded TV and the live TV buffer to the local drives. If I wanted to get into it more, I'd have to point the HTPC to record to a remote(mapped) drive and maybe? could force the live TV buffer to be on a remote(mapped) drive as well...

My issue is I'm trying to save money. My current PC has a 250GB,500GB, and 1TB drives. Originally I was going to move those 3 into my new office PC along with a new 128GB SSD and then throw in a small/cheap 40GB or something for the HTPC. But seeing as I was confused, maybe I should put my 1TB drive into the HTPC and then just keep my 250 and 500 along with the 128 SSD in my new office PC.

Correct?

If this is the case, it's probably easiest I guess to just move my Ceton to the HTPC with the 1TB drive and if I ever want to watch TV in the office just borrow a tuner from the Ceton...

[foxwood]

Take the drive your main HTPC currently records on and map it as a network drive on the new 'extender' PC. Set that drive as the recorder storage for the new HTPC. For any copy encrypted/flagged shows - you will only be able to watch on the actual PC that did the recording.

In this scenario, the Stream goes from PC1, which hosts the tuner, to PC2, which is using it, and the data is then written straight back to PC1. Then when you go to watch the recording on PC2, it copies it back over the network for the 3rd time. It works, but it's not particularly efficient.

If you want a single set of recordings, do all the recording on PC1. If you've got an android phone or tablet, or an iphone or Tablet, or a Windows phone, or Windows 8 on PC2, use the Ceton My Media Center App to handle the scheduling on PC1 (or just do it on PC1 itself). The only reasonable use for a shared tuner is if you need live TV on PC2.

[Mike7143]

Sorry, I was editing my last post...
So it sounds like what I'm going to want to do is put the tuners (Ceton and I have an analog) in my HTPC along with whatever drive space I need for recordings. Then if I want to watch TV in the office just borrow a tuner and if I happen to record something in the office, just manually transfer it to the HTPC drive, or as you mentioned, just record using the Ceton app on the HTPC.

Whew!

[foxwood]

My issue is I'm trying to save money. My current PC has a 250GB,500GB, and 1TB drives. Originally I was going to move those 3 into my new office PC along with a new 128GB SSD and then throw in a small/cheap 40GB or something for the HTPC. But seeing as I was confused, maybe I should put my 1TB drive into the HTPC and then just keep my 250 and 500 along with the 128 SSD in my new office PC.

Unless there's a really compelling reason to put the InfiniTV in the Office PC, things will be a lot simpler if you just put it where you'll be using it most - in the HTPC.

(Compelling reasons would be phyical space, lack of slots, heat, low CPU in the HTPC. If it's just a question of allocating your drive space properly, I think you could save yourself $80 worth of hassle by buying an extra 2TB drive )

[Mike7143]

I just panicked! I DO have a coax for cable behind the media cabinet. That was close! Thanks for the help! I guess where I went wrong was 1. thinking the HTPC was an extender and 2. thinking I had to keep the Ceton in the office.
My 360 E74'd on me 2 weekends ago. I figured I'd pick up an Echo (for $155!!) as I love the InfiniTV4 but so far I'm really not happy with it. DOA but Ceton was great with support in getting it working. I'm either going to return to Newegg (depending on if there's a restocking fee) or sell it. With $400 in "free" money from Chase points, I can spend $200 out of pocket to completely build a new desktop for the office and recycle the current desktop into a HTPC that'll do tons more than the 360 (I don't game) or Echo could do.

My only fear now is that if I'm putting a PC near my couch that my shiny new office PC will just sit and gather dust. Thanks again for clarifications!

[foxwood]

Sorry, I was editing my last post...
So it sounds like what I'm going to want to do is put the tuners (Ceton and I have an analog) in my HTPC along with whatever drive space I need for recordings. Then if I want to watch TV in the office just borrow a tuner and if I happen to record something in the office, just manually transfer it to the HTPC drive, or as you mentioned, just record using the Ceton app on the HTPC.

If you think you might occassionally need to watch something live in the Office, will the Analog tuner suffice? Put the Ceton in the HTPC, and Analog in the Office PC, and leave it at that.

The problem with sharing tuners is that a shared tuner won't be available to the PC that's hostingthe tuners. So even if the Office PC isn't using it, you'd only have 3 tuners available on the HTPC. That sounds like a lot if you're only used to haveing one or 2, but you'd be surprised how often it's not enough. Even with 4 tuners, I often find that I'm recording 4 shows at the same time, especially at 10PM.

[Mike7143]

I guess I need to look into how Ceton network tuners work. I thought you could assign a PC an amount of tuners and they'd use them when they need them. When not in use, the PC with the Ceton would retain the tuner. I guess I'm mistaken?
My office PC monitor is actually a Samsung T240 so it's got a built in tuner, guess I could just watch it via that. There are for sure times I use all 4 in the Ceton PLUS my antenna on the Hauppauge.

[foxwood]

No. The HDHR Prime tuners can be allocated "on demand", but with the InfiniTV, you have to pre-allocate the tuners. Once they're allocated to another PC, they aren't available to the host PC unless you re-run the tuner setup.

[Mike7143]

Thanks for the tip foxwood. I think I'm just going to move (err... keep) the Ceton in this PC along with the analog and 1TB drive. If I miss the drive space in my office PC I can always add on or buy a 2TB for the HTPC and put the 1TB back in the office.
Now for the moment of truth, will my case fit in the entertainment center cabinet...

Thanks again for the help, roadmap complete! Time to do my taxes, gotta make sure I don't suddenly owe hahahaha!

[isalisb]

No. The HDHR Prime tuners can be allocated "on demand", but with the InfiniTV, you have to pre-allocate the tuners. Once they're allocated to another PC, they aren't available to the host PC unless you re-run the tuner setup.

/Can/ you allocate them to another PC, or just another WMC Extender?
I haven't been able to find any 'software extenders' that will do live TV from another host.

[foxwood]

No. The HDHR Prime tuners can be allocated "on demand", but with the InfiniTV, you have to pre-allocate the tuners. Once they're allocated to another PC, they aren't available to the host PC unless you re-run the tuner setup.

/Can/ you allocate them to another PC, or just another WMC Extender?
I haven't been able to find any 'software extenders' that will do live TV from another host.

You don't allocate a tuner to an extender - think of an extender as a 2nd screen plugged into the PC.

There's no such thing as a "software extender", as such - but you can have multiple PCs access a single set of tuners - either a HDHomeRun, which plugs directly into your network, or an InfiniTV, which site's in a PC.