So I have a chance to get an HP ProLiant ML370 G5. to play with and I was thinking of rebuilding my domain controller on that. I could either use my current i7 process desktop for stand alone PMS or keep PMS running on my windows server. I’m just wondering if server hardware being dual processors and I think just by googleing the specs (have to see first hand what’s in it) it has x2 xeon e5420’s in it. I’m wondering if that could handle multiple people transcoding better then a single i7? I’m not entirely sure of what gen the i7 is but it’s fairly new.
These links should help.
https://www.passmark.com/
1080p/10Mbps: 2000 PassMark
720p/4Mbps: 1500 PassMark
do find out the particular model number of your i7 cpu
(there is software out there which allows you to do it, or if you’re using Windows you can find out with ‘System Information’ app)
then lookup the passmark score for both CPUs under http://www.cpubenchmark.net/
Keep in mind that you cannot simply multiply the single cpu passmark score by 2 for a dual-cpu system.
Equally, if you have to choose among several CPUs with comparable passmark scores, choose the one with fewer ‘cores’.
Do also take a look at the ‘TDP’ value. Those old XEONs will probably use more power than your single i7.
Here are the specks for my i7-4770 vs dual xeon e5420’s. Looks like in the passmark category the single i7 still wins. I just thought maybe since with the server hardware the 2 cpu’s would be a benefit but I suppose it’s still the same amount of cores. My single i7 is pulling close to 10k so should be sufficient to handle multiple users transcoding. Not to mention the much smaller footprint on my electric bill. I still think I will go through the trouble and keep a separate section and optimize my libraries. I prefer for my local network to use large files with 1080p and 7.1HD audio as I stream most of my stuff to my theater with a large projections screen and 7.1 audio setup. But for the 2-3 family members that may be streaming remotely they do not require that so maybe optimizing all content for standard TV at 1080p maybe helpful? My goal is to be able to handle at least 3 streams transcoding and not worry about buffering. I have a mixed bag when it comes to clients out there. I have roku’s, my parents use their Samsung smart tv (newer model and seems to work well), and I have one imac running PHT.
Just throwing this out there, you will NOT have to worry about Transcode bufferring with a 4770 with 3 streamers. Im currently running something just under what that is for a passScore and consistently running 6-13 streams concurrently (up to 9 transcoding).
The reason is not all the videos will need to transcode, nor will they all need access to the CPU at the same time to transcode.
So all the reading I’ve done on this I feel (as you guys have pretty much pointed out) that my current hardware is good. All my devices on my network are hard wired with cat6 running through gig switches. My upload speed at my home is consistently 12mbps up. Most of the more current content is MKV container and h.264 codec audio is DTS or HDma. So I would imagine at this point if I hear reports of buffering that I would suggest the remote user adjust their remote quality down? I’ve hard wired my parents TV but I’m pretty sure some others I have as plex friends are wireless primarily rokus. With all that said would optimizing my content and providing those optimized versions to only my remote users be beneficial for them streaming? Or would that be more work then it’s worth?
It really depends at which bitrate you store your movies on your server. If they usually only have ~4 mbps, then you’re probably good.
I’d monitor usage and encourage remote users to report buffering, if occuring more than 3 times per movie.
Yea I’ll ask them to let me know when they buffer. I use plexpy and have it set to notify me when buffering but I must need to tweak the settings for that. I have a friend here at work who’s a plex friend. He has multiple clients so we will do some testing. I’d rather not go through optizing all my content if I don’t have to.
