Capacity Expansion Options - WHS?

[warehouse]

I just bought two HD TIVOs and I'm interested in expanding the capacity of these devices. I can add more local storage by either the MyDVR expander or adding an internal 1GB drive. This seems very straightforward and I did this on my S2 TIVO so I'm not too worried about getting it working.

The other option which I would prefer is to buy a Windows Home Server (WHS) to host/backup all my videos, photos, documents, and music. I've seen some threads about WHS and TIVO but I'm a little confused if it will satisfy my TIVO expansion needs. What I'm trying to do is to have the capability to archive shows from my two HDTIVOs and then be able to replay them at a later time either by transfer or streaming. I would also like to be able to watch other video formats as well.

Anyone have any idea if this configuration will work? Tried to do some searching but couldn't find any posts answering this type of setup so any tips would be much appreciated.

[ThAbtO]

There is also the new 1Tb MYExpander you can use on the TivoHD.

Any PC would work using software like Tivo Desktop, PyTivo to download shows.

You can also edit shows using VideoReDo (http://www.videoredo.com) to remove stuff like commercials and even burn DVDs with TVSuite version.

I currently use this and then put the edit shows to an external USB 1TB drive for storage and either just download straight from it or the PCs HD back to the Tivo for viewing.

[MichaelK]

windows home server is pretty cool.

there's an add in for it that is like pytivo and can serve just about any video to it. And your audio and pics too.

Getting video to the WHS still requires you to install tivo desktop (or maybe galleon on the whs). If you buy a "headless" WHS like the mediasmart server- that's a little more complex becasue you have to remote in to do it.

I have the mediasmart server and it's a pretty cool little machine for a cheap price. I have it for other reasons though- but it serves to the tivo well (most of my channels are CCI flagged so i cant transfer anything worth a darn off the tivo's)

keep in mind CCI flags can ruin any ability to transer off the tivo's - so if that concerns you than expanding the tivo's would be the best bet.

[warehouse]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like it might be a good option if I don't have the CCI set. Just to make sure I understand correctly, if the CCI is set and you copy it to your WHS, then you can't copy it back to the TIVO, or will it not let you copy it off at all? I only have a S2 TIVO and it's not a problem.

[bkdtv]

Thanks for the responses. Sounds like it might be a good option if I don't have the CCI set. Just to make sure I understand correctly, if the CCI is set and you copy it to your WHS, then you can't copy it back to the TIVO, or will it not let you copy it off at all? I only have a S2 TIVO and it's not a problem.It will not let you copy at all.

Brighthouse and Time Warner are the biggest abusers of CCI=0x02. They copy protect almost everything except the SD and HD locals. In most markets, Comcast only copy protects the premium movie channels. Verizon FiOS does not copy protect anything. This copy protection does not prevent you from recording the program, but it does prevent you from downloading it to your computer.

Note FCC mandate prohibits all restrictions on local SD and HD channels.

[christoman]

Just to add some of my experience: I've been running an HP WHS since late last year. Definitely concur that it is a great machine for the backup capability alone.

There is an addin called Tivo Publisher that is supposed to be good, but based on some other feedback I read (I think) on this board about performance being sub-par vs pyTivo, I went with pyTivo instead. It runs as a service on WHS and points to my video share. I primarily put ripped DVDs on the server, but also have some shows I have transferred from one of the Tivos. For ripped DVDs or other non-transferred video, I use Metadata Generator to add the appropriate metadata about the movie or TV show.

I recently installed Harmonium as a service on the WHS as well, as I visually like the UI better for music. Also highly recommended.

[warehouse]

Thanks for all of the information. I'm still fighting with Verizon to get my cable cards installed but then will start to work on the WHS. Sounds like it's a viable option.

[warehouse]

Ordered my home server today. Got a good deal on the Acer with an extra 1TB drive so hopefully I can get all this worked out. Seems like a nice solution to store all of my data!

[MichaelK]

.... In most markets, Comcast only copy protects the premium movie channels. ....

and just to be clear to the OP- there are comcast markets where EVERY digital channel (excepte the local broadcasts) is copy protected (eg. MY Headend). They are deploying the digital tuning adapters here now and in a matter of weeks will go all digital- will be interesting to see if they then flag every channel excpet the local broadcasts...

[warehouse]

I have FIOS so hopefully I won't have the flag set. That said, there's a chance I'll move at some point to a location that doesn't offer FIOS so this is something I'll need to consider.