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MrSinatra;267471 Wrote: 
> i mentioned the tivo to answer the transcoding question.
> 
> currently transcoding is done in software yes?  you could do mpeg video
> in software too, but its done in chips now.

And MP3, Ogg and FLAC are done in software on the SB... so?  With more 
memory, the SB could transcode, but that really isn't the bulk of the
CPU usage on most systems.

> 
> my point is that some of the functions that SS does in software that
> the naysayers say demands what is essentially a full computer, i say
> could be done by specialized chips.

It could be done by existing chips on the SB if it had more memory. 
But again, that isn't where the vast majority of users see problems.

> 
> other than transcoding, i admit i don't know what functions u would
> need a chip for to keep the exp acceptable, but i don't think speed of
> the search function is a huge deal in this situation, or would be that
> slow to begin with anyway.

It would be.

O(n) searches of 20,000 tracks is painful.

Databases have indexes.

Tracks are searched by Artist, Composer, Name, Album, Genre, Year....
all of those need indexes.  Some entries have multiple genres and
artists and composers...

Ever tried to run a database of any size with no indexes?

There is no "database chip".  Even for large complex databases like the
NYSE with obscene transactions per second, they can not just plug in the
magic database optimizer chip and get better performance: they upgrade
CPU and RAM and IO speed....  All using stock components common to most
'server class' machines.

Add in the number of database queries needed to render the web
interface, and the IO speed needed to do that, and again you have
problems (which is why many NAS users say it drags if they use the web
front end).

"Specialized" hardware only works in very large scales (hundreds of
millions of MPEG decoder chips are sold that have nothing to do with
Tivo: they show up in DVD players, PC video cards, etc.)


-- 
snarlydwarf
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