From: Lamar Owen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Multiple encoders on the same server box
RealForum wrote:
>
> From: "Aaron Bishop" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Multiple encoders on the same server box
>
> Generally speaking, it is never a good idea to put the server and the
> encoder on the same machine. More often than not, it will crash and crash
> often. RealProducer is somewhat of a system resource hog, and if you try
[snip]
I have run for the last two years a Linux machine doing both -- and it
is rock solid, running 24x7 for 80-90 days at a time. The only glitch I
have had is when a kernel update triggered a hardware bug in the Intel
440FX chipset on the SuperMicro P6DNE (dual 200MHz PPro, one CPU
installed) -- but I got a resolution on that in ten minutes from the
kernel developers. The symptom was a dying encoder after 90-120 hours
of continuous encoding.
My testing machine has two Esoniq AudioPCI's in it, and it works great
(under RedHat Linux 6.1, that is).
> Gadgetlabs) the encoder eats up a lotta processor and RAM. When I run ONE
> copy of RealProducer on a live stream on my Pentium II Dual-chip 200MHz (w/
> 64MB RAM) it uses about 25% of the processor and around 7-8MB of RAM. So
> in theory I could run two, maybe three copies of RealProducer on my machine
In contrast, RealAudio Encoder 3.0 on a PPro 200 running RedHat Linux
5.2 takes 3-4% of the CPU and 620K of RAM. I realize that this is an
older setup -- but you know, it WORKS. Now, if I was running
RealProducerPlus in CLI mode, I don't know.
> safely. So I would hazard a guess that a really spiffy new Pentium III
> could handle four simultaneous encoders safely on a long-term
> basis. Well...as long a term as Windows can handle, that is! :-)
I personally feel that the Windows platform in and of itself causes much
of the problem.
> Or, alternatively, you could purchase a medium-ish computer for your server
> and a bunch of little cheap $400 PCs for your encoders, and have one
> encoder per machine. Adds somewhat to how much space you have left in the
> closet, so to speak, but also gives you more flexibility, in that if one
> machine goes down you haven't lost everything.
If you're set on an NT RealServer machine (and that's OK), you can stack
some Pentium 100's and run RedHat Linux + the Linux RealProducer CLI and
save a bundle on NT licenses.
--
Lamar Owen
WGCR Internet Radio
1 Peter 4:11
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