XBMC "Server" - centralized XBMC management for multiple XBMC devices/platforms?

Putting the images in the database sounds like a good thing, but the main problem is that you will run into a lot of problems as mentioned with devices that are not able to handle this memory wise.

In the end it should not be that hard to send a file over a TCP line, paths only become interesting as long as one assumes the client to be initiating the transfer. But if the client requests the data and the server "stream" the data to the client there is no longer an issue all the server would have to know is where it stored the file locally and all the client would have to know is that it wants to have the image associated with file ID xxxxxxx.

Just my idea of course but I am sure that there is a better more memory and CPU friendly way to store and send the files then putting them in the DB.

rcoops Wrote:Putting the images in the database sounds like a good thing, but the main problem is that you will run into a lot of problems as mentioned with devices that are not able to handle this memory wise.

In the end it should not be that hard to send a file over a TCP line, paths only become interesting as long as one assumes the client to be initiating the transfer. But if the client requests the data and the server "stream" the data to the client there is no longer an issue all the server would have to know is where it stored the file locally and all the client would have to know is that it wants to have the image associated with file ID xxxxxxx.

Just my idea of course but I am sure that there is a better more memory and CPU friendly way to store and send the files then putting them in the DB.

It'll be interesting to see how the Plex team chose to solve this problem, if they did it well, I may have to go back to Plex, it's a big issue for me... Here's a preview of what they are doing...

The Road to Alexandria Part 1 Introduction/

They solve it by doing a closed source implementation. It's served using XML over http. Essentially it's similar to using UPnP, but is only useful with Plex and not with anything else.

I believe they allow streaming of the media file (just like upnp) over that same http connection.

Just using an existing standard like UPnP seems like a better idea to me. It can handle all the metadata you want, and the files are streamed over http so no problem with paths etc. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Cheers,
Jonathan

jmarshall Wrote:They solve it by doing a closed source implementation. It's served using XML over http. Essentially it's similar to using UPnP, but is only useful with Plex and not with anything else.

I believe they allow streaming of the media file (just like upnp) over that same http connection.

Just using an existing standard like UPnP seems like a better idea to me. It can handle all the metadata you want, and the files are streamed over http so no problem with paths etc. No need to reinvent the wheel.

Cheers,
Jonathan

Yes, that makes sense. I guess I'd always prefer an XBMC option over Plex if all thing were equal. I only went to Plex when it had features (like Harmony remote support and a bunch of other things I couldn't get with XBMC). I am not switched back to XBMC with two Mac Minis and now an ACER Revo Win7 machine which works great. I'd love to see XBMC evolve to include a server component, mainly for centralized library management. I much prefer options when it comes to hardware (I really wanted to avoid the Mac route, but did it because of Plex). Anyway, maybe too much tangential information for the topic at hand.

Bottomline, I would love to see something beyond the MYSQL shared database support offered today by XBMC. Not a demand, just a wish (that'd I'd be willing to donate well for).

Not sure what the latest status is of this and I've seen a few suggestions that come close to mine. I wanted to give a bit of a more detailed suggested implementation though, so here it goes.

Using a SQL db, initial setup would go as such:
Open an XBMC instance and add a media source as normal. XBMC still using it's normal operation would scan the source and import all the data to its db which would be the central SQL db in this case. During this initial scrape, it would download all the fanart, info, cast photos, etc, etc and store them inside the SQL db as well (store the actual files and data instead of a URL pointer). However, when importing the files into the db it adds a timestamp field for each file/description as well. Just to clarify, it is only storing fanart, descriptions, etc in the database and not any of the media. The media would remain locations as is currently handled.

Then when a XBMC instance is run, it goes out to the SQL db, pulls down all the fanart, descriptions, and media locations, thumbnails, etc. and cache them locally. This way when running the XBMC it doesn't have to load the thumbnails from the db each time. It can pull the local cache much quicker. This way there are no individual files strewn across media folders and such. The media folders contain the media only and all this extra stuff is kept cleanly in a separate central location.

Then when a user initiates a rescrape from any of the XBMC instances that are connected to the SQL db, XBMC would compare the timestamp of the files in the db to what is available from the online source to see if it is newer. This may be an issue if there's no way to compare the timestamp of the online data. In that case, perhaps a rescrape just rescrapes all data regardless.

Similarly, an initiated update library would compare the timestamp of the files in the SQL db to the timestamp of the files in the local cache. If the SQL db file is newer than the local cache, then XBMC pulls down the new file and updates the local cache with it. Otherwise, it ignores it and moves to the next file.


A benefit to this method is that, with XBMC being open source and open about its methods, third party media managers such as Ember Media Manager or Media Center Master could hook into this same SQL db and write their files to it for you. Then you can keep your media collection and all related fanart, etc centrally managed and maintained using any media manager you choose. And bringing up a new XBMC instance is as simple as pointing it to use the SQL db and running an update library. It would then pull all the media locations (don't have to bother adding the media source in the new instance as it would pull it in from the db), fanart, thumbnails, etc down and cache them locally. And bam, you're up and running on your new instance in two easy steps.

Thoughts?

I was wondering if something like was feasible...

a fat, high powered xbmc server

very lightwight clients

use VNC or some other remote desktop/remote app virtualization technique to render on the server and stream to thin client.

something similar to how they stream WOW to ipad

TeknoJnky Wrote:I was wondering if something like was feasible...

a fat, high powered xbmc server

very lightwight clients

use VNC or some other remote desktop/remote app virtualization technique to render on the server and stream to thin client.

something similar to how they stream WOW to ipad

In case anyone hasn't seen it, the WOW on the iPad is similar to OnLive's upcoming service (http://www.onlive.com/), but more hacked together. Wouldn't work for a first person shooter nearly as well, and wouldn't work well for video. OnLive's service has some custom hardware they're using to achieve good results with shooters/video/etc. I'm guessing it's hardware and drivers that take output from GPU's and encodes it for streaming. The inputs would simply be passed through along with that.

Personally I'd be happy with a centralized database with web interface for everything, since hardware capable of playing even HD video isn't hard to come by these days.

+1

I would love something like this. I've got my home server, and I would love to just install a base install of XBMC on it, and then have all of the other XBMC units that are connected to TVs throughout the house grab settings and cached info from the main server. Bonus points if it were all automated, like if XBMC Live searched for an XBMC server on boot and loaded pre-set configs. It would make everything such a breeze, especially testing new releases

A man can dream, can't he?

EGOvoruhk Wrote:+1

I would love something like this. I've got my home server, and I would love to just install a base install of XBMC on it, and then have all of the other XBMC units that are connected to TVs throughout the house grab settings and cached info from the main server. Bonus points if it were all automated, like if XBMC Live searched for an XBMC server on boot and loaded pre-set configs. It would make everything such a breeze, especially testing new releases

A man can dream, can't he?

2 men are dreaming

jmarshall Wrote:They solve it by doing a closed source implementation.

http://github.com/elan/plex/commits/v0-8-5