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[tgrounds]

Greetings:

Well, I've done it.  I have my Media Jukebox 8.0 running on a PC on my home network and I'm in the process of loading my 850 CD's in my library into that PC - I'm about 260 CD's into the process.  I have the Media server running successfully and the PC's on my home network (LAN) are able to play the music on my jukebox.

Here is the environment I'm running in:
Domain Server running Small Business Server 2000
Web Server hosting my web site running .NET
2 Workstations
(the above 4 PC's are connected into my hub)
Wireless Access point
1 Workstation (running Media Jukebox 8 / Media server) connected via wireless to the rest of the domain
VPN Router connecting to DSL (1.5-6.0 Mbps Down/384 Kbps Up)
I have opened port 80 on the router and it routes to my Media Server and I have configured DNS to connect one of my 5 static IP addresses to it.
-----------------------------------------------
I'm currently at work and I have been able to connect to my server at home (via the internet) - after some time (painful amount of time) I'm able to download the media library.

When I select play on my player, after about 5 minutes of buffering, the song starts playing - in this case, it was a classical piece that has a playing time of 10 minutes... after about 2 minutes of play it starts buffering again for another 3 minutes and it started playing again.

My Question:
Is there any way to optimize this performance?  On my network at home the playing of the music is seamless from any PC on my network - but over the internet, it is very painful and frankly, unusable.  I have the bandwidth up and down on my server end and don't know why performance is so bad.  Is there any way to optimize the streaming of the data?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Tom.

[MGD_King]

It sounds to me that it's a bandwidth issue. While your home network is more than suffecient enough to handle a stream, trying to push it out of your DSL at 384 kbps (is that in bits or bytes, big difference) will definitely be bottleneck, therefore causing more buffering time on the receiving end.

Hope this helps!

[tgrounds]

I was hoping that was not the case - considering I pay a consideralbe amount on my DSL connection.  

Does the server adjust according to available bandwidth - like the Microsoft Windows Media Services?  Especially if the server is streaming, one would think that it would optimize itself given the bandwidth that is available.  Any thoughts?

[MGD_King]

That I'm not sure of. I haven't messed with the media server in MJ much. But if my memory serves me correctly, it streams the MP3 in the bit rate that it is in, i.e. 192 KBps as I believe it was designed for LAN usage, not so much for Internet usage. That is, unless of course you got a huge T-1 pipe going out to the world.  

[tgrounds]

And I'm such a nerd that if I could afford it, I would!

Thanks for the info...

Tom.

[MGD_King]

And I'm such a nerd that if I could afford it, I would!

Thanks for the info...

Tom.

Who wouldn't!?

[John Gateley]

I may have a fix for this soon, stay tuned.

j

[tgrounds]

John:

A fix for the bandwidth issues?  or the optimization of the server itself...

I LOVE the product... and have really loved using the product on my LAN - I have the Media Jukebox downstairs connected to my stereo there, and have a 'client' version running upstairs connected to the stereo up there and being able to manage a single set of media is GREAT!  

Another thing that I have noticed is that when I use the server function, I don't get the album artwork on the client side - is this a configuration issue?  (perhaps creating a share and using the generic path as the location for the artwork?)

Thanks again for a great product!

Tom.

[John Gateley]

A bandwidth fix. You might have noticed that for TiVo Media Server converts everything to MP3 at a fixed bitrate. If I add this for non-TiVo connections, you can choose a bitrate low enough to not flood your network.

I'm also working on the album art.

j

[hit_ny]

i dont have experience with media server.

a friend of mine uses a streaming program called otto thats is hosted on linux. He has a 386kbs up and 1500 kbs down.

He uses mp3s at 192 kbs and can hear 2 streams fine.

now if you use ape files ( equivalent to mp3s @500kbs+ encode rate)or any other lossless format its conceivable you could run into bandwidth issues.

i'd run a test with mp3s at a constant CBR and report back the results.

[tgrounds]

John:

You talked about an approach to work out the streaming issue in Media Server by using a process that you used on Tivo files - are you planning to try that process on Media Jukebox 8?  (that is the product I have installed) or are you planning to put that in Media Center?  (which I don't have installed).

Another Question:  How safe/secure is the media server?  I have opened up a port in my firewall and routed it to the media PC on my network, but not through IIS - it is a direct link from a static IP through my router, to my media server.  I wanted to ensure that nobody could attack by writing something using the Music01 protocol.  How secure is it?

Thanks again for such a great product!
Tom.

[John Gateley]

Hi Tom,

The on-the-fly conversion to MP3 would initially be for MC9, not MJ8.

The Media Server protocol is pretty secure: I am paranoid about things like buffer overruns etc. There is always a possibility that there is a hole in the code. If you use your firewall to restrict client address (sounds like you are doing this), then there is almost zero chance of a breakin.

j

[tgrounds]

John:

Well, then it looks like I should be migrating to MC9... I have not looked into it yet, but hope that the migration form MJ8 to MC9 is pretty painless.... (considering I have cover art and media compiled for over 400 CD's now - as well as some additional comments, etc. for each CD - like where in my 2-400 CD players the physical CD is located)...

I will take a look at MC9 - I hope that all the functionality and features are available there too (like Media Server).

Thanks-
Tom.