Poor video streaming quality Home Server

[Computurd]

I am experiencing poor video streaming quality from my WHS 2011 home server. I have more than enough horsepower in the server for cpu it is a quad core 965 with 4 gb RAM. the cpu/ram utilization isnt too bad when streaming real high def stuff.
when it is streamed over my LAN the video is great, no hiccups. But when i go over the website to the server and stream, big time lagging.

so i am wondering if maybe its the file format im using? I switched to a MP4 format and that did way better than the .mov file that my camera apparently uses.


so a few questions:

1. what is the best file format to stream HD video (1080p)
2. and what program would be best to use to convert my existing videos? i dont mind getting one of the binz so it doesnt have to be free

any other info or suggestions in general would be appreciated. I have tons of video on there, i jsut have never taken the time to get this all configured for streaming over the net.
Thanks!

 

[Grimham]

It's bandwidth, simple as that.

No one can answer your questions without knowing the caps on your upload and download. If you *always* streamed from the same location you could do some tests and re-encode your videos to just under that cap. If you're going to stream from all kinds of locations then obviously it will be infinitely harder.

If you find a program that does it like Netflix and tests the connection then streams at the best corresponding speed, then let me know, I'm looking for one too. I tried Orb, it looked like shit.

Oh, and if you're going to direct stream you'll need to use a format that supports it - like you are now - .mp4.

 

[Computurd]

my speed is 25mb/s and 6 mbps. i pay for advanced internet or whatever. so is there any chance to increase the quality?
i have a gigabit router, cables, switch, balh blah..all that. over the network it all streams awesome.

just once it hits the net, POOP!

and also, best software for MP4 conversion?

 

[Red Falcon]

nvm

 

[Computurd]

hmm. so what would be the best program to convert all of my video to MP4 then? what do you use?

 

[Red Falcon]

Definitely give Orb or VLC a try.

 

[Grimham]

The problem I had with Orb was there was a very big (lower) difference in quality then what I could get with a direct stream. I assume the Orb servers themselves were the case of this slowdown and reduced the bitrate of my video accordingly. It's worth a try though, maybe you'll have better results.

I too thought about using VLC, but from my understanding the movie has to be queued by the player beforehand. In other words, if you want to watch something random you're out of luck. Now I could be very wrong on this, but it is the way I understood it about a year ago when I was looking into it.

 

[Red Falcon]

The problem I had with Orb was there was a very big (lower) difference in quality then what I could get with a direct stream. I assume the Orb servers themselves were the case of this slowdown and reduced the bitrate of my video accordingly. It's worth a try though, maybe you'll have better results.

Yeah, it transcodes the video into another format (i.e. a lower quality video) so it can stream it under a low-bandwidth situation.

That's not a problem, that's the point.

If that's not good enough and raw streaming from the original file needs to be had, the only solution is to upgrade your ISP package or go to another ISP.

Computurd's 6Mbps upload speed isn't enough for HD video to be streamed.

 

[adi]

The quality you will have to step down to is cheap webcam quality. Nothing you do on your internal network will help, it is your ISP upload bandwidth that is your bottleneck.

It sounds like you are streaming from a live motion camera? If so, you can only push the quality down. If they are static files, you could download them, then watch them instead of streaming from the server.

 

[Grimham]

Actually my upload speeds are fine and I could get very nice results with direct streaming to my server (720p) if I was at a location with good download speeds. But often times I was in a hotel or the like, unfortunately their speeds are usually quite lacking and made a direct connection to the video basically unuseable.

That's when I tried Orb. It works, but what I'm saying about it is if I was at a location with great download speeds it would still look much worse than it should. In my case it would transcode into too low of a bitrate, much lower than it should.

 

[Red Falcon]

Then why not just get a 2.5" external USB powered drive, store the movies, then take them with you. How hard can that be?

Streaming SD content or music is one thing, but 1080p video is another. At that point I would (and do) use an external drive. Would be much less of a headache in the long run, especially when going all over the place with varying download connections, assuming your upload is good enough.

 

[adi]

Actually my upload speeds are fine and I could get very nice results with direct streaming to my server (720p) if I was at a location with good download speeds. But often times I was in a hotel or the like, unfortunately their speeds are usually quite lacking and made a direct connection to the video basically unuseable.

That's when I tried Orb. It works, but what I'm saying about it is if I was at a location with great download speeds it would still look much worse than it should. In my case it would transcode into too low of a bitrate, much lower than it should.

Then either pay big bucks for a bandwidth aware scaling streaming solution, or store everything in 3-4 different bitrates.

You are either going to have to use the lowest setting that works globally, or have multiple levels of complexity to max out image quality based on unknown locations.

 

[Grimham]

Then why not just get a 2.5" external USB powered drive, store the movies, then take them with you. How hard can that be?.

It's not hard at all, and that's what I do. Remember, I'm not the OP, I was just conveying what I've found to him so that he may know what to expect.

Then either pay big bucks for a bandwidth aware scaling streaming solution, or store everything in 3-4 different bitrates.

You are either going to have to use the lowest setting that works globally, or have multiple levels of complexity to max out image quality based on unknown locations.

Exactly the conclusion I came up with. That's why I just take my portable drive with me when I go on trips now, as stated above..

 

[adi]

It's not hard at all, and that's what I do. Remember, I'm not the OP, I was just conveying what I've found to him so that he may know what to expect.



Exactly the conclusion I came up with. That's why I just take my portable drive with me when I go on trips now, as stated above..

Sorry about that, the way you were responding made it sound like you were OP.

My solution is the same. I have a 500GB laptop drive in a USB powered external enclosure for important stuff, and a 2 bay AC powered USB enclosure with 2x 1.5TB drives for less important things. 95% of my time away from home I just use the USB powered drive, saves the hassle of finding the AC adapter and outlets for the larger external drives.

 

[Computurd]

well hell that makes it all complicated and shit. MUHAHAHAHA i love it being complicated!

seriously though heres the deal: i have abandoned streaming my videos over the net. so what would be the best conversion program for the existing videos that i have on my rig? i have a ton of video files in a number of formats and i need to consolidate all of them into one format. Which i think MP4 has the most compatibility. And it will work with my PS3 on my home network.
Open to other suggestions of possible formats, but the key here is tons of different formats, and i need a good program to convert them all permanently into one standard format.
any ideas on the best proggy?

EDIT: hey guys the reason i wanted to stream is to share with family members. By setting up a guest account on my server. i have 14 brothers and sisters, and they all have 5 or 6 kids etc etc. large extended far flung family. would be perfect for sharing/streaming video and pics. one central repository for everybody.
but fuck the video streaming. i need to consolidate my existing formats.

 

[adi]

If you're consolidating formats to stream to other households outside your own home network, then I would use something like handbrake with a setting for iPod or mobile devices. This would be the only way to allow multiple people to access your internal storage reliably.

If it's homemade movies, use youtube or other service for video, and any one of the photo sharing sites for pictures. This removes your ISP's bandwidth from the bottleneck, removes a fuckton of work on your end, and adds a few thousand percent in reliability, in addition to not potentially losing entire family's digital memories.

If you're wanting to be a central repository for streaming copyrighted video to multiple people, just be aware that a proposed law makes it a felony, and is something that us helping you set up is against the TOS.

 

[Red Falcon]

nvm

 

[Red Falcon]

nvm

 

[Computurd]

If you're wanting to be a central repository for streaming copyrighted video to multiple people, just be aware that a proposed law makes it a felony, and is something that us helping you set up is against the TOS.

i have said repeatedly that this is for my home videos, like my son being born 6 months ago. none of it is copyrighted. except by me (EDIT: I should have been more clear, it wasnt stated above that the videos were all family vids)
YouTube is a good idea TBH but then anyone can access it right? dunno i dont post shit to youtube.


@Red Falcon-
I have a quad core AMD 965 to do encoding on in my server. It should suffice. If not i could throw one of these unused gtx 280's on there and use the badaboom, now that is a damn good idea. thanks for it.

no need to re-rip the videos, they arent ripped. I have a HD camera and cant do retakes of these family events LOL.

actually i will just use adobe. i have the CS5.5 master edition.

 

[Red Falcon]

Yes, badaboom with your GTX280 will be much faster and efficient than using your CPU and CS5.5.

It's funny, helping you on this thread and debating on another.

 

[adi]

i have said repeatedly that this is for my home videos, like my son being born 6 months ago. none of it is copyrighted. except by me i dont appreciate your insinuation.
YouTube is a good idea TBH but then anyone can access it right? dunno i dont post shit to youtube.

Only reference to home videos is you talking about the format your camera records in. Nothing else in the thread to specify home videos. Only major reason not to use services like youtube is if it is copyrighted material. Now that you have clarified that it's home videos, it opens up the discussion. I know a few people that rip kids movies and tv shows and share with extended family, and that was what I thought you were trying to set up.


From http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=157177:
If you would like to limit the exposure of one of your videos, you can set it to be a Private video. If your video is set to Private, only you and up to 50 other users who you invite to view the video will be able to see it. The video will not appear on your channel, in search results, or in playlists etc.

Since you want to make it available to 14+ people pretty much anytime, youtube is a great solution.

 

[Red Falcon]

From http://www.google.com/support/youtub...?answer=157177:
If you would like to limit the exposure of one of your videos, you can set it to be a Private video. If your video is set to Private, only you and up to 50 other users who you invite to view the video will be able to see it. The video will not appear on your channel, in search results, or in playlists etc.

Since you want to make it available to 14+ people pretty much anytime, youtube is a great solution.

Yes, youtube is a good, cost effective solution, and since your upload speed is 6Mbps, it will make sending the videos to youtube very fast.

 

[Computurd]

It's funny, helping you on this thread and debating on another.

Us disagreeing on one issue doesn't mean i dont like you, Red

u would like to limit the exposure of one of your videos, you can set it to be a Private video. If your video is set to Private, only you and up to 50 other users who you invite to view the video will be able to see it. The video will not appear on your channel, in search results, or in playlists etc.

Since you want to make it available to 14+ people pretty much anytime, youtube is a great solution.

i did not know this, excellent advice. You are right i did not specify the type of videos. So you were right to assume that. sorry! thought id covered that.

Yes, badaboom with your GTX280 will be much faster and efficient than using your CPU and CS5.5.

i was thinking the same thing, i just never use this CS software that is for my work that much.
Now, the tester in me wants to test the difference between single GTX280 and SLI.
I have 2 that are setting here. interesting. And my array is going to be pretty UBER, using a 9211-8i and some 2tb disks, and a bunch of 500 GB WDs....should be fun to do.

 

[Red Falcon]

nvm

 

[fventura03]

I run AirVideo, it transcodes on the fly my movie/tv show collection to my iOS device while I am with a data connection, my wife also uses it to watch our recorded tv shows on...

it works really good and I have a 25mbps/5mbps FiOS connection. I have my device to stream at 1000kbps and the quality is pretty good.

while at home, I stream just regular through MoCA since my house isn't hardwired for ethernet... It works really well, I can't really stream anything over 720p on my wireless G laptop.

but I think if you're just wanting to share your home videos, youtube would be good, just make them private. the only drawback is that your family members would need the URL to each and everyone of your videos.

AirVideo would be a good alternative for you also, it plays any video files, the only thing is that your family members need an iPhone/iPad or a Mac to view the files...

my WHS is a little old core2duo and it does very well in transcoding even 1080p on the fly.

 

[Red Falcon]

nvm

 

[eqwalker]

One program you might want to take a look at is Subsonic.org. I run it on my WHSv1 server and it has the ability to stream audio as well as video remotely with it. It will also transcode on the fly.