Difference between revisions of "Architecture Intro"
Perspectoff (Talk | contribs) (→LinuxMCE and DHCP) |
Perspectoff (Talk | contribs) (→The core) |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
==The core== | ==The core== | ||
| − | The '''[[Core]]''' has no user interface (unless it is a [[hybrid]]). It provides services throughout the home | + | The '''[[Core]]''' has no user interface (unless it is a [[hybrid]]). It provides services throughout the home. It acts as the central database cataloging all your media, routes home automation messages and commands, provides net boot images for all the media stations, and can even act as your phone system. You can only have one Core in the house because it is the central point through which all the devices connect. Your Core should generally be left on all the time because if it's ever turned off, all the LinuxMCE functionality everywhere else in the home stops working. |
==Media Directors== | ==Media Directors== | ||
Revision as of 23:44, 4 May 2008
LinuxMCE is divided in two parts: the core (aka the backend) and the media director (aka the frontend).
The core
The Core has no user interface (unless it is a hybrid). It provides services throughout the home. It acts as the central database cataloging all your media, routes home automation messages and commands, provides net boot images for all the media stations, and can even act as your phone system. You can only have one Core in the house because it is the central point through which all the devices connect. Your Core should generally be left on all the time because if it's ever turned off, all the LinuxMCE functionality everywhere else in the home stops working.
Media Directors
Wherever you have a TV you have a Media Director, which is just a PC running LinuxMCE. Generally you do not need to install any software on the Media Directors, because one of the services the Core provides is netboot. This is a feature that almost all PC's have. Through the BIOS setup on any PC, turn on the netboot as the first bootup device. When this setting is chosen and the PC is rebooted, the PC will search the network for a boot image and boots that image as its OS, rather than the OS on the hard drive. In a LinuxMCE network, the Core provides the boot image over the network. The PC that will act as a Media Director acts essentially as a thin client to the Core. This makes it extremely convenient. You can leave Windows, Fedora, or any other operating system you want on your PC's hard drive. When you want to use that PC as a LinuxMCE Media Director, all you do is enable netboot in the BIOS. When you want to use the OS that is stored on that PC's hard drive, you simply reset the BIOS so that the hard drive is again the first boot device. (You can't do both at the same time using netboot. It's one or the other.) A great benefit is that the LinuxMCE software will never interfere with the software or operating system on the hard drive; it's like having 2 systems in one. It also means you only have to install LinuxMCE software on one PC, the Core, and you can have thin client LinuxMCE Media Stations throughout the house. The whole process is fully automated and completely plug and play (it doesn't matter if you don't understand what netboot is all about). The only technical thing you need to do is turn on netboot in the BIOS of any PC you want to use as a Media Director. Your PC manufacturer instructions will tell you how to change the BIOS settings.
A common way to install LinuxMCE is to also install the Media Director software on the same PC that will function as the Core. This is known as a hybrid. In this situation you can use the Core as a Media Director as well, which can be a standalone PC solution. You can still add other Media Directors later on, using the same netboot method described above. A hybrid, like a standalone Core, will provide boot images across a network. The UI (user interface) on all Media Directors looks exactly the same as the UI on the hybrid Core/Media Director. You can't actually tell the difference between the Media Director on the core and a net boot Media Director. But remember, don't turn off the hybrid either, since it is acting as a Core. If you do, all the other Media Directors will stop working.
LinuxMCE and DHCP
It is fairly important that within your LinuxMCE home automation/multimedia network, the Core must be be the DHCP server. The DHCP server allocates IP addresses to all the devices within your home automation/multimedia network. Generally you can only have 1 DHCP server per network. In most cases you will already have a DHCP server somewhere on your home LAN, usually as part of your router. (If you don't have a router and you get a dynamic (changing) IP address from your cable or DSL service provider, the DHCP server is at your cable or DSL provider's central office.)
Your LinuxMCE home automation/multimedia network can be nested within an existing home LAN, leaving some devices "external" to the LinuxMCE home automation/multimedia network. Or you can make your entire home LAN and the LinuxMCE home automation/multimedia LAN one and the same, making every device in your home LAN part of the home automation/multimedia network as well.
When every PC and ethernet-connected device in your home LAN is also part of your LinuxMCE automation/multimedia LAN, then the Core must act as the router/DHCP server for the entire LAN. The DHCP on your existing router (if any) must be disabled and the Core then handles the DHCP functions for the entire LAN.
If you choose the nested "network within a network" configuration, the LinuxMCE Core will act as the DHCP router for the "internal" home automation/multimedia network only. Your existing router would still handle DHCP functions for the "external" home LAN.
The easiest way to do this is to have 2 network cards (NICs) in the PC that will be the LinuxMCE Core. One NIC would connect to the external network (the home router, or perhaps directly to a cable or DSL modem) and gets an IP address from the DHCP of your home router or ISP provider. The other NIC would connect to your home automation/multimedia LAN (through a switch or a router with the DHCP disabled). All your other PC's and devices within your home automation/mulitmedia LAN connect to the switch (or the DHCP-disabled router) and therefore use the Core as the DHCP server.
This is the default configuration that the LinuxMCE's installer expects by default. This is the configuration recommended if you aren't experienced with networking.
In some situations it is possible for the Core to get by with a single network card (NIC), but it is not recommended. For example, if your home has a static, unchanging IP address assigned by your cable or DSL provider, and every device in your home LAN will also be part of your home automation/multimedia LAN, then you will only need one network card. The Core will be the DHCP server for you entire LAN.
In the rare instance when you will have a single PC acting as a hybrid Core/Media Director and do not plan to have any additional devices (i.e. you don't have a home LAN at all), then the Core does not need to be configured to provide DHCP. In this scenario, one PC would act as an standalone Home Theater PC. None of the network capabilites of LinuxMCE would be available.
The Usage Intro explains the concepts about how to use LinuxMCE.
