How many sata ports on MB ?

[jakey]

Hi, currently I have a Dreambox 8k, it has 3 sata ports on the MB, I use one for the Spinning HDD of course and I use another for a 60GB SSD which I use for permanent timeshift. I'd like to try an Ultimo but wondering about the internal sata ports, is the esata a seperate port or is it fixed as part of the back panel ?

Oh yes, any sign of a DVB-T2 tuner ?

Thanks ppl.

[Rob van der Does]

Just out of curiosity: why would you want to use a fast and expensive SSD drive for timeshift?

[jakey]

It's not just timeshift, it's permanent timeshift, ie it's recording all the time, the answer is partly in your question, because it is fast and quiet.

Any answer to my original question ? :)

[Rob van der Does]

It's not just timeshift, it's permanent timeshift, ie it's recording all the time, the answer is partly in your question, because it is fast and quiet.
And you're aware that even the slowest drive would be more than fast enough for that (and even more)?

[basilyoung]

Answer to the orig post is I am pretty sure its efectively a single sata connection, ( I have installed a HD on my Ultimo, but to be honest, I did,nt really look at the time )

[Larry-G]

as far as i can remember there is just the one internal sata port for the HDD no others.

[underzone]

"I use another for a 60GB SSD which I use for permanent timeshift" - Thats a really good idea! SSD's are only £60ish for that size, shame there is only 1x SATA on the Ultimo.....

[basilyoung]

Well, at the end of the day, your 8000 is well kitted out, and I would love to have one at the speck yours is, this being the case, why are you interested in the Ultimo?

[Rob van der Does]

"I use another for a 60GB SSD which I use for permanent timeshift" - Thats a really good idea! SSD's are only £60ish for that size, shame there is only 1x SATA on the Ultimo.....
I still don't think a SSD is a good idea at all, especially not for PST, but of course: do it the way you like.
And you could use the Ultimo's eSATA port (for an internal or external HDD/SDD).

[jakey]

Thanks for replies guys


And you're aware that even the slowest drive would be more than fast enough for that (and even more)?

Lot's of ppl with 8ks use an SSD for PTS, it just works so smoothly with no noise or heat, dunno why you're so anti tbh.


Well, at the end of the day, your 8000 is well kitted out, and I would love to have one at the speck yours is, this being the case, why are you interested in the Ultimo?

Well, I'm a little p!ssed off lately with DMM tbh, their move to closed source for Enigma2 without consideration for how it affects their customers. What really annoys me is the lack of a solution for UK/Italy EPG (and others)and it's always been the same unless something is needed for the German market they just won't bother. The latest OE2.0 has stopped CrossEPG data loading all together now.

Anyway I'm bored and need something new to play with so why not a change to a different manufacturer so I can compare myself :)

[basilyoung]

Well the Ultimo is the closest rival to the 8000, the Ultimo is frankly better surported, The VIX team obviously "live" on this forum, which gives the benifit of direct contact, more to the point, I have never concider,d the SSD as an option, so both of us have benifited from your questions

[Rob van der Does]

Lot's of ppl with 8ks use an SSD for PTS, it just works so smoothly with no noise or heat, dunno why you're so anti tbh.
Only because I don't see any advantage in using an expensive, fast drive where a normal, cheap, slow drive does all the work perfectly. And the constant writing, as is done when using PTS, has a severe impact on the livespan of a SSD (especially if the system doesn't support TRIM; I don't know if that's the case in our boxes).
And I don't know what 'noise' you are referring to, but a good HDD (5400RPM, the kind that is specifically meant for DVR's) can't be heard (unless you hold your ear to the box), while the amount of produced heat isn't noticeable.
And especially if a 'normal' HDD is already in use, it's only overkill to use an other one for PTS.

[jakey]

IMHO your arguments are mainly outdated, did you ever try PTS on your normal spinning HDD ?

You must remember on each channel zap PTS data must be deleted which on a mechanical drive can slow zapping.

As for lifespan, really, you would worry about that ? Can't remember the exact figure but modern SSD will last many millions of hours. Personally if it lasts for 2 years then that is enough for me, by that time capacity will go up and prices will come down and hopefully I will be able to replace all my mechanical drives not only in my STBs but also all PCs. At the moment all my PCs have SSD for the OS, once you try SSD you can never go back.

'Trim' is really not necessary with today's modern SSD even on a Windows PC, all my OCZ SSDs for example have the Sandforce controller which does it's own 'Garbage collection' far more efficiently.

Anyway perhaps better if we agree to disagree :D

[Rob van der Does]

Yeah, I always use PTS on HDD; never noticed any delay.
And SSD livespan is not measured in hours, but in write-cycles.

And of course: we don't have to agree at all: we all do it the way we like. I'm just curious about the reasons behind peoples set-ups if they differ from mine/from my ideas.