Ideas? Media Delivery System on Linux?

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Griffin

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Hi guys!

I've been tasked by my company to setup a Media Delivery System, which I've done but I'm not happy with the solution. I'd like to start moving away from our current Microsoft dependency and delve into what Linux has to offer. What I'd like is comments from anyone who automated something similar or just general banter as to what solutions are out there that I may have missed.

My current solution...using Microsoft XP
I've found free FTP software the periodically check for changes in the media files on our FTP Servers. The FTP software then updates the changes onto the store's PC's. Currently the adverts are in MPEG2 format, and these gets played onto the in-store plasma TV's via software that comes with the outdated RealMedia XCard Video card (also installed).

What I'm looking for...in a nutshell: OS + Software with the ability to play adverts onto plasma or LCD monitors via a dedicated PC and ADSL line to about 100 stores. Streaming is a no-no as quality of the media is important and bandwidth usage is a concern. I am going to be purchasing new video cards, as the RealMedia XCard, doesn't support MPEG4. It does play MPEG1 and MPEG2 though, which it does fairly well. Apparently it does also support DivX, however all the reports I've read say playback is very jerky. I'd prefer DivX playback or a similar compression technology, as file size is an issue currently. We FTP roughly 350Mb of adverts once a month. Doesn't sound like much I know, but when the store you're sending it to has a 1Gb cap it's a lot. Increase the cap you say? Well when the owner is a small business owner (some of them even struggling at times) shoving this solution down his throat isn't something I want to be doing. Hence me thinking to drop the cost of the Microsoft OS.

In a perfect world...
The OS + Software will be free
The media would be automatically downloaded - with periodical checks
The media would be automatically outputted to the Plasma monitor
Remote monitoring and support would be part of the OS
It would be able to run DYNDNS or a similar free DNS updater

A bonus would be:
If it could run the Citrix Client
Supports Microsoft File/Sharing or have a share that could be accessible from a Microsoft OS.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Many thanks
 
This is do-able, just a few questions.

The PC's in the stores, are they yours or do the store own them and the OS that is on them?

If you port everything to linux a few simple cron-jobs could handle everything.

I'm thinking rsync for the client PC's to update the adverts, mplayer to play the files.
Set rsync to check every 24hrs for new content and download it. Set a bash script to instruct mplayer to loop all *.mpeg4 files in a certain directory.

Need something more? Lets hear what the others have to say.
 
Griffin said:
Hi guys!

I've been tasked by my company to setup a Media Delivery System, which I've done but I'm not happy with the solution. I'd like to start moving away from our current Microsoft dependency and delve into what Linux has to offer. What I'd like is comments from anyone who automated something similar or just general banter as to what solutions are out there that I may have missed.

My current solution...using Microsoft XP
I've found free FTP software the periodically check for changes in the media files on our FTP Servers. The FTP software then updates the changes onto the store's PC's. Currently the adverts are in MPEG2 format, and these gets played onto the in-store plasma TV's via software that comes with the outdated RealMedia XCard Video card (also installed).

What I'm looking for...in a nutshell: OS + Software with the ability to play adverts onto plasma or LCD monitors via a dedicated PC and ADSL line to about 100 stores. Streaming is a no-no as quality of the media is important and bandwidth usage is a concern. I am going to be purchasing new video cards, as the RealMedia XCard, doesn't support MPEG4. It does play MPEG1 and MPEG2 though, which it does fairly well. Apparently it does also support DivX, however all the reports I've read say playback is very jerky. I'd prefer DivX playback or a similar compression technology, as file size is an issue currently. We FTP roughly 350Mb of adverts once a month. Doesn't sound like much I know, but when the store you're sending it to has a 1Gb cap it's a lot. Increase the cap you say? Well when the owner is a small business owner (some of them even struggling at times) shoving this solution down his throat isn't something I want to be doing. Hence me thinking to drop the cost of the Microsoft OS.

In a perfect world...
The OS + Software will be free
The media would be automatically downloaded - with periodical checks
The media would be automatically outputted to the Plasma monitor
Remote monitoring and support would be part of the OS
It would be able to run DYNDNS or a similar free DNS updater

A bonus would be:
If it could run the Citrix Client
Supports Microsoft File/Sharing or have a share that could be accessible from a Microsoft OS.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Many thanks
Click to expand...

1. vncviewer (for remote administration or viewing of desktop)
2. Samba for file sharing
3. cronjobs for downloads (you can run a script to check for new files available)
4. dyndns isn't an issue (although that you would do via the router, not on the server AFAIK)
 
You can do dynamic DNS server side:
http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/wiki/index.php/Quick_HOWTO_:_Ch19_:_Dynamic_DNS

There is an Ubuntu one somewhere as well.

Hmmm, vncviewer is nice, but will be functional? I have not been able to see a video playback over vnc, and everything he needs can be done via ssh, so you only really need vncviewer to view the desktop, that doesn't seem important in this case. Or am I missing something?
 
Griffin said:
My current solution...using Microsoft XP
I've found free FTP software the periodically check for changes in the media files on our FTP Servers. The FTP software then updates the changes onto the store's PC's.
Click to expand...

You really need to look into rsync. It does exactly this.

As for the media format, if bandwidth is a concern, but you have dedicated machines in the stores, you can always distribute in a high-compression format and transcode to whatever you need on the client site. I'm thinking something like this:

On the server you have a 'files' directory. This can also be shared via samba so you can just drop stuff into it from windows.

On the client site you have a 'files' directory and a 'media' directory. 'files will be used to sync from the server, say highly compressed .avi files. In the 'media' directory you have, say, .mpg files.

Then, with a bit of scripting, you can schedule a job to see if there are any .avis in 'files' that don't have matching .mpgs in 'media.' If there are, transcode and put the result in the 'media' directory.

The playback side depends on the playback hardware - how does it work? Does the displays play the images themselves off a share, or are they simply dumb screens connected to a PC?

This stuff is a cool project an entirely doable with Linux.
 
Thanks for all the responses guys.

MyWorld > we own the PC's (OS+Software) and the Plasma. And yes, VNC would work, and it's only really required to check logs and such. Currently I run UltraVNC which I find does the job very well.

froot> the reason I'm not running Dyndns off the router is that each store uses different routers, and I've had issues whereby the router doesn't update the DNS address, but the router is still functioning fine. Majority of the stores use the Mecer ADSL router which we seems to have this problem more than most.

Bule > I'm dual booting Ubuntu & XP on my laptop and managed to get Citrix working on it with little headaches, but thanks for the info none-the-less. Any other flavours of Linux that could do the job?

schurtek > Yeah, MythTV caught my attention too. I think however I might be a bit prejudiced towards it however, simply because I've been promising to build myself a media system for home use... I'll look into it a bit more since maybe it kills two birds with one stone.

spiderz > thanks!

koffiejunkie > The Media PC basically plays the adverts via software that uses an XML file as an playlist. I've added the playlist to list of files I'm downloading from the FTP server. The hardware is pretty standard, the PC uses it's Video-out (AV) port (I've tested S-Video and this also works) to display the adds on the Plasma monitor. Basically it's the same as you outputting a movie to a separate monitor, except that in this case it's a plasma monitor. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I don't really need to see the adverts, or what is being displayed on the plasma monitor. As long as I have a log or a visible way to check its playing, then I'm happy. Otherwise I could always just call the store and ask them.

Thanks for the info so far guys. I'll look into RSync and cron-jobs. My experience with Linux is very limited, and I was afraid I'd get some good answers which meant I have to do more research. I blame Microsoft for my lazy behaviour. <What do you mean there is no .msi installer for it? You mean I can't just click next next next?>

So far this seems the way forward
Ubuntu + MythTv (or MythUbuntu) + Rsync + Citrix + VNC (or similar)

Guess my lazy @ss needs into gear (maybe even a linux course to get familiar with bash scripts and such), so I can put these ideas to use.

Thanks for all the feedback so far guys. Much appreciated!

Cheers!
 
Griffin said:
froot> the reason I'm not running Dyndns off the router is that each store uses different routers, and I've had issues whereby the router doesn't update the DNS address, but the router is still functioning fine. Majority of the stores use the Mecer ADSL router which we seems to have this problem more than most.
Click to expand...

Run DynDNS off the PC, not the router... just set up port forwarding on the router.
 
Griffin, the beauty of Linux is simplicity, you do not need vnc to read logs and such you can completely remote control a PC via ssh. Have a look into it, it will make life on Linux much easier if you understand the basic of ssh.
 
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