[AG-TECH] Access Grid Hardware/Software Questions

[Todd Zimmerman]

On 02/25/2011 06:29 AM, Jonathan Klubek wrote:
> My group at our university was recently tasked by one of our departments
> to construct an access grid facility (this facility will also function
> for other types of conferencing and classroom needs also). After much
> reading we have determined many pieces we need to get including things
> such as several ClearOne, Crestron and Extron products to control the
> various audio and video pieces ranging from scaling windows on the
> projectors and switching sources to mixing and cancelling echo on the
> microphones on the various tables. The problem we are running into in
> examining everything is with the access grid machine itself. We have
> looked at the technology and many of the pieces of hardware are many
> years old and we are seeing possible issues with integration as things
> such as PCI are replaced with PCI-e.
>
> We are looking at going with a Dell Precision workstation T7500 to be
> the access grid machine and have thought about adding more memory and a
> second processor to it (remember that it will serve multiple purposes. .
> My questions are the following:
>
> 1.I see that the software is listed for Linux, OS X, and Windows. We
> most likely will be going with Windows so we can support Microsoft Link
> also. This software is listed for Windows XP but does it work with
> Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit. This is extremely important with Windows XP
> support coming to a close. Also, with the increased resources we plan to
> use it may be necessary to use 64-bit to take advantage of things such
> as 4+ GB of memory.
>
> 2.As mentioned before the technologies listed are out of date. We are
> especially seeing this with the video capture cards and audio cards. I
> was wondering if the following would be supported:
>
> a.SoundBlaster X-FI XtremeMusic (D)w/Dolby Digital 5.1 (this was the
> card option on the Dell) – if not is there a newer card than the one
> listed that is? We will of course need to integrate with our other products.
>
> b.Datapath VisionRGB-E1 PCI-e RGB/DVI capture card
>
> c.Osprey Osprey-450e PCI-e Analog video capture card
>
> If not we are looking for several recommendations of much newer
> technology that is supported as we see this to be extremely important.
>

Yes, the spec's you find on line are generally outdated.  For the rooms 
I build out, I'm generally going with Blackmagic cards (so I can do HD 
if required) and having at least one HD camera (EVI-HD1 or EVI-HD7V). 
For SD capture I usually go with something cheap like a Hauppage Impact 
VCB, though these are PCI and single input only.  SD cameras I go with 
Sony D70 or D100's.

For echo cancellation, I've been using the Biamp Nexia (or Audia for 
larger spaces) and have been extremely happy with them, though they are 
a little more complicated to program.  The Nexia TC (and the Audia) come 
with telco in also, so that is a nice way to bridge in telephone audio.

For mics (depending on budget) I'm loving the Revolabs wireless ones but 
they are expensive.

Dell T7500 or T3500 are hat I'm looking at for a current build out.

Audio card you need to be a little careful with as RAT is not the most 
up to date software - so some of the newer cards won't work with it 
occassionally.  I've used a Asus Xonar DX and have been generally happy 
with it.

I know some people are running AG on Windows 7, though I'm not sure if 
it is a straight install or if there were some minor tweaks required to 
get it going.  There is some info at http://www.accessgrid.org/node/1976
Not sure about 64 bit specifically.

We usually have an HD H.323 unit as part of the room also.

For us, these rooms are not just 'AccessGrid' rooms, they are 
collaboration rooms - so I'm always trying to support as many possible 
collaboration tools as possible.  H.323, AccessGrid, Skype, 
Gotomeeting/WebEx, telephone, (possibly Vidyo...), whatever.

Todd

--
Collaboration & Visualization Specialist
UBC Okanagan ITServices - http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/itservices/
WestGrid - http://www.westgrid.ca
Compute Canada - http://computecanada.org
Todd Zimmerman | 250.807.9979 | todd.zimmerman at ubc.ca