Client - Server TV with CableCard

I've been out of the market for a few years, and boy have things changed in some ways, and not at all in others. Makes my head spin and I'm hoping you guys can help narrow down some things for me.


I currently have 4 rooms where I want to watch TV. I presently have two Tivo HDs, and two Verizon FIOS cheap tuners which do Composite video. One of my Tivos is dying a slow and painful death and I'm looking for new options now that it's coming close to bonus time.


In my HT, I have a small closet, so I have room for a server. Ideally I'd like to use a single server and put all my tuners in there and get some M CableCards and hopefully be able to handle 4 simultaneous channels for live or recording. Since this is where my projector wiring terminates, this server can output HDMI to my HT, but it's not a firm requirement.


Then I'd love to have a box at each TV which can access the server. Be it for live TV, recorded TV, ripped movies (XViD, MKV), and optionally audio (MP3, FLAC).


I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and doing a unix installation if it's the best option.. I've been running Linux since the 0.99 kernel. But I don't mind running windows or an appliance if they're better in this area.


I see that I can run Windows Media Center on Win7 and use Linksys 2100s as media extenders... but I'm not sure if that's my only option. It seems like MCE is 2007 technology that has never advanced, which worries me. SageTV seemed like a good alternative, but then Google bought them and now I'm not sure. Any other options?