Does anyone know if Ahoutcast or Icecast creates network traffic when there is no input signal to the server?

I was thinking of setting up a Raspberry PI as a server. I would also have a Raspberry PI as a client which would feed an overhead speaker system. I would only run it a couple of hours per day. But I don't want to go to the trouble of shutting down and restarting the units each day.

The PI client would be located in a remote building. The remote building is connected via a T1 circuit and sits on the same subnet as the main building.

Or would there be a better solution?

Get a set of ear buds and plug them into your cell phone. Borking the PA system is a hell of a thing to be fired for.

I have used Shoutcast and Icecast both. Based on the activity in my players (mostly xmms and qmmp), I've seen no indication of traffic except when it's been requested. Both of them appear to be well-behaved.

I haven't done a careful network analysis, though.

Frank, thanks for the information. I guess that means I would have constant traffic as the client would be constantly requesting data even though the server isn't sending any 90% of the time. At least that what I think you are saying.