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Apartments for Techies?
thedistance asks:
"I'm wondering if anyone has heard of companies retro fitting any
of the failed telecom hotels for apartment use? It sure would be nice
to find an apartment complex that was designed just for the tech
croud with a fiber/cat5 infrastructure throughout. It sure would make
it a lot easier to setup highspeed internet access, video on demand,
and wlans... not to mention an easy way to borrow the spare NIC from
your neighbor... (we can just leave the sugar borrowing to the rest
of the non-techie world)" If you know of an apartment complex
offering high bandwidth, please post a comment, below. Aside from
bandwidth, what other amenities would make an apartment complex ideal
for the high tech worker in the 21st Century?
Network connectivity is nice, but the basics need work: Power protection & monitoring, environmental management, etc. You need to include a UPS with backup power generation, air conditioning, & facilities for monitoring.
Build a computer room so that tenants can have so many RU's of space in a cool clean powered room with security. A relay closure interface so that your gear can handle blackouts cleanly. Stick your servers there and X/VNC/whatever from your apartment.
As a student at McMaster (Canada) there's a tonne of houses around the University that are 'swiss cheesed' with wires running here and their through walls, taped to walls (God bless duct tape) baseboards or anything else you can think of.
To break away from university life - but who would want to - you are going to have to move into a new complex. Who can afford a new home though, not this poor student?
The cheapest and most efficent way I'm sure is to get a dedicated line, T3 perhaps and share the bandwidth with other neighbours in the area (5, 10 people should bring the bill down). Check contracts for that though, some providers don't like you networking too many computers because you turn into an ISP. Don't get your connection though them if that's the case.
Competition is great.
Cheers.
Switch when you can, route when you must.
He's unlikely to get more than 10Mbps in, and a Pentium 90 running FreeBSD can route and NAT to saturate a 10Mbps link. All he needs is to switch each apartment with 100Mbps switchs with 1Gbps uplink, switch the 100Mbps switches with a 1Gbps switch, and plug the router into that switch complex to route traffic out over the ADSL line. Another advantage of using a FreeBSD/Linux box at that level is that you can firewall... in fact, you could firewall for the clueless users and punch holes in the firewall for those who want it...
What sort of firewall do they provide, or are they the targets of the next DDOS kiddies?
Wow. I've got a few points of view on this. My first reaction? None, hopefully. When I buy access - that what I want, RAW ACCESS - Each user should provide their own security, I can certainly run my own damn network. Now for the reality. This won't work unless you live in a complex full of people in the know about network security/admin'ing. I know that I certainly dont trust my current bozo neighbor to provide ANY security except the never updated norotn anti-virus prog he runs. Which would of course leave a shared link open to rampant abuse. I dont want my bandwidth killed because his computer is busy sending gargantuan pings to me or the target of some ddos'er. So I would say that some sort of firewall should be provided. But by the same token, I dont want my ports filtered, blocking services i want to run, I mean, who wants to spend a month trying to convince the landlord to call the network guy out to open up some port... I wish you could be cited for a blatant security problem (read: email virus propagators)that affected other users, then be banned from the network until you attended some basic security class and proved your network was at least decently secured....
.sig wanted: Must be concise, funny, and display my cleverness.
Anyway, he has an unusual approach to running his business. He doesn't rent out whole apartments or houses. Instead, you rent a bedroom and you agree to help take care of any common areas. The whole business evolved out of the hippie commune the landlord himself lived in back in ancient times.
Anyway, one of the perks of renting from this guy is free DSL service. Which turns out to be his main way of keeping his tenants in line. Fall behind on the vacumming, or allow the kitchen to get too toxic, and the DSL goes away until things improve. Now that is social engineering!
- High Speed Internet (1.5 - 10Mb+)
- Building Area Network (100Base Switched)
- Server Room (Racks, UPS, Cooling)
- Exercise room and equipment
- Common Room (Big HDTV, THX Sound system, etc.)
- Game Room (Pool table, Fussball, etc.)
- Outdoor Party Area (Pool, Bar-B-Que, etc)
- ???
Any sgguestions?Here are some of the items that I would look for in the ideal apartment setting (tech or not)
Sound Dampening:
There's nothing like the rumble of Quake at high volume, but don't inflict it on me in the wee hours of the a.m. I would want to protect my neighbor from my own noise as much as I would protect myself from his. Abundant sound dampening would be a big plus.
Air Filtration:
With all of the different lifestyles (smokers, non-bathers, obscure candle lovers) I want to make sure that I only get the scents that I invite into my apartment. I currently have neighbors who smoke like chimneys, and it has seeped into every fiber of my carpeting. Then they installed a bunch of air ionizers, so now my apartment smells like a mix between an ashtray and a public pool.
Multiple Multi-Connector Outlets:
You can never have enough power/cable/telephone outlets.
No Exterior Stairs:
Either give every apartment ground floor entry, or provide an elevator. The stairs should be an emergency exit only. I've had too many drunk neighbors stumble home late at night.
Package Safe Deposit:
I hate getting home to find a note that the office is holding my package. I have to plan my day around the office hours so I can get my shipment of penguin reds. Not good. Give me a large safe deposit that I can give the FedEx/UPS guys access to.
Thick Window Coverings:
Most apartments come with your typical set of slat blinds. These are great until you try to watch a movie on your big screen at 5 pm and find the glare obscuring your view. The ideal apartment would have blinds capable of completely shutting out outside light sources.
Independent Hot Water Heater with Large Capacity:
Let me adjust my hot water to the temperature that I like, and make sure that I never run out. Same goes for the HVAC system.
And for the ideal techie apartment I would add
Electronics Closet:
An extra closet with a monster UPS/Line filter. Run all of the CAT-5, speaker, KVM, S-Video, etc. cables here. This is where I would keep all of my A/V equipment, big iron/Beowulf Rack, High Bandwidth uplink, and a router. This room would also need an independent temperature setting, as all of this equipment will be generating a lot of heat.
Pre-Routed CAT-5:
I don't want my apartment complex supplying my internet access, as I wouldn't put my faith in their capabilities. But if they would run CAT-5 throughout the apartment and leave the connections exposed next to the washer and dryer so I could hook up a router: fabulous.
Pre-Routed A/V wire:
Run speaker wire throughout the apartment. Run S-Video/Optical/and component outs throughout each room as well. Make sure the outlets are on multiple walls on each room so I have a choice of where to put my equipment, but also provide covers so the unused ones aren't exposed.
Remote Control Extenders:
Since all of my A/V equipment is in the closet, I'll need some RF/IR repeaters to get my remotes signal in there.
Our business in Madison, Wi does exacly that! we offer short term corporate housing with resort style services, including free broadband in every apartment, as well as internet appliances, computer room, etc.
Sig this.
Must be speaking of the pricey lofts on Peachtree St. The sign out front says each apartment has T1 access (Shared I assume, doesn't sound so spiffy these days). I just bought my own house in about 2 miles from 5 points and I'm in the process of running gigabit ethernet (2 outlets to every room in the house). When I can find a fellow techi with the same aspirations as I, there'll be a 1.5mbit SDSL as opposed to the current ADSL (DirecTV DSL). At my last place (Post Renaissance) They had a wireless WAN for the entire complex but my former roommate and I opted for Speakeasy DSL (The best I've delt with so far) with 3 static IPs. We had cat5 running throughout the place (it was a mess).
-Narff
Most areas around large colleges have apartment complexes with such wiring...so far the ones I've seen though really aren't worth living in. The apartments themselves are overpriced, generally crappy, and you're very likely to end up with 3-4 rather noisy and inconsiderate neighbors. The "broadband" access they offer is usually a T1 or 3 for the complex...or in some cases complexes. The one I lived at had our bandwidth capped at 150 k/s (up and down) and during the day and peak hours our rates would drop to sub dialup rates (2 k/s and less)...
there are these Studentappartements over here in Munich/Germany. It is sooo great, they are a bit out of the city and every room has their own Lan-Connection (I think the Uplink is a shared T1 as well). Whats more theres a cigarette machine in the lobby and a 24/7 Store in every building. In the basement there are different kinds of pubs, cafes and partyrooms, it is so great that i almost wish i would study something. People really live together in there, they learn, eat, hack, and party together...
;-)
Then again, I live in a small backyard building in munich and we got DSL a few months ago and wiring the old House was a blast and our small Lan is really a lot of fun ever since. Even better, a coworker of mine just wired his own house he was building. He also included a dedicated Serverroom...cost him a bit though
Have a fun xmas everyone...