Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

What's in a Typical Geek Home Network?

Posted by Cliff on from the more-esoteric-than-hubs-and-workstations dept.

Mike D asks: "I have several machines on my home network (A Mac OS X server, a few Windows XP desktops, a G4 workstation, etc.) as well as various devices (wireless base stations, VPN/firewall) and always have spare machines around that I'm torn on what to do with. So, I wonder -- what do 'typical geeks' have on their home networks? What items do you feel are a requirement, what are luxuries, and what is just cool stuff that I should integrate into my own network? Of course, suggestions should be cheap/free/use existing hardware I can find around the house."

1 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Typical Geek Home Network? No such thing. by dougmc · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Typical Geek Home Network? Well, there is no such thing.

    The geekier you get, the more varied you'll find the network to be. On the non-geek side, things are probably pretty standard -- at least one computer (probably not more than two or three, however), maybe a cable modem router, printer, etc.

    On the extreme geek side, you'll probably find many computers, of various types, running various operating systems. There is no real `typical' -- for the real geeks, every network will be different. If needed, there may be wireless stuff -- either WiFi or something similar, or maybe something done with ham radio or Cybiko terminals, for example. His fridge may be part of the network, allowing him to see how cold his caffinated beverage of choice is. (Though that's not really as cool as one might think, so many geeks skip that sort of show-off thing.)

    If there's WiFi, you may find antennas outside, where the neighbor (or fellow geek a mile away with a high gain antenna) has been invited to share in the bounty.

    have spare machines around that I'm torn on what to do with.
    Well, it depends. If you want to be a true geek, you'd already know the answer to that question -- and the answer would depend on you.

    If you're just a wannabe geek, you'd install a different OS on every one (probably all Windows based (95, 98, XP, 2000, etc.) if that's all you know), hook them all up, leave them powered on all the time (sucking up lots of power for the machines and for cooling if it's hot where you live) and then tell all your friends how cool you are, while you probably never touch them again.