Slashdot Mirror
What's in a Typical Geek Home Network?
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."
HTPC/DVR ... MythTV
Best thing that we ever did was take one old Pentium box, stuff it full of drives, and set up Second Copy to back up essential files every couple of days.
Turn on the backup box, fire up Second Copy, and an hour later everything critical on our network has been backed up with no work and no thought.
It even syncs directories between the laptop and desktop machines.
Beyond that we have one PIII/Win2K, 1 P4/XP, 1 PII/Win98, 1 linux box, one laptop, one HP5P, one HP 990 inkjet, scanner....
Three Squirrels
Active machines:
:/ ) The switch is connected to a WRT54G WAP/Router (using stock firmware, I've a second WRT54G that I'm playing with the Sveasoft firmware on). This all connects up to the housemate's Cayman DSL adaptor/router.
1 Linux server/workstation (SMBfs, LAMP, etc...)
1 Win2k workstation
1 WinXPPro PVR (hooked up to a 27" TV, BeyondTV)
1 IBM ThinkPad 600 [XPPro](primary system)
1 Apple iBook 600mhz [OSX 10.3.9](on it's deathbed)
1 Dell Latitude D600 [XPPro, FC3](work laptop)
Dead/Inactive
6 Macs (PM6100, PM9600, 2 G3 servers, two classic 680x0-based systems; all operational)
2 dead laptops
2 dead desktops pending recycling
The desktops are all using Intel eepro1000 GigE workstation NICs connected to a cheap GigE switch (I've maxed it out at 60MB/s thruput
As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!
Way back when I used to have a number of Cobalt RaQ/Qube servers running (primarily work related), a couple of Linux servers, router, multiple switches, this, that, the other thing.
.. if Linux gamed well I'd switch it back but it doesn't do I haven't) as well as a few concurrent VMWare Linux instances (for work and fun).
I quit. It was pointless.
Now I get by quite happily on:
Linksys WRT54G wired/wireless router (yes, with the hacked firmware and a spare unit for backup)
An old Linux server that I rarely turn on anymore, mostly as an emergency "oops, I need to fdisk this drive" or "I need to offload these ISO images" and then turn it back off.
A dual opteron workstation (Sun W2100z) with enough RAM and disk space to work as my main gaming rig (which means windows
A relatively old linux laptop (P3-600 Thinkpad X20) running my home server. It is robust, does enough web/email/etc serving for 24/7 needs, has a battery for when the main UPS runs out, can go wireless for hacking in the living room, and in a pinch can go with me (but I don't do this much given I have static services on it).
A decent P4-2.4Ghz laptop that I take on the road with me. Gaming in a pinch. 1 drive has Win2K mostly because I didn't want to use WinXP on 512MB of RAM with an MMORPG. The other drive has various Linux partitions for working remotely.
A wireless/wired Squeezebox (networked audio player) in my living room.
Various wireless cards for guests.
Dual CAT-6 lines I ran to the living room during a remodel that are connected to my closet in the back. I don't use them yet, but figured it would help future-proof the house and once used them for hooking up my desktop out in the living room but decided it wasn't worth it.
Soon to be installed is a wired Vonage broadband VOIP adapter (purchased, not used yet, waiting for my number transfer papers to go through), keeping 1 landline for emergencies.
Outside of my house on the roof is a Linksys WET-11 for bridging my wireless internet connection.
And that is after cutting down!
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
Home automation for sure. Imagine every light and appliance at your command all the time from anywhere.... Robotic camera's that follow the dog back and forth across the back yard all day long.....and you can watch from work. Super Cool!
Need professional pictures taken in the Puget Sound? Hire me!
You're not a geek until you have at least a few items from this checklist:
FDDI used in home LAN
Cabletron brand network gear
Extreme Networks brand gear
Rackmount Cisco network gear
Utilizing a server that's at least 10 years old
4+ kVA UPS
I typed this in w3m. Sorry if the formatting looks bad in mozilla. Here is my list:
I built this system a few years ago. It has a really old NVIDIA card, SB Live!, typical cheap ethernet card, and a BTTV tuner.
This is my laptop. 'Nuff said.
This is my router. It has a 56k modem, 2 ethernet cards, and Wi-Fi. It does NAT, runs in hostap mode as a wireless access point (used only by my laptop)
Now we get to the more "interesting" bits:
I bought this on eBay because I really get a kick out of these machines.
Yes, you heard correctly, it runs Apple's early 90s version of Unix.
This computer was given to me gratis, so I did what any good citizen would do and put Debian on it. It still has Mac OS too.
I also have a few machines which are not on the network and I don't have much use for.
Definately the best use for a home network is media distribution.
You can use cheap Cat5 cable with lots of choices in your architecture and cheap switches, as opposed to shielded audio cables and either shielded composite video cables or coax cable, either of which require a star topology for the "network". While in many cases a central media server containing all content makes sense, unlike with traditional "home media networks" (coax RF or baseband distribution), a centralized server is NOT required.
In theory, a home network can be used for home automation, but good home automation systems are still way too expensive. (X10 is way too limited, but it's the only reasonably economical system so far. I recall reading about a new system being released that is supposed to be as cheap as X10 but much more flexible though.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
(including WinXP machine using Bonjour for Windows)
(internal DNS handled by G5)
(external HD, digital camera, digital video, BlueTooth, iSight, label printer, joystick, etc.)
I do not keep any important data on the Windows box, except for backups of the Mac server that perform automatically to SMB partitions via RsyncX every night. Windows is for connecting to the VPN at work, and for my kids to play PC-only games. My family has accounts that authenticate and mount Windows profiles from the G5 Server, which also manages mobile accounts on the two Mac laptops. Everybody's documents are accessible from every computer, and synchronized with the portable home directories on the laptops.
I manage the laptops pretty heavily with OSX Server, and they can only connect to the Internet via a proxy connection to the G5, which is running KidsGoGoGo to filter Internet content for the kids.
When we move into our new house next year, I'll have a real electronics closet behind my office, where much of the networking apparatus will move. At that time I'll probably pick up a used XServe to be the main server for the household.
Other projects for the future include home automation, home theater, and a g5 iMac for the kitchen/family room.
-ccm
Too much Law; not enough Order.