Technical Details Behind the LAN-Party Optimized House

New submitter Temporal writes "Yesterday, Slashdot reported on my LAN-party optimized house. But, lacking from the internet at that time were key technical details: How do I boot 12 machines off a single shared disk? What software do I use? What does my network infrastructure look like? Why do I have such terrible furniture? Is that Gabe Newell on the couch? The answer is a combination of Linux, PXE boot, gPXE, NBD/iSCSI, and LVM snapshots running on generic hardware over generic gigabit ethernet. I have even had several successful LAN parties with a pure-Linux setup, using WINE."

Comments

Re:Desk height

[Temporal]

It's a fair criticism. I wanted to make the desks lower but I also wanted the monitors to sit higher when folded up, and the desks were getting stupidly deep, so I had to compromise. In practice, though, people aren't typing at these desks, they're gaming, which in my experience (as someone with some RSI problems) is not as sensitive to desk height.

Haha ...

[vivek7006]

"I purchased 12 copies of Windows 7 Ultimate OEM System Builder edition, in 3-packs. However, it turns out that because the hardware is identical, Windows does not even realize that it is moving between machines."

Re:Your house is great!

[Temporal]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm doing -- PXE-booting the whole OS over iSCSI. I'll edit to make that clearer.

Re:32Mbit = somewhere under 6 in the 3-6 mbps rang

[Temporal]

sonic.net also has 20Mbps or up to 40Mbps broadband on Adsl+2 but 40 is dual line.

Yes, that's what I have. The 40Mbps dual-line "Fusion". Due to distance from CO, it gets 32Mbps, but it is a consistent 32Mbps.

Re:Dude, that's lame

[hpa]

As the author of Syslinux/PXELINUX I found the article rather interesting and enjoyable. :)

Re:Dude, that's lame

[morethanapapercert]

As a former cable monkey and electrician apprentice, I'd like to add, for the love of rich chunky amps, PLEASE know where you're drilling! For most stick built homes, if you need a 100 inch long drill bit, you're doing it wrong. That's long enough to go from the base plate on the second floor, down into the wall cavity on the first floor and into the base plate there. And since you are drilling blind, you could easily drill through power lines or possibly water lines without knowing it. In the case of power lines, it is possible to get seriously hurt, or worse, damage insulation and be totally unaware until the electrical wiring fire occurs later that year. On one job site, a fellow apprentice totally fried his drill when he hit a 220V 40 amp stove line that had been installed for a mother-in-law suite but then abandoned and stuffed in the wall when the prior tenant moved out. Thank you CSA for double insulated power tools!

The right way to do it requires no more than a 36' drill bit. If you are ordering online or with a building supply guy who is savvy, what you are looking for is called a bell hanger bit. They are not only quite long, but very flexible. (being largely spring steel, they snap quite easily if you drill too far off axis though) They commonly come in the smaller sizes needed to run simple low voltage lines like thermostats and door bells (hence the name) but can be found in larger sizes needed to run Ethernet. They are just the ticket for cutting a hole big enough for the outlet box and drilling from outside that, down through the base plate and into the cavity below. You then go downstairs and open another small hole and drill down to the basement. Having an assistant is invaluable when fishing the line, s/he can listen for the fish tape knocking in the first floor cavity if there is any doubt at all where your drill came out.

Even with Plenum rated cable, I'd avoid running it in an air duct if there was any way at all to avoid it. It's better to go around, using an extra handful of meters of cable for the longer route, then it is to have the duct cleaning guy get his brushes tangled in it next year. If you do use the duct anyway, use a grommet where it passes through the sheet steel, not only to protect the cable from being cut by the sharp edge, but also to reduce leakage from the ducts into the wall cavities.