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Ask Slashdot: Building a Home Media Center/Small Server In a Crawlspace?
An anonymous reader writes "I've decided it's time for me to build a separate machine specifically for use as a Media Center/Small Home Server. My wife and I haven't had cable TV in years, instead relying entirely on Netflix, other streaming sites, and hard copies we've bought over the years. Having just finished ripping our entire media collection (CDs, DVDs, and even our vinyls and VHS with the help of a capture card and some sweet digital voodoo) to a couple HDDs, I'm feeling froggy. Up until now we've been using WDTV Live, and it's been pretty snazzy, but I want to upgrade to a dedicated media machine instead of piggybacking off of my office computer. It'll be a Windows based machine utilizing Plex, and it's going in the crawlspace of the house. The crawlspace in question is unfinished, but I do have a dry concrete slab down there where I can put/mount/assemble something. Cooling won't be an issue obviously, and I am keeping a close eye on hardware specs with regards to moisture. It is still a crawlspace though. What would be a good setup to to house the hardware? Priorities being to safeguard against moisture, vermin, and dirt. Modified PC Tower? Rack? Build an enclosure? Something I haven't considered?
Please assume I'm stubborn and absolutely dead-set on putting it in the crawlspace to avoid the discussion devolving into the 'best' place to put a media machine." Do you have a question to Ask Slashdot? Fire away, with details, using our submissions form.
Please assume I'm stubborn and absolutely dead-set on putting it in the crawlspace to avoid the discussion devolving into the 'best' place to put a media machine." Do you have a question to Ask Slashdot? Fire away, with details, using our submissions form.
Something to keep errant critters from getting to it. And probably something to deal with the occasional bug.
You should also sleeve any cables you have in use, or conduit them if feasible.
One option you may try is utilizing an Intel NUC computer in an industrial fanless chassis (something similar to this: http://www.logicsupply.com/com...). The NUC should be fine for a HTPC and the chassis is designed for usage in harsh environments.
But I have to ask, are you set on Windows? I recently transfered mine over to a linux VM(windows 7 vm previously) and i have a bit of a performance increase. I can direct play at home while a friend or family member transcodes 1-2 streams at once for watching remotely.
OK, granted I know nothing about where you live, but there's those things to consider.
First, info: What kind of crawl space is it? To me, crawlspace brings to mind everything from the enclosed space under a prefab home to interior unused space (or only used for wiring) in large structures.
1) Do you know what the year-round temperatures are in the crawlspace? Depending on type, they can have a lot of variation.
2) Ventilation. If you're sticking a heater down there (which is what this is going to be) it's going to warm up a bit.
3) Insects: Some sort of metal cage to keep out insects would be highly recommended. Something along the lines of a server cage, but with mosquito sized mesh.
4) Small mammals: This is probably best handled by a medium grade wire. Chicken coop wire sort of stuff.
5) Humidity: sorry, can't think of anything, other than be careful.
6) Dust: How are you going to dust it? Or prevent it from getting dusty?
Ideas:
- First off, for keeping it safe, probably be best to have some kind of dual-mesh cage to keep it safe. Outer layer made out of chicken mesh (something like a guinea pig cage would work well too) with a mosquito mesh netting inside it. Should keep the bugs and small animals out, but you'll need to do something to protect the cables.
- As far as heat goes, I'd recommend two things: Firstly, use a fan-less cooling system. Less dust build up, fewer moving parts to break, and less maintenance. Secondly, I'd recommend using a heat sink rated for a lot more heat than you planned. More surface area to dissipate heat. Then you won't have to worry so much about the dust.
Z
Or a certain amount of expendability(I suppose that that is arguably a 'military grade spec' in many contexts).
It is repulsive how nasty a computer can get and, on average, keep right on ticking. Even in polite office environments, they fill with that wonderful grey IT dust over the course of a few years. In the non-air-conditioned houses of heavy smokers, it's a great deal worse and they still tend to survive.
Military or industrial grade stuff, with shock mounts and fanless sealed cases and actual ratings against ingress under power-wash conditions and so on are great if you have really important stuff riding on the continued function of a given computer in a harsh environment; but if it is largely a matter of convenience you might well be surprised how long a more or less entirely normal PC holds out(and, unless you are really overdoing the specs for an HTPC, it may well be cheaper to replace it a few times than buy the hardened version once).
Dear Slashdot, I have a 1 and a 3 and I need add them and make 5. How can I add them together to get 5?
Use the 1 twice?
Is it that area of dirt between the joists and posts in a raised foundation style dwelling?
Yes.
Of course a lot of newer homes go the cheap route and have slab floors.
No, they don't. You can't put a house on a concrete slab in any given environment. You see this construction in places like Phoenix and Vegas because they're deserts and it never gets very cold there and there isn't many problems with flooding or a high water table, but in any place where the ground freezes, you can't use slabs because they'll fracture with the freeze-thaw cycles. So in those places, you either dig deeper than the frost line and build a basement, or you raise the house so it has a crawlspace under it. Crawlspaces are cheaper than digging, but you don't get the square-footage bonus that basements give you.