- Jan 29, 2012
- 37
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- 18,560
Hello, everybody. Nice to be here. 
I have a few questions about my home network setup.
I have several systems I would like to integrate into my network, and I have what I'd like to call "designer's block."
Most of these I've built myself, with the exception of an old XP Pro Dell desktop and an HP xw8400.
I'm wanting to integrate a LAMP server, a file server (it's possible that these could be the same system, given that I can use PHP to upload my backups and etc.), a desktop for each of 2 bedrooms, and a HTPC.
I'm currently on the desktop in my room, and don't plan to reconfigure the hardware in it.
I have enough hardware laying around to have 5 more systems running. Here's a 'checklist' of what's available:
FULL SYSTEMS:
HP xw8400
DELL Optiplex GX280
DELL PowerVault 725N
MOTHERBOARD/CPU/MEMORY COMBOS:
Intel D945GPM/Pentium D 945/2x1GB PC5300ECC
Pegatron IPMEL-BRM/Core2 Q8300/2x1GB 1600MHz
Now I may be able to switch a few things around between these systems, depending on what other parts are laying around, but for the most part, this is what I have to work with.
I'm trying to find the best use of hardware for everything.
Here's what I'm thinking of using:
1.) Optiplex GX280 (P4 2.8GHz/512MB/160GB) as a LAMP stack
2.) xw8400 (Xeon 5150/4GB-ECC) in the dining room as a work terminal AND file server with a 640GB Caviar Blue for OS and programs and 3 500GB Caviar Blues in a RAID 5-like config for the storage server (and possibly linking that RAID array to the webserver somehow [maybe iSCSI or just SMB])
3.) IPMEL-BRM/Q8300/2GB as my HTPC
4.) D945GPM/Pentium D 945/2GB-ECC as spare bedroom PC
All this sounds really good to me, and it gives me some hardware left over to fiddle with, but I'm wondering if I'm over using anything.
I can use pretty much any OS as I have licenses for XP, Vista, 7, Server 08 R2, Home Server 2011, and of course there's always Linux.
I like to get the most out of what I have, and I'm wondering if there's any way to double up on anything, or maybe run a thin client OS on the Optiplex and use it as the HTPC and just use it in a terminal session instead giving me an extra physical computer to do something creative with.
This is just a project, and I hope to get some good solid feedback and some great perspective, as I've never really given my network setup a lot of thought, other than throwing some hardware in a box, installing an OS, and running with whatever I've got.
I know my wording might not be easy to read for some people, but I do my best!
I'll try to respond to any questions or feedback promptly, and can chat on ICQ if convenient.
Cheers!
*EDIT*
Oh, also, I know for a fact that all of these systems have Gigabit NIC's, except for the Optiplex GX280. I'm a fan of gigabit transfer speeds.
And I use netflix, so Linux will probably only be used on servers here, unless there is a silverlight DRM solution for Linux I haven't read about.
I have a few questions about my home network setup.I have several systems I would like to integrate into my network, and I have what I'd like to call "designer's block."
Most of these I've built myself, with the exception of an old XP Pro Dell desktop and an HP xw8400.
I'm wanting to integrate a LAMP server, a file server (it's possible that these could be the same system, given that I can use PHP to upload my backups and etc.), a desktop for each of 2 bedrooms, and a HTPC.
I'm currently on the desktop in my room, and don't plan to reconfigure the hardware in it.
I have enough hardware laying around to have 5 more systems running. Here's a 'checklist' of what's available:
FULL SYSTEMS:
HP xw8400
DELL Optiplex GX280
DELL PowerVault 725N
MOTHERBOARD/CPU/MEMORY COMBOS:
Intel D945GPM/Pentium D 945/2x1GB PC5300ECC
Pegatron IPMEL-BRM/Core2 Q8300/2x1GB 1600MHz
Now I may be able to switch a few things around between these systems, depending on what other parts are laying around, but for the most part, this is what I have to work with.
I'm trying to find the best use of hardware for everything.
Here's what I'm thinking of using:
1.) Optiplex GX280 (P4 2.8GHz/512MB/160GB) as a LAMP stack
2.) xw8400 (Xeon 5150/4GB-ECC) in the dining room as a work terminal AND file server with a 640GB Caviar Blue for OS and programs and 3 500GB Caviar Blues in a RAID 5-like config for the storage server (and possibly linking that RAID array to the webserver somehow [maybe iSCSI or just SMB])
3.) IPMEL-BRM/Q8300/2GB as my HTPC
4.) D945GPM/Pentium D 945/2GB-ECC as spare bedroom PC
All this sounds really good to me, and it gives me some hardware left over to fiddle with, but I'm wondering if I'm over using anything.
I can use pretty much any OS as I have licenses for XP, Vista, 7, Server 08 R2, Home Server 2011, and of course there's always Linux.
I like to get the most out of what I have, and I'm wondering if there's any way to double up on anything, or maybe run a thin client OS on the Optiplex and use it as the HTPC and just use it in a terminal session instead giving me an extra physical computer to do something creative with.
This is just a project, and I hope to get some good solid feedback and some great perspective, as I've never really given my network setup a lot of thought, other than throwing some hardware in a box, installing an OS, and running with whatever I've got.
I know my wording might not be easy to read for some people, but I do my best!
I'll try to respond to any questions or feedback promptly, and can chat on ICQ if convenient.
Cheers!
*EDIT*
Oh, also, I know for a fact that all of these systems have Gigabit NIC's, except for the Optiplex GX280. I'm a fan of gigabit transfer speeds.
And I use netflix, so Linux will probably only be used on servers here, unless there is a silverlight DRM solution for Linux I haven't read about.
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