Servers at home

[imiddleton25]

Just wondering how many of you have servers at home or other network gear not normally found in the home.I only ask because the other half thinks i am mad and no one else would have anything like this at home.

 

I myself have a dell 860 quad core xeon with 4gb ram (vmware and 6 vm's)

Cisco Aironet 1230b wireless access point

Cisco 5500 switch

Equiinet netpilot enterprise (Firewall and email server used mainly for vpn to work)

Did have a computer room with 5 workstations (and 4 laptops)on benching round 3 walls (until birth of grandson )now a nursery.

Laser printer.

 

 

or am i just the sad old man she thinks I am.

[FN-GM]

Im not that bad, i have 2 servers. One Server 2003 Domain controller, and a server for virtual machines including a server 2008 domain controller. They are not servers as such just base units.

 

It is sad but hey its how i learn most of what i know

[Steven]

Hi, I have a Domain Controller running windows Server 2003 and that is also a file server and that is linked to nextdoors and my house and we have around 10 pc's joined to the domain

[imiddleton25]

Thats always been my reasoning the things i would like to look at but never get time at work i play with first at home then if any use implement them at work.

Forgot to mention i do have 5 children so it was only one pc each plus my laptop, wifes laptop and a couple of spares. (all old kit given to me or built up from bits and piece's)

[dhicks]

Just wondering how many of you have servers at home or other network gear not normally found in the home.

 

I have an always-on Mac Mini to act as a server - I'm planning to move my email client to it real soon now. It, and my main workstation, are both connected to a UPS, and my main workstation is connected to an external RAID-1 box that makes a most disconcerting buzzing noise when operating.

 

--

David Hicks

[maniac]

I live in a shared house, so on our network we have

 

3 newish PC's

3 Laptops

1 x NDAS 160GB network hard drive

1 x PS3

1 x X-Box 360

1 x Old PC running Server 2003

 

All connected through a Virgin Media 10mbs net connection via an old Buffalo router and an old 16 port switch in the back room.

 

Cabling that lot was interesting as it's a rental house, I can't go drilling holes in the walls and putting in proper fixed cabling, so it's all neatly clipped round the bottom of the skirting boards and run under doors. Luckily it's an old Victorian house none of the doors fit properly so they still close!

 

When I lived at home, I managed to network my PC with one of my friends who lived in the next road, but whose garden almost backed onto mine. We clipped a long BNC cable to the top of the fence, it went through two neighbours gardens without them even knowing! It worked a treat and we could play games against each other from our own houses, chat to each other and transfer files to each other. This was long before broadband internet, so was quite amazing back then!

 

Mike.

[imiddleton25]

You just reminded me we have a couple of psp's and an xbox live(not real hardware its the kids)

And not forgetting my smartphone with wireless internet and email.

[craigy2302]

I have a HP Proliant ML110 (3.3Ghz Dual-Core Xeon), 3GB of ram, and just over 2TB of HDD space...

 

Its not being used for anything that intensive either... just web development, file server, and print server..

 

Although I have thought about setting it up as a domain controller, but passed on it.

[cookie_monster]

Just wondering how many of you have servers at home or other network gear not normally found in the home.I only ask because the other half thinks i am mad and no one else would have anything like this at home.

 

So you popped onto a tech forum and surveyed to reassure your other half you're ok, “look honey all of them have houses full of gear as well”

[EduTech]

Well i still live with my parents so you can probably imagine how much greif i get but i have:

 

16 Port Switch

1 HP Proliant Rack Mount Server - Running Win 2k3 as a DC

1 2k8 Test Bed Server

1 File server, also runs helpdesk and Website

1 Exchange server

 

aswell as all the PC's i have running lol.

 

and going to be buying some form of storage device soon cuz i need some more space lol.

 

Oh i also have my 2x Xbox's... and 1x PS3 running on the network lol

Edited August 6, 2008 by Edu-Tech

[RabbieBurns]

3 x Gentoo Servers of various spec, (Im in the process of decomissioning the eldest) one of which is a 3tb media server which feeds 2x Netgear Eva8000 HD Media players in the lounges . Slingbox so I can watch sky when Im on the move. Each of us has a laptop so the whole house is wireless (had to use 3 access points coz of the 3ft thick walls with lead pipes) and theres also gigabit cabling to the main rooms. 24 port gigabit switch in a rack with 2 of the servers on top of a cupboard, and a APC Smart UPS 1500 keeping it all ticking over. The print trolley has a Laserjet, a colour Xerox laser, and a A3 Deskjet. Edited August 6, 2008 by RabbieBurns

[FN-GM]

3 x Gentoo Servers of various spec, (Im in the process of decomissioning the eldest) one of which is a 3tb media server which feeds 2x Netgear Eva8000 HD Media players in the lounges . Slingbox so I can watch sky when Im on the move. Each of us has a laptop so the whole house is wireless (had to use 3 access points coz of the 3ft thick walls with lead pipes) and theres also gigabit cabling to the main rooms. 24 port gigabit switch in a rack with 2 of the servers on top of a cupboard, and a APC Smart UPS 1500 keeping it all ticking over. Oh and the print trolley has a Laserjet, a colour Xerox laser, and a A3 Deskjet.

 

wow, how many clients?

[RabbieBurns]

just the 6 of us, each with a laptop. The Eva8000's are in constant use no-one really watches live TV now bar news and sport. Host all my domains here, local dns servers etc etc, vpn etc etc.

[webman]

We have 8 computers in the house; including a 1TB FreeNAS server, an Ubuntu server and a GeeXboX media PC that boots over PXE/NFS.

[Jamman960]

I used to have:

 

1x 24 port cisco switch(cant remember the model#)

1x Cisco 2600 series router

1 PC running as a 2k3 server with DC, another running smoothwall, and another running linux. I also had a pc setup with 2003 server and MSSQL along with all the progs needed to run a ragnarok online server for me and a few mates in america - that poor thing was a p3 933 with 1gb of ram, it took 1 hour to get everything stable enough to use lol and the fans were constantly going at full speed.

 

I have no idea how I used to sleep with all that going on

 

Then I moved in with my girlfriend(now wife) - not a chance of taking all this stuff with me I managed to take 1 workstation and 1 laptop with me, the rest is still at my parents

[richard.thomas]

I'm glad to be away from computers! I like the just have a computer that works if I use it at home- don't wanna be messing around with domain controllers, etc.

 

So we have a router connecting mine and my house mates computers together and sharing the internet. Me and another housemate also have laptops which make use of the wireless.

 

Normal setup!

[tmcd35]

I'm reading through this thread thinking you're all crazy, I have a PS3, Apple Airport Extreme, MacBook Pro and a 250Gb USB Hard Drive and Mono Laser Connected to the Airport Router. Thats it!.

 

Then again I am reminded of my first network which I built some 6/7 years back when I first moved into my flat.

 

Basically four old laptops.

 

Laptop 1, Windows 98, USB ADSL Modem, running some software I can't remember the name of to share internet connection. This was my router.

 

Laptop 2, Windows 95, Connected to a Parallel Colour Inkjet. My Print Server

 

Laptop 3, Suse Linux

 

Laptop 4, Windows ME

 

All connected via a Netgear 100mbps 4-port hub using Belkin PCMCIA NICs.

 

 

I am tempted to buy a good media server - maybe a Mac Mini, and the Slingbox looks interesting. Past that I find VMWare on my MacBook Pro does everything I need - Windows XP Pro and Linux From Scratch - so I have no need to litter my flat with noisy server boxes.

[harmless]

ive had to down scale my servers i use to have a load of compaq proliants the old 1s 2 x 4u used as domain controller and file shares had a 4u disk array and 3x 2u for web and other bits all nicely rakced in a dell half height rack

 

now im tied down to a hp ml 110 and virtual servers tho i have a dell 1u for web,

also i have a smoothbox, media center, 3 laptops, cisco 2600 router, 2x gb netgear switches, linksys modem and AP tho changin soon

 

you can never hav too much equipment

[tmcd35]

you can never hav too much equipment

 

I suppose there is two ways to look at it......

 

 

A) your electric bill is through the roof as you drain the national grid to keep your in-home LAN powered up 24/7.

 

B) your heating bill is non-existent as your array of P4 Xeon servers provide better heating than your Economy-7 boiler

[FN-GM]

I suppose there is two ways to look at it......

 

 

A) your electric bill is through the roof as you drain the national grid to keep your in-home LAN powered up 24/7.

 

B) your heating bill is non-existent as your array of P4 Xeon servers provide better heating than your Economy-7 boiler

 

Well you could run an extension lead into next doors house

 

You get to run all your servers and get free heating!!!

[pete]

Think I' ve done this before but hey:

 

Proliant ML115 providing 8 vms (replaced the loud 92mm fan with a silent Nexus one).

Fileserver providing NFS mounts for VMs, MythTV, and a few other odds and ends.

Couple of laptops

HP switch, m0n0wall running on a SBC, router.

 

VMs are your friend - you can have multiple test machines without hammering the electricity bill or taking up unnecessary space. And stay away from ebays network hardware section - it's bad mm'kay?

 

Having a home network to learn / add skills to CV / mess about is essential.

[powdarrmonkey]

You provide your parents with a helpdesk?

[AngryITGuy]

With two kids under three I never seem to get time to use most of the kit I have at home, that plus the fact that I had to move all my kit into the loft to make way for a nursery.

 

Kit at home includes the following:

 

HP Proliant ML110 server running 2003 and a couple of VMs

Two slim line media centre pcs in the two living rooms

A Macbook, Macbook Pro and iMac

Toshiba laptop

Eee PC 701 and 901

Advent and HP desktops

1TB NAS with a 1TB external USB drive for backups

PS3

360 Elite

Wii

Netgear switch

D Link MIMO wirelss router

HP 2600n

HP 2015dn

 

Was lucky enough to redecorate the new place before we moved in so I was able to run cables to all the rooms to make sure they all had network connectivity.

 

Looking through the list above and struggling to remember the last time I used most of the kit I would say it was possibly time to downsize

[RabbieBurns]

... and the Slingbox looks interesting ...

 

Give me a shout if you want to try one out, Ive got one wired into Sky at the moment.

[FN-GM]

never seem to get time to use most of the kit I have at home

 

If your macbook pro is going spare.....