For a description of my home network, visit the following posts Home Network and Home Network - 2.
Gist: 2 laptops, 2 desktops with a linksys WRT54GL (for wireless n/w and 4 port ethernet switch) and DLINK-502-T for ADSL connectivity.
The 160MHz machine desktop is likely to come back from the hardware vendor with some I/O chip replaced to rectify the problem with it (hopefully). Now, I'm wondering if it can serve as some kind of NAS - network attached storage.
Obviously, it's under-powered in terms of CPU and memory, but it may be worth giving it a shot. I honestly know that I'll get fed up of it in a few moments and throw the junk out given it's possible pathetic performance with just that hardware configuration.
At the moment, I don't have any other real "technical/scientific" use that I can put it to. The only thing that still bothers me is that such a desktop will need uninterrupted power supply for functioning without data loss during power outages. And, a UPS is certainly not on top my priority list at the moment.
Anyway ...
Oh, BTW, this is nothing when compared to what some "uber geeks" have ;-)
Showing posts with label network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label network. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
Home network - 2 (external HDD casing and others)
Further to my earlier post about the "Home Network", there's been very little progress.
The service vendor has told me that the other machine will require some I/O chip change that should cost about Rs.600. I'm double minds as to whether I should get it repaired or not, 'cos I don't have a HDD anyway (still need to salvage the HDDs that were diagnosed faulty). Getting a new one will cost me around 2K, but then it's a pretty slow machine. The only reason that'd make me get it repaired is to ensure that the vendor hasn't knocked off parts off the machine - not that there's anything really worthwhile in it ! (suspicious mind)
I got an external HDD casing from Supreme Computers (in Ritchie Street) over the weekend for Rs.600/- and plugged in my 200GB HDD into it. It's both convenient and cumbersome at the same time - convenient to move, cumbersome 'cos it needs external power. The casing heats up quite a lot - need to read up on whether it's indeed safe to do things this way. I'm yet to figure out how to get tiny holes onto the aluminum casing so that while they do work as an outlet for heat escape, they are not large enough to allow too much dust or insects inside.
And, I heard from Supreme Computer folks that it's not easy to get an external casing for converting internal DVD drives to external - their claim is that it's usually ridden with problems. Need to check that out. The DVD writer is currently on a machine with 633Mhz Celeron processor with 192MB RAM and 2GB HDD - certainly not the best location for efficient processing.
Next on list is research on actual external HDDs to understand their benefits (safety, reliability, ...).
It certainly is much more easier not to bother with computers at all :) :)
The service vendor has told me that the other machine will require some I/O chip change that should cost about Rs.600. I'm double minds as to whether I should get it repaired or not, 'cos I don't have a HDD anyway (still need to salvage the HDDs that were diagnosed faulty). Getting a new one will cost me around 2K, but then it's a pretty slow machine. The only reason that'd make me get it repaired is to ensure that the vendor hasn't knocked off parts off the machine - not that there's anything really worthwhile in it ! (suspicious mind)
I got an external HDD casing from Supreme Computers (in Ritchie Street) over the weekend for Rs.600/- and plugged in my 200GB HDD into it. It's both convenient and cumbersome at the same time - convenient to move, cumbersome 'cos it needs external power. The casing heats up quite a lot - need to read up on whether it's indeed safe to do things this way. I'm yet to figure out how to get tiny holes onto the aluminum casing so that while they do work as an outlet for heat escape, they are not large enough to allow too much dust or insects inside.
And, I heard from Supreme Computer folks that it's not easy to get an external casing for converting internal DVD drives to external - their claim is that it's usually ridden with problems. Need to check that out. The DVD writer is currently on a machine with 633Mhz Celeron processor with 192MB RAM and 2GB HDD - certainly not the best location for efficient processing.
Next on list is research on actual external HDDs to understand their benefits (safety, reliability, ...).
It certainly is much more easier not to bother with computers at all :) :)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Home network
Thanks to the long weekend, I got a chance to spend some time with a hardware service vendor on saturday in repairing (or trying to repair, as mentioned in my previous post) my two home desktop machines.
Result - work in progress :
* Two 20GB HDDs diagnozed dead or not fit for complete use. Now, I'm doing the research on how to salvage those for some kind of use.
* One machine's (Pentium II) motherboard is suspected to have problems. Needs more diagnosis by the vendor.
Luckily one of the machines has been recovered. Albeit I'm now running it with a 2GB (my first machine's HDD, way back from 1997) and a (more recent, as of last year) 200GB HDD combo :)
I think the two 20GB HDDs conked 'cos I haven't bothered using any sort of UPS for a long long time. Need to get one, I'm looking for recommendations.
Salvaged computer spec - 600MHz-P3-Celeron/192MB-SDRAM/2GB&200GB-HDD/DVD-RW/Ethernet/1.44MB-FDD
Other one (trying to be salvaged) - 160MHz-P2/64MB-SDRAM/CD-R/1.44MB-FDD
Still wondering if I actually need a core desktop upgrade - cpu/motherboard/memory/...
Other installed gear - DLink-502T, Linksys-WRT54GL
Things in pipeline:
* UPS
* External casing for internal DVD/CR drive
* External hard disk drive (or) external casing for internal HDD (if available)
* Wireless LAN card (if second machine becomes operational)
Keeping my fingers crossed on how the whole thing will turn out and how my home network will look in the near future.
What do you have at home ?
Result - work in progress :
* Two 20GB HDDs diagnozed dead or not fit for complete use. Now, I'm doing the research on how to salvage those for some kind of use.
* One machine's (Pentium II) motherboard is suspected to have problems. Needs more diagnosis by the vendor.
Luckily one of the machines has been recovered. Albeit I'm now running it with a 2GB (my first machine's HDD, way back from 1997) and a (more recent, as of last year) 200GB HDD combo :)
I think the two 20GB HDDs conked 'cos I haven't bothered using any sort of UPS for a long long time. Need to get one, I'm looking for recommendations.
Salvaged computer spec - 600MHz-P3-Celeron/192MB-SDRAM/2GB&200GB-HDD/DVD-RW/Ethernet/1.44MB-FDD
Other one (trying to be salvaged) - 160MHz-P2/64MB-SDRAM/CD-R/1.44MB-FDD
Still wondering if I actually need a core desktop upgrade - cpu/motherboard/memory/...
Other installed gear - DLink-502T, Linksys-WRT54GL
Things in pipeline:
* UPS
* External casing for internal DVD/CR drive
* External hard disk drive (or) external casing for internal HDD (if available)
* Wireless LAN card (if second machine becomes operational)
Keeping my fingers crossed on how the whole thing will turn out and how my home network will look in the near future.
What do you have at home ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)