On 13/08/2011, at 11:08 AM, Leo Bicknell <bickn...@ufp.org> wrote: > Beyond that, a nice home file server, rsynced to something in a > real data center each night. This a combo of backup plus high speed > access no matter which side of the home connection you are on. I > currently use a PC I built myself, which is good, but I would like > something that uses less power. I'm looking hard at a Mac Mini > "server", with an external RAID (perhaps 2x3TB drives, RAID 1) as > I think it will draw even less power, but I'm not sure yet. > > You might notice a trend with me, low power, which means low heat > output and long runtime on UPS, fanless so no noise, small footprint. > Gotta have GigE to every room wired for desktops, printers, cameras, > TV's, playstations, etc. Netgear 5 port switches are awesome, > lifetime warranty, small, cheap. > > The holy grail I'm searching for now? A GigE switch with POE, > unmanaged is ok, and probably preferred from a price perspective; > but with NO FAN.
We moved overseas and power/space/cooling is harder to provide so out with all of the rack-mount gear, in with the efficient and small stuff. I had a 42U rack at home full of various kit that I'd collected. Much of the rack mount went to work where I've squirreled it in to a closet and use it to archive my mail -- much cleaner solution than the crap (Exchange with mandatory automated archiving) that IT provides. @home: X-Serves running OS X Server became Mac Mini's without much fuss. Rackmount Cisco 35xx's became 3560's (fan less) and I added a small Netgear GigE switch. Moved away from the Nokia IP380 running pFsense and back to a Soekris. By far my favorite addition was a used QNAP from Ebay. 6 Bays - holds 4 x 2TB drives currently and has my movies, music, laptop backups, family pictures, and so forth... QNAP client for the iPad has saved many a fight over the TV. Still working on the Asterisk server to power the VoIP phones -- moving from a 4U rack mount intel to a dedicated G4 mac mini. Also bought a Intel Solo Mac Mini for cheap and upgraded the processor to a 2.33Ghz Intel Duo -- fun project and dedicated the box to PLEX in the media center. jy
