Re: Any advice for ambitious newbie?

[Andy Laurence <andy@xxxxxxx>]

> What I plan for the new home is to replace the Windows PCs with
diskless
> linux workstations NFS mounting their filesystems from the server,
which
> will eliminate one source of noise and make for a faster bootup. I
> should be able to get the noise down to a minimum using components
from
> companies like QuietPC, such as the Zalman heatsinks and the quiet
PSUs.

If you're only playing MP3s, then you only need an old Pentium.  I
have 
old Pentium machines running at 200MHz without fans, and that's how they
were supplied.  You just need a reasonable sized heatsink.  As
for PSU 
fans, you can run them at 7vdc, or remove them entirely.  I've set
mine to 
7vdc and removed the finger grille which cuts down on cavitation and makes
the machine almost silent.

> I was planning to get X10 MouseRemotes for limited control of the
> workstations, but I guess I will have to stick with cordless
keyboards
> for anything more complex. Does anyone know of alternatives for
> controlling PCs? Should I be looking at IRMan and some kind of
suped-up
> remote like a Pronto? Would this sort of solution still let me send
X10
> signals as well?

I'd suggest IRman as it's more like a hifi from the end-user's 
perspective.  You should be able to find an old hifi remote
somewhere.

> Then all I need is a practical interface. I have two options: use
a
> conventional window manager and get the desktop and apps to use
large
> fonts and icons; or get hold of a bespoke interface such as OEone
> (www.oeone.com). Although the latter looks very nice, I would prefer
the
> former, and I think it shouldn't be too much of a problem under
> X-Windows. Anyone have any advice?

How about removing th graphical display and using a small character
LCD?  
It'd feel more like a normal hifi then, and you wouldn't need to know how
to operate a PC to use it.

> My intention for recording was to go for hard-disk recording. But
rather
> than get a Tivo or other one-box solution, I was thinking of putting
TV
> tuner cards in a couple of the workstations, so that I could record
to
> the server, and be able to watch any recorded programs from anywhere
in
> the house with a screen. Are there serious problems with this
approach?

Usability.  I had the same ideas - why buy Tivo when I can use one of
my 
spare machines and a TV tuner card?  After I bought Tivo, I realised
why.  
It's so simple to use, and SWMBO loves it, even if I do watch more 
motorsport because of it!

> I was also hoping to rip
> any DVDs I own to, say, DivX files on the server so that I could
also
> watch these anywhere in the house. Is this likely to be feasible?

That depends on how many DVDs you have!  Some people here have
hundreds, 
but I have just 16.  At a reasonable quality, you'll need around 2GB
for 
each DVD.  If you have 200 DVDs, that's 400GB of storage, and about a
year 
of encoding!  You'll also need more powerful PCs in each room. 
I'd say 
you should go for the Via EPIA board, as people have used these to play
DivX, and they run almost silent.  The alternative option is a DVD
changer.  The problem with that is you can only watch one film at a
time.

> The obvious alternative might be to have the web interface controlling
a
> streaming server at Node Zero, but as the server will be doing a lot
of
> work as it is, I wanted to move as much processing onto the
workstations
> as I could. Plus, I'm not sure how this would work for the V part of
A/V
> (although I think it could probably be done with VideoLAN). I'd be
> getting into a fair number of streams if I wanted to allow each room
to
> operate independently, which might give me some QoS problems on
the
> network as well as the load issues on the server. Or am I
exaggerating
> the problems?

Have you considered locating all your hardware in Node0 and using KAT5 to
distribute the signals?  It'd solve your noise problem, so you could
go 
for more power on the PCs.  It also means you don't need as many and
can 
distribute a source over multiple rooms without time-sync problems.

Andy
-- 
Building a community network for Bristol
http://consume.andylaurence.co.uk
- updated 04/08
4x4 in town - bog brush for your teeth
NB: Alternate E-Mail - andylaurence at yahoo dot co dot uk

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