How to Plan my future re-arrangement

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Fri, 06/03/2011 - 12:11pm

Mike Garcen

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Joined: 1 Oct 2006

How to Plan my future re-arrangement

So here's my current setup:

Main Living Room: HTPC Core i5
Main Living Room: HP WHS2011
Bedroom: HTPC Core i3

The Bedroom HTPC is only on when I'm in the room since I literally can't sleep if i can hear anything, plus it's just not used very often (maybe once every 2 weeks).

Both devices in the Main Living Room are on 24/7

Bedroom is adjacent to the living room FYI.

NOW THE QUESTION:

I'm planning on getting enough parts to build together a more powerful WHS2011 system and get rid of the MediaSmart. So now the big decision is...do i....

Build the WHS2011 box and leave it be, using either an Intel Core i3 or Intel D525MW (if i use this then i'd need an additional PCI card to get more than 2 hard drives) and leave the setup from above basically the same.
Build the "WHS" box instead using Windows 7 and put it in the Main Living Room, and then use something like the Veebeam to get the signal into the bedroom
Same as 2, use Windows 7 but then just run cables (HDMI, USB) from the living room into the bedroom

The benefit of #2 and #3 of course would be one less system to manage. But the downside would be my "Server" would be also shared as an occasional-use HTPC.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I missing an obvious right solution here?

Mike Garcen (shadymg) MissingRemote Editor-in-Chief Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP (formerly Media Center MVP) Twitter @mikegarcen MissingRemote on Facebook

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 12:33pm

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

Why do you leave your main HTPC running 24/7?

If you're considering using Windows 7 in place of WHS, then you're missing out on the items that make WHS unique so I assume you don't really need WHS if this is the case. I assume you are also running Win7 Pro, Ultimate or have some other backup software that will allow backing up to share which is required if you are not using WHS.

You can go with #2/3 if that is really what you want. Just make sure it really is what you want.

Now that the Sandy Bridge Pentiums are starting to come into the market, i3 probably is overkill for WHS unless you have some requirements for the additional power and features of i3. Newegg right now has the G620 Pentium for $78 vs $125 for i3-2100.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 12:38pm

Mike Garcen

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Joined: 1 Oct 2006

I leave it on 24/7 because A) I don't pay electricity and B) I've had awful experience in the past with Standby. But mainly it's "A"

For your other point...I can live without system backups. I can easily share my folders myself. I'm using SyncToy in WHS anyways to backup my important data. And I use RDP whenever I need to login. Only thing I'll miss is the File Sharing, but I can setup a Filezilla server quite easily. What else could I be missing?

And you're right, if it's just a WHS, then Core i3 is overkill...but i can justify that if i'm dual-purposing it in the bedroom

Mike Garcen (shadymg) MissingRemote Editor-in-Chief Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP (formerly Media Center MVP) Twitter @mikegarcen MissingRemote on Facebook

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 12:50pm

(Reply to #3) #4

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

I think WHS can make management much easier, especially once you transition beyond two PCs, but for your case, it sounds like you don't really use or want the functionality provided by WHS.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:06pm

Mike Garcen

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Joined: 1 Oct 2006

i hear what you're saying, and i agree if i had users to worry about and permissions and what not, but it's basically just me & my gf, so it's pretty simple. So i would basically keep the hard drives as they are now and just move em into Win7 once setup, and then basically share the folders the same way WHS does it.

So...what else? What about the setup, Veebeam idea good or bad? or would u go the extended cables route?

Mike Garcen (shadymg) MissingRemote Editor-in-Chief Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP (formerly Media Center MVP) Twitter @mikegarcen MissingRemote on Facebook

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:14pm

George Schmauch

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Joined: 21 Dec 2006

Why not use extenders? Oh yeah... you don't use SageTV.

Back to basics with rule #1: A server is NOT to be used as an "every-day" PC. Shame on you for even suggesting such a thing!

Server: WHS, SuperMicro dual Xeon X7DWE, 1 x Xeon L5410, Thermalright HR-01, 4GB Crucial ECC, 8 port PCI-X SATA, 4 port RocketRAID 2300, 5x1 PortMultiplier, Corsair HX1000W PSU, Lian-Li PC343B case [blog]
Storage: 2 x Addonics 5-in-3 bays, 13TB
Client: SageTV 7, Windows 7 64-bit, Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H, Core2Duo E6600, Zalman CNPS7500, 2GB Corsair, 320GB, HIS ATI 4650, Antec Fusion [blog]
Tuners: 2 x HD-PVR (serial control), 2 x HDHR, USB-UIRT

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:22pm

(Reply to #6) #7

Mike Garcen

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Joined: 1 Oct 2006

skirge01 wrote:

Why not use extenders? Oh yeah... you don't use SageTV.

Back to basics with rule #1: A server is NOT to be used as an "every-day" PC. Shame on you for even suggesting such a thing!

ROFL!!! Normally i would 10000% agree. But it's not, it would be an "Every 4 or 5 days" type of deal Plus it would basically be an extender, so chances of anything corrupting or hurting it would be minimal.

Mike Garcen (shadymg) MissingRemote Editor-in-Chief Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP (formerly Media Center MVP) Twitter @mikegarcen MissingRemote on Facebook

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:24pm

(Reply to #5) #8

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

Are you really going to be satisfied with Veebeam. From your review, it sounded like this device has some severe limitations.

Here's another question for you. Do you really need 2 HTPCs? You could use a device like the brite-View Air SyncHD I reviewed to use a single HTPC for your main viewing area and your bedroom.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:34pm

Mike Garcen

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Joined: 1 Oct 2006

well, the obvious answer is because I already have the Veebeam Plus, the lack of surround sound or the 2 second delay won't bother me since I won't be looking at the original content anyways. In both scenarios however I'd still need to figure out the connection piece of how to control the HTPC.

I suppose I could use the Veebeam from my main HTPC, but occasionally my gf will be in the bedroom while i'm in the living room, so i like the flexibility of having a second system.

Not to mention...again...one way or another there's going to be another system running 24/7--whether it be a standalone WHS2011 or something else So why NOT use that one

Mike Garcen (shadymg) MissingRemote Editor-in-Chief Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP (formerly Media Center MVP) Twitter @mikegarcen MissingRemote on Facebook

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:35pm

#10

oliverredfox

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Joined: 30 Nov 1999

I personally use long cables. I'm figure a little EM interference could quickly drive me nuts with wireless solutions.

Do you need to be able to set and program shows on bedroom TV or do you just use it watch stuff? At times, I feel like I could get away with just using DLNA server/transcoding software on my PC and viewing my shows via the TVs built in DLNA viewer.

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:38pm

(Reply to #9) #11

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

Ok, just trying to save you money and complexity. With brite-View you do get control. It has an IR relay. If you need USB as well, you could go with HDBaseT though this is a wired solution.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 1:43pm

#12

oliverredfox

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Joined: 30 Nov 1999

You could always run Windows 7 to serve the bedroom and toss WHS on a virtual machine on the same system to handle your backups, remote serve video, etc.

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 2:03pm

(Reply to #7) #13

George Schmauch

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Joined: 21 Dec 2006

Mike Garcen wrote:

...so chances of anything corrupting or hurting it would be minimal.

Remember this statement when you post a blog about how you just spent the weekend rebuilding your server like someone else recently did.

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 2:05pm

(Reply to #13) #14

Aaron Ledger

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Joined: 6 Aug 2010

skirge01 wrote:

Mike Garcen wrote:

...so chances of anything corrupting or hurting it would be minimal.

Remember this statement when you post a blog about how you just spent the weekend rebuilding your server like someone else recently did.

But Mike has already said he doesn't care about system backups so we can assume he won't care about having to reinstall Windows cleanly or lose the system.

Senior Editor | @swoon_

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 3:19pm

(Reply to #14) #15

George Schmauch

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Joined: 21 Dec 2006

swoon wrote:

But Mike has already said he doesn't care about system backups so we can assume he won't care about having to reinstall Windows cleanly or lose the system.

Good point.

Fri, 06/03/2011 - 3:37pm

#16

Mike Garcen

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Joined: 1 Oct 2006

yeah, both my systems are just HTPCs. I honestly don't mind having to reinstall OSes, at this point in my life it's a fairly straight through process. I still remember how to do hidden OS recovery partitions from my OEM days if i really felt like it, but honestly my HTPCs have been pretty stable so the few and far between doesn't bother me.

And with the data duplication from Synctoy that's the main concern I have is my important data. I forgot to mention, but with this setup I could probably take an SSD from my other system and put it in this now new Win7 box which should make performance pretty darned nice

Mike Garcen (shadymg) MissingRemote Editor-in-Chief Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP (formerly Media Center MVP) Twitter @mikegarcen MissingRemote on Facebook

How to Plan my future re-arrangement

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