Show Us your home server

ghstryder
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby ghstryder » Thu Oct 14, 2010 3:12 pm

Dell Precision 670 Workstation with a ProAvio EB8MS Enclosure. It contains 4 1.5Tb drives, to be expanded to 8 one of these days. The enclosure connects to a Highpoint RocketRaid 2322 via 2 mini-SAS cables. The HDA is running 64 bit Fedora 12 on 2 73Gb 15k RPM SCSIs running as a RAID 1 array. It isn't hard to see that going to a small SSD if this works out as I hope. I really don't have a budget for this, so I'm putting it together as I can scrounge the pieces. I was planning on 4 drives in RAID 1/0, with 3 as a JBOD and 1 hot spare. Grayhole is looking pretty interesting, and it looks as if more and more people are using it. I suspect I'll be along to discuss that on IRC. I still have not put this into daily use, so I can play with it pretty much at will for the time being. This has taken a while to put together in my spare time. Thanks for the help!

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Last edited by ghstryder on Sat Oct 15, 2011 7:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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cpg
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby cpg » Fri Oct 15, 2010 2:52 am

Nice setup, nice enclosure. I really would like something like that!!

I did not realized how much I dig these "show us your server" pics, even if they make me envious :)
My HDA: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz on MSI board, 8GB RAM, 1TBx2+3TBx1

locutis
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby locutis » Wed Oct 20, 2010 10:56 am

Things were getting a bit silly in my house, I had a bench full of Linux boxes, acting a fire walls, media servers , etc The power costs were getting out of hand. I consolidated everything into into one box protected by an APC Backups 500.

Heres where my Amahi ended up...
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home server.png
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rgmhtt
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby rgmhtt » Sun Oct 31, 2010 1:00 pm

I have **FINALLY** launched my Amahi server.

I had looked at a number of SOHO server solutions and gravitated to Amahi. I have been running a production standalone unit as my mail server (which I will update next month), but a number of factors held back replacing my circa 1995 NT server.

So here is my hardware:

Mini-ITX 1.8GHz iGoLogic
bogomips : 1999.38
1GB memory
120GB 2.5" IDE
Seagate 1.5TB USB drive

Pulls about 20 watts!

I am running as a PDC with 3 workstations and 5 users. All workstations (desktops and notebooks) are XP Pro.

jackpal
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Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:22 am

Re: Show Us your home server

Postby jackpal » Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:31 am

I am pretty new to Amahi but I am a long time Linux user/admin. I have a really complex network at home I've been tweaking for years now. I found Amahi and it was a perfect fit. Amahi is now the center of my whole network. I have loaded Amahi on Fedora 14 and its been working fine but no apps yet :| Not really a problem since my media is being served by a combination of Boxee and iTunes.

First the Tech Specs of my Amahi Server:
Asus P5M2-M Server Board
Intel Core 2 duo 1.8ghz
4gb RAM
80GB SATA OS HD
1TB + 320gb +320gb drives in LVM so 1.6 TB total
Gig NIC interfaces
Fedora 14 x64
Antec case

Here is my whole home setup in detail.

The background is that we ditched our landline phones and Directv because they were just getting too expensive and are basically dated technologies on their way out. Plus my circa 2001 DirecTV Tivo died and I ran out of spare parts. I was looking at replacing some things last year and decided that this was a great opportunity to make some radical changes than what you would typically see in a normal home. Its still a work in progress. Our home connectivity is completely based on broadband internet. Phones, TV, and of course Internet is all coming through our high speed broadband link which we maxed out to give us the best experience. We get about 22meg down and about 2 up.

Hopefully this will give others on this board some ideas and maybe we can share some.

I have uploaded some pics to my site that you can view via slideshow here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.palmad ... gyJune2010#

Pandora Radio on the big screen. Done with Boxee http://www.boxee.com . Loaded and running on Linux Mint 10 but also works on Windows and Mac as well as the Apple TV if you want to hack it. Boxee also has a remote control a that works on the iPhone and Android. Its also just as easy to do this with iTunes on the AppleTV. Both interfaces are slick but right now I am favoring Pandora.
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Full view Wii on the top left, AppleTV on the top right Standard DVD player/ surround system below. PC on the bottom is running the boxee a but its just as easy to start firefox and run Hulu to watch some shows or movies.
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Closeup of the entertainment center. The idea is to make it clean but pack it with tons of functionality.
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This is my personal system. I run Mint Linux 10 which is a really nice version of Ubuntu Linux. System is hooked into the Amahi homeserver like all the others. All media is available on all machines. I've got a nice Logitech sub/speaker hooked up which really bumps if I want it to. If you look behind the chair you can see the 6" sub box. Logitech stuff rocks. Skype with a camera/mic is also here as well as all other non work computers. The TV system is the only computer that does not have skype yet. I plan to fix that with a camera/mic system specifically for that purpose. I know that the DVRs provided with cable/sat systems can do this to a small extent but I think we all know that Directv and Brighthouse DVRs suck balls. Tivo still rules but they have been pushed out. I think they are still relevant though and have been looking into them again.
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Front and center view of my system. Notice the volume control on the wall to the right. Its got a nice big volume control knob and there are jacks on the top that I can plug headsets and mics into. Its a Logitech Z4 system
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This is my wifes desk. She has a mac mini. This is basically the home iTunes system. It holds the iTunes library which streams back to the TV and syncs with all the Apple devices. I've also figured out how to play the iTunes content on Linux so I can watch any media anywhere including the phones and iPods. We have a wireless bluetooth keyboard and mighty mouse but my wife said it was hard to type on the keyboard. We've replaced it with an awesome Logitech illuminated keyboard. Its wired but it really makes it easy to type and it looks great. This desk is very visible in the house so its designed to look good. Here is the link to the keyboard. We have two of them now. http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards ... vices/4740
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Here is a closeup of the mini. Its running Snow Leopard with a 250gb usb drive doing hourly backups via Time Machine. Even non Mac fans here would agree that Apple devices despite thier flaws always look good. This is one of the big reasons they are doing well in the home market.
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This is behind the TV it might look messy at first but this is what happens when you have lots of things hooked up. Its actually pretty organized there. On the right the white device is the Apple Airport Express wireless. Luckily the entertainment center is directly in the middle of the house so wireles coverage is good. The little thing is a very powerfull device. It also is hooked up to the laser printer below it via a usb and also is hooked to another reciever via the mini out jack. This allows me to switch between the speakers coming off the AppleTV, which are the best ones right now, and the ones going outside to the pool deck. It only works if you are streaming iTunes because essentially iTunes controls the speakers it can see on your network. Since I can "see" the computer speakers coming directly off the mini, the speakers coming off the AppleTV in the living room, and the speakers connected to the AirPortExpress I have the ability to switch between all three sets of speakers separately or play them all at once. Whats even cooler is that I can control this with the iTunes remote a on the iPhone.
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Skype is our phone service now. $60 bucks a year for a number and all the skpye features. We had vonage for 4 years and I think its great but its $35 a month including taxes. When the handsets stopped charging properly I went out and bought some skype enabled handsets. We bought a regular headset so that we can talk hands free. It all works over the home WiFi. If you are going to do this then make sure you tune up your wireless network with inSIDder software. At a minimum switch your wifi to another channel. By default everybody used channel 6 and the 2.5 gig radio spectrum that most people use today overlaps. Its best to move to the end of the channel range. Channel 1 or channel 11 are probably clear. These channels will provide the best connection to your wireless devices. Its windows only software right now but its worth it to look at.
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This is a closeup of the other Skype wifi phone and the Logitech keyboard at my work desk. I call people all over the country reguarly so unlimited long distance that skype and vongage provides is a must. I also do some work over the laptop via the Microsoft Communicator program. I usually talk to coworkers in Europe over it since we are all on the same corporate network.
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Another view with the flash enabled. You can see the skype interface on the phone display.
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This is a wide view of my work desk. On the right I have a caddy that holds my work Linux PC and the Homeserver. The work PC and laptop on the desk are tunneled into the coorporate network 24/7 through a hardware VPN client. Essentially the work computers cannot talk on my home network to comply with the corporate security policys. The Amahi homeserver on the right is hooked into the home network and is the iTunes backend storage for everything. Its running Fedora 14 with a little over 1TB of storage. All the Apple devices in the house hook to iTunes via the mini. The mini has limited storage so the backend storage is on my Linux server I call "hda" :)Its all seamless as far as all the devices the play the content are concerned. I need to clean up the wires a bit.
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This is the old school iBook G4. This is our first mac and it is still going strong. My wife watches movies via DVD or iTunes while she exercises.
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Anybody that knows me for awhile knows about the mighty JVC. This is probably one of the best stereos I have purchased. Its been in the garage for a few years now but it still rocks out. If you are wondering what the device is on the top its an old empeg mp3 player for the car. I had it installed in the Honda for about a year but removed it. I am thinking about putting it in my jeep but since the jeep deck has an ipod hookup I don't see the point. Its now just sitting in my garage playing some really old school tracks. On the left is my bench where I can tear down PCs and stuff and reload/test.
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So basically thats it for now. We have an Apple bias right now but that can change. They do have the slickest interfaces and functionality for around the home use. Its got its problems for sure but it works great for the most part. Stuff for the PC is out there and even the newer Xboxes and PS3s are putting this functinality into thier products and software.

For now believe it or not I watch alot of stuff on YouTube via the applet on the Apple TV. We subscribe to a few free video podcasts which get updated automatically every day. I recommend watching "The Linux Action Show" done by Jupiter Broadcasting. They have some great content you can subscribe to. Its always a good laugh to watch those guys. We also pay for a few programs via the iTunes store but this is on the decline because everyday we are finding more and more out there available for free. Occasionally we rent movies from the iTunes store which we can start watching about a minute after starting the download. Full HD 2.5 gig movies download in literally minutes. Since we rely completely on the connection and we cancelled about 200 bucks worth of other services I bumped up the broadband connection to the max. We get about 20 meg down and 1.8 up consistently for about 55 am month. My provider Brighthouse is talking about a 40 meg service coming soon which we will upgrade to when we can. We'll have to ditch our router because it will not be able to effectively firewall our network and provide a 40 meg connection. I have since learned that they provide the router. I am sure I will loose that vital level of control so I have since decided to not go there. 22 meg is really good as far as we are concerned.

Also one last note. When we moved in I wired the entire house with CAT 5 network cable and made my coat closet wall the junction where the patch panels and switch gear is located. Most people today would just use wireless and for the most part I can also but since I have it available anyway I use the hardwires. Wireless can work very well especially the new 5 ghz gear but you can't beat hardwire full gigabit speed with wireless yet. For now only the iBook, Skype phones and the Wii are actually using wireless.

I like and am impressed Amahi so much that I have not only deployed this at my home but also at my sisters house as her Christmas gift. They had this whole jumble of USB drives that they were using to store their stuff. Since the house is very new the whole thing was prewired with CAT5. I just hooked them up with a wireless router and hooked Amahi into it. They are extremely happy with it so far especially the Amahi Wordpress app since her husband uses it for work. I plan on deploying Amahi with others as well.

Sparhawk
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2010 10:02 pm

Re: Show Us your home server

Postby Sparhawk » Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:52 pm

Here are some quick pics that I took of some of my equipment..

Devices in the Living Room:
Living Room Equipment.JPG
WII, Xbox 360, Dell Zino HD
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Living Room Entertainment Center:
Living Room Entertainment Center.JPG
Living Room Entertainment Center.JPG (132.84 KiB) Viewed 310786 times
Wiring Closet #1:
Wiring Closet 1 - Modem - Router- Switch.JPG
Wiring Closet #1
Still need to clean this up some, but it keeps the modem, switch and AP for the upstairs hidden pretty well..
Wiring Closet 1 - Modem - Router- Switch.JPG (137.08 KiB) Viewed 310786 times
Hmmm.. It won't let me attach more than 3 pictures.. I'll get the rest posted up in a little bit..

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sgtfoo
Posts: 419
Joined: Sun Jul 18, 2010 8:27 pm

Re: Show Us your home server

Postby sgtfoo » Tue Jan 04, 2011 12:00 pm

Recently added a drive so I took some shots of the machine.
Details are in my sig, but the drives are:
1x 320GB = OS drive ... might replace with a WD raptor 74GB 10k RPM.
2x 1TB = greyhole pool
1x 1.5TB = /files shares

There's 5 fans including the CPU cooling fan.
Uses an old XFX 750a motherboard, with 8GB of Mushkin DDR2 RAM.
I had to replace the noisy fan in the 420W PSU to make it usable again :lol: :roll:
It's more function over form, so excuse the non-pretty view that it may seem to be.
amahi-srvr_01.jpg
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SgtFoo
HDA: VM inside oVirt FX-8300 95w (2 cores for HDA), 32GB RAM (2GB for HDA)
My PC: FX-8300, 16GB RAM, 3x 1TB HDDs, Radeon HD6970 2GB video; Win10 Pro x64
Other: PC, Asus 1215n (LXLE), Debian openZFS server (3x(2x2tb) mirrors)
Modem&Network: Thomson DCM475; Asus RT-AC66U; HP 1800-24G switch

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cpg
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby cpg » Tue Jan 04, 2011 1:26 pm

Nice!

I keep a paintbrush with long, soft bristles handy and whenever I open a box, I clean all the dust with the vacuum cleaner and the brush!

It accumulates quickly for me! I notice you have some dust in the heatsink. Clean it for smoother operation.
My HDA: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz on MSI board, 8GB RAM, 1TBx2+3TBx1

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sgtfoo
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby sgtfoo » Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:46 pm

Nice!

I keep a paintbrush with long, soft bristles handy and whenever I open a box, I clean all the dust with the vacuum cleaner and the brush!

It accumulates quickly for me! I notice you have some dust in the heatsink. Clean it for smoother operation.
Funny you mention it, cuz after doing my 4 fans, I had JUST run out of canned-air dust-remover.

Be very careful with vacuuming dust around computer parts because vacuums tend to generate a lot of static discharge.

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cpg
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Re: Show Us your home server

Postby cpg » Tue Jan 04, 2011 4:33 pm

very true. i try to get the vacuum head to not touch the board, etc.

i don't like the air sprays. i feel they are like "sweeping the dust under the rug" :)
i.e. move it from one location to another.
My HDA: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz on MSI board, 8GB RAM, 1TBx2+3TBx1

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