[Beer40oz]

Here is my living room:


Samsung 46" LCD (LE46A656)
HTPC - Win7 + XBMC 10.0 Dharma
Yamaha RX-V2067
Front: Klipsch RB-81
Surround: Klipsch RS-42
Sub: 2x DIY Audiopulse Epic 12" + Anti-Mode 8033S Sub EQ
Bettercables HDMI
Logitech Harmony 785

The subwoofers in the picture is replaced with the subs in my signature.

I like that room... the wood and all... must be comfy. You love your bass. Awesome man.

[eMTea]

I like that room... the wood and all... must be comfy. You love your bass. Awesome man.

Thanx man.. I like it alot too. Some day I will make the sofa table in oiled oak aswell.

[MarkosJal]

I have everything in a RAID5 too, but please keep it backed up... If you have a hardware (or software) failure that affects the integrity of the entire array, you are still screwed. No RAID setup is a replacement for backups.

Actually a redundant RAID in HARDWARE is in fact a back up across two drives. If either drive fails the other retains the data. So YES a RAID in fact CAN be a proper backup, however most RAID cards these days use Cheaper software RAIDs which is not the same as a hardware RAID

[TheAstronaut]

Actually a redundant RAID in HARDWARE is in fact a back up across two drives. If either drive fails the other retains the data. So YES a RAID in fact CAN be a proper backup, however most RAID cards these days use Cheaper software RAIDs which is not the same as a hardware RAID

I'm using on-board RAID built into my motherboard, so I'm likely not redundant? I'm a little confused by this, as I understood RAID5 keeps parity for all data striped across all drives in the array (four drives in my case). My assumption is that with on-board RAID it is a software based card. What extra advantages would a hardware card net me?

[PANiCnz]

Actually a redundant RAID in HARDWARE is in fact a back up across two drives. If either drive fails the other retains the data. So YES a RAID in fact CAN be a proper backup, however most RAID cards these days use Cheaper software RAIDs which is not the same as a hardware RAID

I think he means that RAID isn't a safety net for stupidity, e.g. if you accidentally delete a file RAID is no use. RAID only guards against hardware failure, and there are many other ways in which you can lose your data which only a proper backup will guard against.

[npggefvert]

Actually a redundant RAID in HARDWARE is in fact a back up across two drives. If either drive fails the other retains the data. So YES a RAID in fact CAN be a proper backup, however most RAID cards these days use Cheaper software RAIDs which is not the same as a hardware RAID

Yes, the data is backed up across drives in mirrored type arrays, but there are many other dangers that can affect your data. It's not like you can take that single remaining member of the array and just access it as a lone drive (clarification: outside of using it in the array... what I meant was I can't take the surviving drive from a Raid 1 array, pop it in another machine, and access the data on it - it is a member of that array). Regardless of whether you are using hardware Raid (a true controller, or fake motherboard 'software raid on hardware') or software Raid, you still need backups.

I work for a small business with about 25 servers that use a mix of software and hardware RAID, as well as some single drive systems that are not mission critical, or duplicated at the system level. Obviously are most mission critical systems are the ones with RAID arrays in them, but the machines are also either physically or virtually cloned, and operational and customer data is backed up to multiple places/mediums on site, as well as to offsite locations. These are things you need to keep in mind:

1. Multiple drive failures in the time it takes the array to rebuild - when you have drives purchased at the same time, possibly from the same lot, and put into service at the same time, your risks of multiple drive failures happening at relatively the same time goes up, especially with large arrays that can take more than a day to repair - and this is after you have swapped out the damaged drive.

2. Hardware failure other than the drives - if something happens to the box all of your data is in, redundant drives are not going to help... fire, water damage, controller failure, etc.

3. Human Error - As Panic said above, this can be anything from someone accidentally deleting data, to an improperly configured file managing script that accidentally deletes data.

4. Sabotage - Either someone getting onto your network or someone physically sabotaging or stealing equipment. Obviously these are security concerns that should be handled separately, but you never know what can happen - especially when people post pictures of their setups online. Brewing is another hobby of mine, and I know of a few cases where people were posting their brewing setups on forums and other websites, and their equipment disappeared one day...

5. Backups also make it much easier to do 'work' on your storage solution without so much worry of breaking everything. This means if you need to move to a new chassis, expand a Raid5 array, etc. you can do it with the knowledge that you have another copy of your data.

ALSO: Make sure you have tested your rebuild process. One of the questions you see VERY OFTEN on forums for NAS software and controller cards are people stuck trying to rebuild their arrays. The first thing you should do when you have a new array built and verified is put a good chunk of data (that you can afford to lose) on it, pull a drive, and make damn sure you can rebuild the array.

Sorry for the slight hijack of the thread, but with mention of Raid arrays and how safe they make everyone feel, I wanted to take the opportunity to remind everyone of the flaw in that mode of thinking... Plus, hopefully it will be read since I know this is a thread I watch religiously for new ideas.

[Shamurai-Jack]

Living Room Normal Lighting




Living Room + MilkDrop + RGB LED Strips

[protocol77]

as far as backup is concerned i prefer keeping on set of all files on the server and then keeping an offline mirror backup

i currently have it so one copy of a movie is on say HD_1 i then every couple of days or week at the most put a second drive of the same capacity into the docking station i built into the case then simply run a mirror backup of HD_1 onto a drive labelled HD_1 (Backup) it will scan the drive and only add new files or files that have been modified then simply remove when done put it back into the anti static bag the drive came with and put it in my cupboard

i prefer this method it may take a little extra effort but if something went wrong with the drive in the computer either from hardware failure or power surge i still have an identical copy minus at most 2 or 3 days (depending on how long i backed up before the problem occurred

this is SIMPLE METHOD similar to a raid 1 option i find works best for me and i think is the safest option overall

or if you dont want to try and remember to backup often you could just have the backup drive in the system temporarily doing daily backups until both drives are full the remove one of them and store it away

[repstein]

Hello folks,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have a fairly extensive setup throughout my house, but for today, I've taken pics of my family room and some of the infrastructure to support the distribution of video and audio throughout the house.

I'll be glad to post more pics in the near future.







This setup consists of the following:

Samsung PN64D8000 64" Plasma 600Hz 1080P 3D TV (2011 model)
Onkyo TX-NR809 Receiver (2011 model)
Bose Acoustimass 10 Series IV home entertainment speaker system
Mac Mini (early 2011 model) with 8 gigs of memory (for XBMC)
TiVo Premier with upgraded 2TB hard drive
Sony Playstation 3 60 gig model (upgraded to 500 gig hard drive)
XBox 360
Nintendo Wii (with external 2TB drive holding over 1050 Wii ROMs, etc)
Cisco SD2008T 8 Port Desktop 10/100/1000 Gigabit Switch
Sanus Systems VisionMount LA112 Full Motion Mount
Monster Home Theatre Reference HTS 2600 MKII PowerCenter with Clean Power Stage 2 v.2.1 10 (Note: the house also features a whole house surge protection system)
Tripp Lite UPS

Various 3D glasses, remotes, etc



In the garage, where all of the Cat6 cabling terminates for the house, I have a Tripp Lite 9U wall mount cabinet with:

48 port Cat6 patch panel
Cisco Small Business SG200 50 port GigE switch with 24 ports of PoE
Motorola cable modem
Cisco 2621 router with DSL card (running both DSL and cable Internet service)
UPS





Temporarily, in my home office, I'm running a Drobo B800fs with 8 Hitachi 3TB 7200 RPM drives w/ 64 meg of cache. As you might notice, there's a yellow light on, which means I'm almost out of storage space. I'm moving to a 36 SATA slot Supermicro in the near future which will be put into a full size server cabinet in the garage along with other support infrastructure for the house. I'll be hopefully adding 4TB drives at that point.

I have over 2500 movies (uncompressed DVDs and Blu Ray) that I've ripped myself, as well as over 180 different TV series (many completed -- as long as they're out on DVD). I own practically all the media, but thanks to XBMC, I can store it away.

I just received a PulseEight USB-CEC adapter today and I'll be adding that into the family room setup when Eden is released.

Other rooms throughout the house have Mac Mini's with Samsung TVs, etc. I'll post more soon enough. The entire 6200 sq ft house is cabled with Cat6 wire terminated onto Leviton Cat6 Snap In jacks.

More to come.

Randy

[ZombieRobot]

repstein very nice

[fional]

Temporarily, in my home office, I'm running a Drobo B800fs with 8 Hitachi 3TB 7200 RPM drives w/ 64 meg of cache. As you might notice, there's a yellow light on, which means I'm almost out of storage space. I'm moving to a 36 SATA slot Supermicro in the near future which will be put into a full size server cabinet in the garage along with other support infrastructure for the house. I'll be hopefully adding 4TB drives at that point.


Randy

That's real nice. Where are you going to get your supermicro?

[repstein]

That's real nice. Where are you going to get your supermicro?

Amazon most likely. They're around $2k for the barebones case/1400 watt power supply. Need to decide on RAID cards, processor, etc.

Randy

[Gr8rtek]

I've long admired this forum thread, following it pretty much since I started using XBMC on the Xbox. It has been a source of inspiration and admiration. And now, I'm finally ready to share my setup with the rest of the XBMC Community. While it certainly isn't as extensive and ingenious as some setups, it does hopefully communicate my passion (obsession?) with all those viewing. Thanks for letting me share, and I hope you enjoy.

Media Room
It probably goes without saying that this is my favorite room in the house. Up front is a Samsung LN55A950D LED display, and let me just say that buying this television was as much my wife's idea as it was mine. She works for a company that builds high-definition aircraft simulators for the US military, and she manages a team of engineers that work with the *best* in projectors, PC graphics and display substrates in the world, so she is VERY, VERY picky. So, I got a really wonderful television because of it! The audio comes from Definitive Technologies ProCinema 600 Series speakers for front, center and surround, and the low-end is filled out with Definitive Technologies ProCinema 1000 10-inch subwoofer. I repurposed a Boston Acoustics 8-inch subwoofer to a location behind the couch to serve as a second sub, and it sounds beautiful. In the A/V cabinet is a Denon AVR-2808, DirecTV receiver, Jetway HTPC and Xbox 360, along with a Nintendo Wii. I removed the Blu-Ray player, since I now rip all of my movies upon opening them. The HTPC is running Windows 7 with a custom compile of XBMC that includes Spotify integration. Control comes from a Harmony 550, and it also controls the lighting as well as the components. The Logitech DiNovo edge makes typing easier when searching for artists in XBMC Spotify. And the Harmony Link will eventually allow me to push content from the media room to play on the patio via an HDMI extender.





Living Room
This room is mainly for daily television viewing, but I did recently repurpose an older PC running Windows Vista with a custom XBMC install with Spotify integration to support Hulu viewing as well as driving audio on the outdoor patio. The display is a 50" LG Plasma that only supports 720p, but is otherwise perfect. On the to-do list is integrate speakers into the ceiling, and it will probably be on that to-do list for some time. I don't know if you can tell or not, but this room has 14-foot ceilings!


Home Office
Here is a Dell StudioXPS 9100 running Windows 7 and a custom-compiled XBMC from an October nightly with Spotify integrated. I use this platform mainly as a test bed before compiling and installing on my HTPC. The office also includes the Drobo NAS with 4GB of storage at about 70% capacity. I will be adding more storage once HDD prices return to normal, but everything works well for now. My current library contains 170 DVDs and Blu-Rays, ripped to MKV using MakeMKV. I was having considerable trouble getting 1080p files to play on my ATV2, so I re-ripped them to 720p using Handbrake and they play wonderfully. I also have some of my favorite television series archived, plus 14 GB of music files from the days before Spotify. Logitech Z560 speakers fill the room with audio during my work day.


Continued in next post ...

[Gr8rtek]

Portable Office
I have a custom-compiled install of XBMC running on a Dell Latitude 620 laptop. I don't use it much, but it was a way for me to compile XBMC on Linux with Spotify integration. It was kinda fun to be able to follow very well documented instructions and produce the desired results, especially considering how much of a Linux n00b I am! This system, along with the ATV2 allows me to test AirPlay in the XBMC nightlies.


Guest Bedroom
Okay, you caught me. I admit it ... I have a Boxee Box. After using Confluence, I have to say that the UI for Boxee needs some serious help. But, it does provide an easy-to-use interface for our overnight guests to be able to watch a movie or listen to Spotify.


Outdoor Living Room
I love the Great Outdoors as much as the next geek, especially when I can enjoy my tech while relaxing with a nice cigar and a glass of XO Rum! This setup includes an ATV2 connected to 5GHz wireless-N and HDMI to a Samsung P2570HD display.


Mobile Demo Board
As a Systems Integrator/Installer, I needed a way to evangelize XBMC to people in a setting familiar to them. I built this demo board to allow me to demonstrate XBMC in the customer's home, requiring only power and a HDMI connection. It has been nice for those customers who cannot make it to my showroom, plus it gives me a way to have something to watch when I go to my in-laws! The system includes a Maxtor 300GB NAS, D-Link gigabit switch and ATV2 running a Dec. nightly version. The NAS and ATV2 both have static IP addresses, and it works very well.



That's everything (for now). I just realized that my post has about 400 million more words than most. I probably should've just taken more pictures and let them do the talking for me. Oh, well. I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!

[aptalca]

Media Room
It probably goes without saying that this is my favorite room in the house. Up front is a Samsung LN55A950D LED display, and let me just say that buying this television was as much my wife's idea as it was mine. She works for a company that builds high-definition aircraft simulators for the US military, and she manages a team of engineers that work with the *best* in projectors, PC graphics and display substrates in the world, so she is VERY, VERY picky. So, I got a really wonderful television because of it!

It's all real nice and all, but I think your media room is screaming for a projector

I am thinking anything smaller than 120" would be injustice to that beautiful room

There HAS to be a 1080p projector that your wife would be content with