Building a Media Center: Questions

kainzero

kainzero

CAGiversary!
I'm planning on re-engineering one of my old computers to be the workhorse in my house.

This computer would be responsible for downloading and streaming music/video throughout the house, as well as storage for photo albums and family videos and scanning mail/documents.

I have a few questions:

1- As far as the router, we use an old WRT54G-variant that still uses 802.11b. Are the new wireless protocols worth it to upgrade, and do new routers have better signal broadcasting? One of our old laptops is having trouble picking up the signal and we've already amplified the signal to 100% so I'm trying to figure out a suitable way to upgrade it at a decent cost.

2- What's a good backup solution? I've never backed anything up because I've never had anything really important on my computer but if we're gonna start carrying mail and other sensitive/confidential documents it's actually necessary now. I have no idea what makes a good backup solution and I wouldn't want to juggle multiple DVDs, but would want something that takes backups biweekly or monthly.

3- Because my computer is old and still uses Ultra DMA instead of SATA, I have to buy a new HD controller (on an old PCI slot, no less!) Has anybody used these before? How easy is it to set up off the BIOS?

I'm actually pretty excited about getting this done, especially because I'm gonna install Ubuntu and learn how to use that crazy program =)

Thanks for all the help in advance!
 
1) You want at least 802.11g when dealing with media. That's just for standard definition stuff too. If you want to do HD you should get an 802.11n router that is dual band. It will use the same band as 802.11b/g for regular data, and the faster 802.11a band for the hd media.

2) Good backup programs do not exist. Prepare for headaches with this one. The best way to do it will be to go with online backup. Depending on how much you need to get backup it could get pricey though.

Ubuntu isn't crazy or difficult. Think of it as the kindergarten of Linux. I would recommend Linux Mint, it's a very nice distro.
 
1 id say either way got for N, youll get a much much better signal. not sure how big your house is, but all of your computer can benefit from it.

2 what are you trying to back up? just stuff on the old computer before you wipe it? any external hdd should suffice.

3 havent used one.
 
[quote name='n25philly']1) You want at least 802.11g when dealing with media. That's just for standard definition stuff too. If you want to do HD you should get an 802.11n router that is dual band. It will use the same band as 802.11b/g for regular data, and the faster 802.11a band for the hd media..[/QUOTE]
Well, I actually checked the router and it runs 802.11g. I would upgrade to 802.11n but none of the computers here can receive an N signal. The PC in this upgrade plan would be connecting to the router through Ethernet anyway.
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']
2 what are you trying to back up? just stuff on the old computer before you wipe it? any external hdd should suffice. [/QUOTE]
I want to keep a running back up of any of the photos/family videos/mail that I am going to put on it.

I looked into the online backup thing and it seems like it'd be decent, although it is around $5/mo. Some of the photos I take are in RAW format and are 20 MB each though, and that'd be a pain to upload.

External HDD is okay but I mean, there is still a chance that the Ext. HDD falis before the internal one.
 
1) I still use a wireless g router which is way better than wifi-b. If these other guys say its good, go with wifi-N, I'm just too lazy to reconfigure everything.

2) I use Karen's replicator and do an occasional backup. I store photos on 2 separate hdd on my server and a copy on my personal. I should store offsite though.

3) I've used PATA, SATA, and RAID controllers. The PATA or SATA is simple. After you install everything, install the card and when you startup, check to see if drivers are needed. After it's ok in th device manager, restart and somewhere in the initial post it'll say if it's ok and recognize any hdd attached to it. The hdd should then appear in windows explorer like any other hdd. RAID gets a little dicier for setup.
 
wait, hold up

If I buy an N Router, do I need to buy N cards for everything?

I'm wary about backing up the data on the same computer or even in the same house. To me, off-site seems safer since it protects in case of fire or something like that.
 
Yes, if you want the full capability of an N-router, you need to buy N-capable wireless cards or compatible laptop. However, it should have normal RJ45 LAN ports on the back if you want to go wired with it. Wifi-G and Wifi-B should be compatible with it also, but make sure you configure it for mixed networks it the setup.
 
Is there any advantage from moving to a dual-band N router if some systems are still using B and G? It's too costly to upgrade 3-4 computers all at once with Ns.
 
I can't confirm this, but I read that there is a hit to the transfer speed. I don't think it goes all the way down to B speed, but I remember reading that G takes a hit. A lot of places have dual bands like coffee shops and other wireless hotspots, and I use a mixed B and G network at my house for the laptops only while all desktops are wired. I haven't noticed any hiccups in streaming video or music, but wired is definitely the way to go if you plan to transfer large documents or folders all the time. It doesn't sound like that in your case although.
 
[quote name='boneless']I can't confirm this, but I read that there is a hit to the transfer speed. I don't think it goes all the way down to B speed, but I remember reading that G takes a hit. A lot of places have dual bands like coffee shops and other wireless hotspots, and I use a mixed B and G network at my house for the laptops only while all desktops are wired. I haven't noticed any hiccups in streaming video or music, but wired is definitely the way to go if you plan to transfer large documents or folders all the time. It doesn't sound like that in your case although.[/QUOTE]

When you connect older connections everything goes at the slowest speed. If you connect a 802.11b device to a 802.11n router, you've got 802.11b speeds for all wireless users. If the other computers all have older adapters don't bother with a wireless n router unless you plan to upgrade the devices later. If you're not, you'll just be spending more money for something that is going to run like an older device.
 
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