I wrote about my first self made PC build, in which I talked about my first experience in getting PC parts myself and putting them together. This PC however, became eventually outdated and was replaced as my daily driver by my current build (which is better in every way). But just because I don't use it everyday doesn't mean I have no use for it.
The Home Theater PC
With the passing of years I've found some purpose for it, like live backups, as a repository with file sharing, as a computer to lend others when in need, and most importantly as a computer I can give time consuming tasks in a way I won't notice it. Like downloading a lot of files over a few days uninterruptedly.
It also got the role of a Home Theater PC, which led me to move it to the living room and connect it to the TV and Speakers. Whenever we wanted to watch something from my PC, I would boot it up (Windows), play the file, set full screen and configured whatever was necessary. This approach got us through several years, albeit my not-so-tech-savvy family were always hesitant in using it without my presence. Now, my living room is not near my bedroom/office so when it came to managing the system I decided to control the PC over Windows' Remote Desktop Protocol.
However I wanted to manage my downloads on a Linux environment, and at the same time wanted to make it more transparent for all the people I live with to access the media contained within the PC. After some time I discovered Plex.
The Content Distributor: Plex
Plex is amazing, in my opinion, for it takes my media files and present them over the local network through a platform similar to popular streaming services. Since my family is already used to streaming services like Netflix, this approach was definitely a right one. I installed it and we began to use it.
Unfortunately our living room smart TV isn't Android, and whatever OS it uses doesn't counts with the client application for Plex. So no Plex for the time being. I would then go on to research for Android devices compatible with Plex that I could hook up to the TV. Eventually I found the Roku.
Plex and Roku
So I bought one. Fairly recently by the way. The Ultra version, and then an Express+ version for the non-smart kitchen TV. They work quite well, though I get no web browsing on them. But they are quite fast, while some nice brand Smart TVs come with sluggish hardware.
Thanks to the Roku, my family no longer has to interact with my computer anymore. And although they have yet to use Plex on their own, I expect them to pick it up without too much hassle.
The Switch of Operating System
The separation between the Home Theater PC and the not-so-tech-savvy humans allowed me to switch the OS to a Linux distro. I was managing the Windows OS in a separate Solid State Drive. I decided to buy another SSD for the Linux and probably dual boot them. However I've never really like boot loaders, and on top of that this computer will no longer use a screen. Meaning that if I wanted to switch OS I would have to plug a screen and select the OS before going back to my computer and remote control it.
So I decided to install a SATA switch, therefore ending up with what seems like a hardware level dual boot. This device adds a few buttons on the back of my PC and each button represents a SATA drive. If it's pressed the SATA drive is powered with the system, otherwise not. It's a fun gadget and as long as I don't leave both drives set for use I won't have problems switching over and neither OS is aware the other exists. Each believes they are my one and only. Guess that makes me a two-timer. Shame on me.
Since the PC is still away from my usual premises, and even away from a screen, I was expecting to use xRDP for remote access. Since I got it working once not so long ago on Mint with KDE, I chose to install Mint.
The Remote Access Problems
However . . . never again did I manage to get xRDP working. This shattered my initial dreams of connecting to the IDE from my Windows daily driver via the RDP. This forced me to use an application that I don't really like that much: TeamViewer.
TeamViewer provides free use for non-commercial purposes. And that is fine, and generous too. But it's not smooth enough. Of course the experience depends on network quality. If LAN connections isn't enforced in the server machine, then TeamViewer won't care if both machines are next to each other and will communicate them over their cloud service. After I made sure it was LAN only enforced and added the rules to the Firewall, the quality and response was not that different. So I ditched TeamViewer. Actually, I decided to ditch the IDE all together.
Now that I decided that I won't be connecting to the IDE, I had to make sure to enable a few things and leave them ready so that I can still make use of the machine. So . . . no IDE means I will use console.
For console, I installed ssh and then connect with Putty. This allows me to open the console from my computer and since there is no IDE it is all very snappy. This also needed a new rule for the firewall. So far so good.
Since Plex is a web application, I can manage it through my browser in an OS-agnostic manner. Other needed cares since switching to Linux is auto-mounting the needed partitions with enough rights so that Plex can find the content sources when the system starts. Also, firewall.
But if I want to add stuff to Plex, then I need to move files. And I might want to move the files across different systems over the network. I can use the console for this, but if becomes a bit complicated with long URL's or when more selectiveness needed. So I decided I will be sharing the folders with authentication and enough privileges so that I can use any file explorer. So I installed SAMBA. Also, firewall.
For downloads, Linux comes with this pretty useful Torrent client, called Transmission. I think it's my favorite client ever since Opera stopped embedding one with their browser. So I installed a "client" version in my Windows machine, and configured it to connect to my Linux machine. In my Linux machine I set it up so it starts automatically because I haven't managed to start Transmission with the GUI from my ssh console. So, with this set up I can add magnet links from my computer and stop or start downloads. Of course, this also required a firewall rule.
Aftermath ?
It's been a couple of months since I finished this set up. I like it. Can't say I pay much attention to it as much as I want to but maybe that's an indication that it works well. Guess my experience as a web application developer has helped me come up with good home experiment ideas.
viernes, 12 de julio de 2019
martes, 14 de mayo de 2019
My first PC build
For the sake of writing something, I've decided to recount about the first time I decided to build a PC for myself.
I can only vaguely remember how the idea started to form in my mind. However I can recall some of my experiences that I'm pretty sure led me to it. They can be summarized in two:
I had a laptop back in 2006, which was pretty much entry consumer level. It served me well for a while (a year or so), until I decided to do something beyond standard web browsing and watching 480 resolution videos. It also overheated heavily. I tried installing Linux back then, and while it was a whole new experience on its own that granted me a bit more control on graphic settings, it came down to the same. I had a better experience playing videos on Windows (and believe me I tried everything, different software, different configurations, different codecs, and I even tried demuxing and remuxing the video to lower quality). With this I had concluded that even though it hadn't been the norm until now, that software was innocent and the real culprit was the hardware.
My second experience was later on, when I discovered that a friend of mine had a very similar laptop model and was dissatisfied as well. He had similar problems; reduced performance and overheating. He was more experienced than me, and decided to build a PC on his own.
By then I had accepted that any laptop would not suffice my performance demands and only a desktop would give me what I want. I learned up from my friend, and also online, and slowly began to form the PC build in my mind. As a university student my budget for the PC was very tight, so I knew the progress would be slow. Therefore I had to plan the pacing and steps in which I would acquire the hardware.
The plan:
It would take a while to get every single piece of hardware, and you don't want to end up with an outdated build. Therefore you should buy first the pieces less likely to change over time, and buy last the pieces that are the most changing with time. To start, you need to know which parts you are going to need. What makes up a PC?
So, what was my plan? I already had a laptop, and while fulfilling the build was a long way to go for now, I could emulate the desktop experience. And even if I didn't care for it, it's probably something most laptop users get for themselves anyway: keyboard, mouse, speakers and a monitor. All of these were parts that I could use right away and hopefully could use on my build when finished, so there was added value on getting these first. I doubt the mouse and keyboard survived, but the speakers and the monitor did and I still use them to this day.
The next one was maybe a little less obvious: a hard drive. I bought a hard drive with the purpose of using it for my build, however in the meantime I could make use of it for storage with a SATA to USB adapter.
The next parts would be unusable until everything was ready, so this is when buying the least changeable parts rule comes into play. These parts in my build where the PSU (power supply unit) and the case. It was important to take into account when choosing the PSU the wattage you will need, and when choosing the case take into account how many bays will be needed, as well as PCI slots and motherboard form-factor.
Finally, you should buy the remaining parts in a single group. The CPU, the motherboard and the RAM share the most delicate compatibility. Why is this? For starters, CPU's are manufactured into a single socket type, and can only be mounted on motherboards (through the CPU socket) that support that specific CPU socket. This means that if you have to get a different CPU that uses a another socket, you will have to change the motherboard to match the new socket. CPU's also determine which type of RAM is compatible. A few years ago, DDR3 RAM was phased out into the newer DDR4, which was a nightmare if you wanted to upgrade a CPU and motherboard that use DDR3 memory because you would have to upgrade the RAM too.
How it played
Those where the steps in which I followed the plan.
I got the mouse, the keyboard, the speakers and a 20 inch VGA monitor.
Then I got on Amazon the hard drive: a 650 GB Caviar Black from Western Digital, 7200RPM and I think it was 64 MB of cache.
Circa 2011 I searched locally for a semi modular Corsair PSU but found nothing near 750 watts, therefore I bought it on Amazon once again. The computer case local market was also scarce for my tastes, so I tried to buy it on Amazon again, however shipping was very expensive and it came pretty wrecked. So I returned it and had to compromise with a Raidmax mid tower that I found locally.
I didn't manage a time frame for completion, and when the time came to buy the final parts it was 2013. Though I wanted a boost in performance I didn't want to go all in on my budget with this experiment. The compromise was the CPU, which was back then the most expensive part. I got an Intel Pentium Dual Core CPU (G630 LGA 1155) clocked at 2.7 GHz. For motherboard I went for a Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H. I had calculated to use the onboard graphics so I wouldn't have to invest on a GPU just yet.
Parts arrived and when I started to build I realized that I forgot the RAM. I ran the next day and bought a 2 GB dim with a local vendor.
Outcome
In the end, albeit not everything went as planned, and I got stuck using the laptop far longer than I wanted, everything came together very nicely and turned out OK. Ever since, I've made several changes to that build. While a laptop is very restricted in terms of what I can update, with a desktop build I've managed to make many changes. I have:
Later on I created a new build, salvaging everyday use parts from this one and adding brand new parts. I replaced some parts so that I could continue using the first build:
It currently uses a 240 GB SSD for the OS, the old 640 GB and a newer 2 TB drives for storage. I use it mostly as a PLEX server at home, and sometimes for work by hosting development environments and database services. I also expect sometime soon to hand down to it my 3 GB GPU, and add a SATA switch. By now I can't think any further changes to make to it, but so far so good.
I can only vaguely remember how the idea started to form in my mind. However I can recall some of my experiences that I'm pretty sure led me to it. They can be summarized in two:
I had a laptop back in 2006, which was pretty much entry consumer level. It served me well for a while (a year or so), until I decided to do something beyond standard web browsing and watching 480 resolution videos. It also overheated heavily. I tried installing Linux back then, and while it was a whole new experience on its own that granted me a bit more control on graphic settings, it came down to the same. I had a better experience playing videos on Windows (and believe me I tried everything, different software, different configurations, different codecs, and I even tried demuxing and remuxing the video to lower quality). With this I had concluded that even though it hadn't been the norm until now, that software was innocent and the real culprit was the hardware.
My second experience was later on, when I discovered that a friend of mine had a very similar laptop model and was dissatisfied as well. He had similar problems; reduced performance and overheating. He was more experienced than me, and decided to build a PC on his own.
By then I had accepted that any laptop would not suffice my performance demands and only a desktop would give me what I want. I learned up from my friend, and also online, and slowly began to form the PC build in my mind. As a university student my budget for the PC was very tight, so I knew the progress would be slow. Therefore I had to plan the pacing and steps in which I would acquire the hardware.
The plan:
It would take a while to get every single piece of hardware, and you don't want to end up with an outdated build. Therefore you should buy first the pieces less likely to change over time, and buy last the pieces that are the most changing with time. To start, you need to know which parts you are going to need. What makes up a PC?
- CPU
- Motherboard
- RAM
- Storage (could be hard drive)
- Power Supply Unit
- Case, a usually metallic box that holds everything
So, what was my plan? I already had a laptop, and while fulfilling the build was a long way to go for now, I could emulate the desktop experience. And even if I didn't care for it, it's probably something most laptop users get for themselves anyway: keyboard, mouse, speakers and a monitor. All of these were parts that I could use right away and hopefully could use on my build when finished, so there was added value on getting these first. I doubt the mouse and keyboard survived, but the speakers and the monitor did and I still use them to this day.
The next one was maybe a little less obvious: a hard drive. I bought a hard drive with the purpose of using it for my build, however in the meantime I could make use of it for storage with a SATA to USB adapter.
The next parts would be unusable until everything was ready, so this is when buying the least changeable parts rule comes into play. These parts in my build where the PSU (power supply unit) and the case. It was important to take into account when choosing the PSU the wattage you will need, and when choosing the case take into account how many bays will be needed, as well as PCI slots and motherboard form-factor.
Finally, you should buy the remaining parts in a single group. The CPU, the motherboard and the RAM share the most delicate compatibility. Why is this? For starters, CPU's are manufactured into a single socket type, and can only be mounted on motherboards (through the CPU socket) that support that specific CPU socket. This means that if you have to get a different CPU that uses a another socket, you will have to change the motherboard to match the new socket. CPU's also determine which type of RAM is compatible. A few years ago, DDR3 RAM was phased out into the newer DDR4, which was a nightmare if you wanted to upgrade a CPU and motherboard that use DDR3 memory because you would have to upgrade the RAM too.
How it played
Those where the steps in which I followed the plan.
I got the mouse, the keyboard, the speakers and a 20 inch VGA monitor.
Then I got on Amazon the hard drive: a 650 GB Caviar Black from Western Digital, 7200RPM and I think it was 64 MB of cache.
Circa 2011 I searched locally for a semi modular Corsair PSU but found nothing near 750 watts, therefore I bought it on Amazon once again. The computer case local market was also scarce for my tastes, so I tried to buy it on Amazon again, however shipping was very expensive and it came pretty wrecked. So I returned it and had to compromise with a Raidmax mid tower that I found locally.
I didn't manage a time frame for completion, and when the time came to buy the final parts it was 2013. Though I wanted a boost in performance I didn't want to go all in on my budget with this experiment. The compromise was the CPU, which was back then the most expensive part. I got an Intel Pentium Dual Core CPU (G630 LGA 1155) clocked at 2.7 GHz. For motherboard I went for a Gigabyte GA-B75M-D3H. I had calculated to use the onboard graphics so I wouldn't have to invest on a GPU just yet.
Parts arrived and when I started to build I realized that I forgot the RAM. I ran the next day and bought a 2 GB dim with a local vendor.
Outcome
In the end, albeit not everything went as planned, and I got stuck using the laptop far longer than I wanted, everything came together very nicely and turned out OK. Ever since, I've made several changes to that build. While a laptop is very restricted in terms of what I can update, with a desktop build I've managed to make many changes. I have:
- Easily added more storage.
- Changed my RAM to dual channel 16 GB.
- Added a 3 GB Graphics Card.
- Added a FireWire PCI Card.
- Added an ODD.
- Added SSD for OS storage, shortening boot up times amazingly.
Later on I created a new build, salvaging everyday use parts from this one and adding brand new parts. I replaced some parts so that I could continue using the first build:
- I moved the parts to a very discrete mATX case.
- Moved the ODD, FireWire, GPU, Corsair PSU to my daily driver build.
- Replaced the PSU for a full modular Seasonic one.
It currently uses a 240 GB SSD for the OS, the old 640 GB and a newer 2 TB drives for storage. I use it mostly as a PLEX server at home, and sometimes for work by hosting development environments and database services. I also expect sometime soon to hand down to it my 3 GB GPU, and add a SATA switch. By now I can't think any further changes to make to it, but so far so good.
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