>Home Network Make-Over

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I’ve been rethinking my home network. Since I got my new laptop (Lenovo x61, 3Gb, 120Gb HD, Multi-touch screen) I’ve spent less time in the basement with what was my main rig and the rest of the computers and I totally love it. Its my main rig now and I’ve even rebuilt my desktop to a gaming machine only. Actually I’ve been rethinking my whole home network. I now figure I have way too many machines on my network. (Yeah! Can you believe I typed that? I know I can’t.)

I currently have three servers, two laptops, a desktop, Wireless Access Point,  2 Printers, and a Firewall on the network. The three servers are:

1. WebHosting server for Non-Profits & my family’s personal websites
2. Domain Controller (Quad Processor) only 148Gb
3. File Server (Single Processor) 1TB of Space

I’m figuring that I don’t need two servers as part of the Domain that I no longer use. I’m thinking of turning the Quad Processor to a VMWare ESX server so that I can run virtual machines on there as I need them to test or use. The issue I have is what operating system to use on the file server. Its basically a workstation machine and not a true server. I have tons of true servers in my garage right now ready to be cleaned up and sold so I can change this system out, but I need space for the PATA drives which not all of the servers can run or store.

I have downloaded a demo version of Windows Home Server and also have researched Linux based file servers as well. One costs $175 and the other is free but requires a lot of configuration. Or I can stay with Windows 2003 and add other options for this to run.

I also have the option of going with Liferay and using Alfresco for storing the files and indexing them. This though would need to be put on my DMZ for me to access from the Internet when at clients. Plus there is less documentation on how to setup this particular option.

I’ve also been toying around with getting another UMPC or Linux PIM. Something as a secondary handheld device for walking around. My moleskin currently resides in that capacity but I’m starting to do on call services where I need full time access to email and web. So something along the line like a N810 or a OQO2. The OQO2 might be a bit overkill but it is the perfect size (Coat pocket size) and has all the right services I need.

I’ll write more as I make decisions.