Computer Setup

My apologies for the potato pictures. My wife's DSLR was ruined in the move..so cell phone pictures will have to do! My steam id is "SmellyPants."

Hey, I'd love to know: why so much network infrastructure at home? Is it for work?

1) Cisco 881 is used for work access.

I was about to ask why in the world you have an ASA installed, but the idea of anyconnecting into my home network is so appealing, I might do the same ;)

Anyone wanna give me a super simple explanation on what all this network stuff is?

Are you using the SSL VPN for work or just for personal use?

SSL for home use, IPSEC VPN for work use.

I want your chair :(

Craigslist bud! Got it for pretty cheap.

How much does the network stuff cost you? It's something I've always wanted to do, what kind of knowledge does it require?

Not OP but sysadmin here! It really depends on what you want to achieve with the home network which will indicate pricing. If you simply want a modem, unmanaged switch and NAS maybe, it'd be quite cheap and easy. If you want a server setup or a managed switch (or extra router depending on your needs) that's a whole other story. Also, depends if you want Ethernet cabled in your house which can mean extra costs.

I'd probably be looking somewhere in between the two + the Ethernet cable dealio.

Network stuff didn't cost me a dime. Company has a surplus of equipment? You can LifeSpan it for pennies to the dollar or have employees build out personal labs to learn on...they typically do the later. Knowledge takes a bit of experience. Building out the firewall was a learning process for me, but you have to have a basic understanding of routing/switching to know what you're doing.

Jealous, our company is huge and chews through Cisco devices but hard (read: impossible) to get a hold of anything.

Most are. I'm happy with how it is here, though..I learned a lot by simply setting up the 5505 at home, which will help me better manage our corporate firewalls.

5505's are a great place to start!! I use ASA's all the time at work, but I can't afford a 5505 for home :(

Love your network rack bring in some POTS lines and you can use that 2811 like it should be! Funny enough I work for %RESTAURANT% company and you use a VERY similar setup to all of our stores. 800 series router + 2811/2901 voice router.

I was thinking of getting that game! Is it worth it?

Very much so! There is a steep learning curve in the beginning (which turned some of my friends off) but it becomes very exciting once you get used to the gameplay. It is often on sale for like $2......SO worth 2 dollars.

What game are you fellas talking about?

Ohh I didn't see anything about that in the pictures. Very fun game indeed.

I can vouch for smellypants. It is probably my favorite game at this point in time.

I especially like the 3D mockup you made. The whole build looks good.

Did you model around the default sketch up guy

Hey man, don't put your case straight on the carpet. If you're in IT you should know better.

I vacuum the room weekly and spray out the case pretty frequently. That being said, I have been looking out for some sort of 2 inch stand (I know plywood works..just me being picky).

Large tile samples. Two should do.

Cool deal--I'll go pick some up!

Or if you have some extra wood, it works too. I used an old shelf from an entertainment center I used previously.

Not with the HAF 932. I measured it...too big :)

Oh darn. Got any metalworking friends who can "adjust" it for you? :) Or have a go at bending it yourself with a bench vice?

If he keeps the room clean, it'll be fine. Main concern is dust and dirt. Both my workstation at work and my home computer sit on carpet.

Unless you move your box when you vacuum, you're going to get dusk accumulation. It's not a huge deal and it's unlikely it will make much of a difference to your machine at all, but in my opinion it's negligent to have your equipment sitting flush on carpeted surfaces.

They've each sat where they are for so long and every time I open them up, I see pretty minimal accumulation. There's always going to be accumulation in some degree unless you work in a clean room.

I suppose that's a testament to how clean you keep your carpets. When I had a case on carpet I accumulated a lot of dust in comparison to the amount I get when it's on my wooden desk. I guess some people have a problem with it and some don't.

Eh, I just vacuum once a week or so. No big deal. The cleanliness is mostly out of paranoia to get our damned security deposit back.

Whats that funky keyboard/mouse pad?

And does it make much of a difference over just a plain desk?

Meh..kind of. I like the texture..but it can be annoying how much debris/hair/dust it picks up. My wife jokes how often I'm sitting there wiping whatever fuzz is stuck to it.

Ah I guess that could be a bugger, it does look cool though if nothing else. Also I just noticed we have similar meeses. I have the logitech M500, the civilian version of yours!

No idea yet...I don't know how to commit to the different switches. I'll try one and think its great...then try another and be completely swayed.

Have you actaully had a chance to try them in the flesh? I just had to read on what I thought i would like and hope for the best!

I've played with a few that best buy has to offer..just to feel them. I'm not sure if the clickity-clackity would get annoying.

I have the same HAF case. Love it. Will probably never get rid of it.

Any good tutorials on how to set up a mumble server at home?

Wow fantastic, I'll give this a shot sometime :)

What is that rack? I think I will be looking for something like this eventually.

How did you get your Cisco phone to work? Is that through the Mumble server?

Cisco phone connects to the Cisco 881. I have a IPSEC VPN connection to work, so the phone registers with work's call manager. I use the Logitech G930 for mumble.

A GPU upgrade would finish up the gaming setup nicely. Awesome setup

Yea..in the works. For the time being it works great for most of the games I play (mainly NS2 and SCII)

The 560Ti is a really good card anyway, it can play BF3 on ultra with no problems, which makes it a great budget card.

Hey, where did you find the frame by itself?

I really like this. Thank you for sharing.

What model monitors are those? Look nice!

You'll want to get that case of yours off the carpet. The 932 is an awesome case and I love mine too, but one thing it's lacking is dust filters. This is especially important if you mounted your power supply at the bottom of your case as you'll be sucking in all kinds of dust and fibers into it all day.

Didn't see his comment until now. That's a good idea, too. And you can even get different tiles to color coordinate with the room.

You call that rig dated? I'm still running a core 2 quad with a HD6870 and can run most games on ultra. Nice album. Thanks for sharing!

What do you mean you don't deal with insulation? What did you have to do? If you had to wear it to make one 4"x4" whole I think you gots a problem.

I had to get into my attic to run ethernet/coax/power. Blown insulation that is 5' deep is a bitch.

Oh man! That does sound brutal. Looks good!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of a job do you do? And what kind of education would you need for that kind of a job? I just ask because IT seems so vague to me.

I'm a network engineer. I have a 4 year degree + a slew of professional certs. It is vague unless you start understanding the technologies involved. It is kind of like a puzzle; the business has presented X problem that has Y requirements...how do you do so whilst spending as little money as possible while maintaining stability.

I asked because it seems like something I'd be interested in, I'm just wary of any potential job choice for me that seems to be enjoyable and interesting but also provides you with enough spare time and cash to post on this sub.

IT has highs and lows...busy as fuck to I'm bored out of my mind.

Hey, I wish to get into the IT world for work, I've nearly finished my CCNA currently. I'm trying to do this without university, it just didn't seem like it was for me when I weighedd up the pros and cons. So my question is what other certs would you recommend to help build knowledge/skills and to show potential employers you're capable?

After CCNA...start down the CCNP track. Make sure you know what you're doing though..play around in GNS3.

Become a master of BGP, you'll go far.

You should not have your sub woofer that close to your rig. I can tell you with 99.9% certainty that it isn't magnetically shielded.

Magnets aren't as destructive to computers as many believe. I've seen a pile of hard drive magnets on top of a drive, that was put back into a computer with no data lost.

Hard drive magnets aren't as strong as a powered subwoofer. I'd rather be safe than sorry with my data.

No issues to date. I probably only use it about 2% of the time if my wife is in the room and wants to hear what I'm watching.

Have you seen the size of the machines that are required to erase hard drives with electromagnets? It's not going to be a problem sitting that far away from your drive cages.

You kidding me? Disassemble an old 3.5" hard drive and throw the magnet at your fridge.

It looks like your dooris about to crush your case in any second.

Its a sliding door to the closet :)

Just a heads up, if you put talcum or baby powder all over yourself whilst installing insulation, guess what? No itch!

If you don't mind me asking, what area of IT do you work in? I am going to be applying to colleges this year and I also want to major in an area of IT but don't know which to choose so I'm just exploring my variety of choices. Do you like the industry? Does it pay well? Do you work for a technology firm and have clients that you have to keep in contact with? Is the majority of your work done from your work office or from home? Different skills or concepts you think I should start picking up on to get a good head start? Any response is greatly appreciated!

I work for a fortune 200 company doing network engineering. If you are unfamiliar, you have a couple of routes you can take in IT: Basic end device support (printers, PCs, etc..), network administration/engineering, system administration, database administration, security, etc. I do a majority of my work from the office, but i'm working on the project to deploy the home routers (Cisco 881s) so I have one to play with.

Did you really put that suit on for that little tiny wad of insulation you had to pull out of the wall?

You are what I call a moron. I had to go into the attic to run the coax, power, and ethernet where I have 5 feet of blown insulation.

I buy off u $13.37

You had to make a 3d mockup just to convince your wife to let you mount something on the wall? you poor boy

You must be single. The office isn't just mine...we own the house together and discuss any changes. I use sketchup pretty frequently and it probably took less than an hour to do.

I really like sketchup it's a great program. Shame google sold it off

Sketchup is extremely useful. I used it to design a desk I'm going to build for my girlfriend. No "poor boy" about it.

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