[thideras]

Originally Posted by Aynjell

That'd explain it! But are your machines set to turn back on?

Yes, but they didn't come back on, for some reason. It lost power for a very brief second. Hasn't shutdown since, figured this thing was bad.

[Adragontattoo]

Hey Thid.

I MIGHT have someone getting me a key for your HP rack. I left a message with a friend and hopefully they can pull one. IF they do, they will mail it to me and Ill let you know.

[thideras]

That would be pretty awesome, thank you.

[thideras]

So, been thinking about a HTPC for a long time. Going to try and get one running shortly. I was given a Dell (cheapo) system that a company was getting rid of. Single core P4, 2gb of RAM (upped from 512) in a slim case. It works ok, but I want something a bit more robust for high def content. I've looked at HTPC cases, but they are all expensive, small and just...I don't know; not "rack mountable". Nothing overkill with them except price and looks. Neither of which I care about. I'll probably create a thread in the HTPC section of the forums, but this is where I'm going to "store" my thoughts and discussion. Here is the case that I'm looking at:

Norco 270 2u server chassis

The case is a bit smaller, but it fits standard ATX power supplies (big plus) and half height cards. My only concern at this point is cooling on the processor and what type of video card to use in an HTPC. Cooling probably won't be a problem as I can use forced induction on the heatsink if it is an issue. The one thing that I don't know about is accelerated graphics for media.

Cable wise, I can easily run a HDMI cable (or SPDIF) up through the floor from the rack. This would allow me to keep it very close to the switch and have it as loud as I want. It would free up space in the entertainment center, so that is a big plus too.

I'm looking for input on the following topics:

• Which video card for a HTPC
• Which remote/keyboard that will go through a floor (UHF?)
• Which operating system (Mythbuntu, Windows with Media Portal) - Looking for any and all input

----------------

The other thing on my plate is wiring my rack up. I need to get the power strips working so that power is much easier to wire. I may be looking at making/purchasing arms so that wiring is even simpler. In addition to that, I'd love to add an LCD screen that is nearer the rack so that I can work on the servers easier.

[Tsnowflake]

GPU: ATI 5570, or you could wait for the new wave of Nvidia cards which will purportedly support bitstreaming audio and are intended for the HTPC market.

You could actually forgo a GPU if you plan on using the HTPC purely as a playback machine. The i3 CPU+h55/h57 chipset combo can play full HD and bitstream audio w/o a GPU.

Remote/Keyboard: I hear people really like the DiNovo Edge Mini, but I don't know anything about its range. I'm using a $20 dell wireless keyboard, but its <10ft from the setup.

OS: I use Windows with XBMC (rapier skin) on my HTPC. Media Portal is good too, but i liked the ease of use/simplicity of XBMC better.

Also if plan to record TV TiVo style, i think HDhomerun devices are still the way to go.

[Xaotic]

Originally Posted by thideras

The other thing on my plate is wiring my rack up. I need to get the power strips working so that power is much easier to wire. I may be looking at making/purchasing arms so that wiring is even simpler. In addition to that, I'd love to add an LCD screen that is nearer the rack so that I can work on the servers easier.

Horizontal PDU strips are a good idea. The vertical strips are generally painful, but still functional.

Vertical and horizontal wiring managers -- yes
Cable management arms -- never
They are good for creating air dams and nothing else.

If you have sufficient space in the rack, the Dell E2010H LCD monitors fit well and combined with a console keyboard create a nice work space in the rack.

[thideras]

Originally Posted by Xaotic

Horizontal PDU strips are a good idea. The vertical strips are generally painful, but still functional.

Vertical and horizontal wiring managers -- yes
Cable management arms -- never
They are good for creating air dams and nothing else.

If you have sufficient space in the rack, the Dell E2010H LCD monitors fit well and combined with a console keyboard create a nice work space in the rack.

Good information. Regarding the wiring managers, do you have links so I know exactly which you are talking about? The reason I was looking for arms is I pull my servers out to work on them, so the cables need extra slack. That is, unless I'm thinking of this incorrectly.

[neonblingbling]

Originally Posted by thideras

I'm looking for input on the following topics:

• Which video card for a HTPC
• Which remote/keyboard that will go through a floor (UHF?)
• Which operating system (Mythbuntu, Windows with Media Portal) - Looking for any and all input

A popular/common thing to do for HTPCs is to purchase an Acer Revo, and run XBMC Live from it. XBMC Live uses the onboard graphics (NVIDIA ION LE) to accelerate video; it seems that newegg customers can play 1080p on it. I have a similar setup, Zotac IONITX-C-U, which also has the ION GPU. I haven't tested 1080P, but there is a definate difference between running 720p media in XBMC without GPU acceleration (in Windows 7) versus running it with acceleration (Live, which is a Linux build). The Atom CPU isn't very fast so there are parts of videos where it stutters, but everything is butter smooth with the GPU acceleration. I figure it should be pretty easy to find an Nvidia card that is faster than an 'ION GPU'...

Dunno about the input device though. How long can you run a USB cable before loosing signal... This product says it has a 150ft range, which would allow you to run the input receiver up to the media center.

[thideras]

Originally Posted by neonblingbling

A popular/common thing to do for HTPCs is to purchase an Acer Revo

Looks expensive and non-upgradable. That doesn't follow the name of this thread. It is neither "Rackmount" nor "Overkill".

[neonblingbling]

Originally Posted by thideras

Looks expensive and non-upgradable. That doesn't follow the name of this thread. It is neither "Rackmount" nor "Overkill".

Sorry, I simply brought it up as an example.

tl;dr: XBMC Live works well with slow CPUs and reasonable Nvidia GPUs. Maybe could get away with a 8400.

[thideras]

This section is on a definite hold right now. The people I purchased the rack from called and said "Oh, well, we forgot to cash your check. It is going to go through shortly!". Now I'm -$137.

[Xaotic]

Originally Posted by thideras

Good information. Regarding the wiring managers, do you have links so I know exactly which you are talking about? The reason I was looking for arms is I pull my servers out to work on them, so the cables need extra slack. That is, unless I'm thinking of this incorrectly.

Horizontal wiring managers are good for controlling wiring near switches:

http://www.stayonline.com/searchresu...ategoryid=2826

A vertical wiring manager could be mounted outside the rack and aids routing. You probably will not have high enough density to need these:

http://www.rackmountsolutions.net/Re....asp#34-207612

I have a high denisty cage where I house my production servers. Due to the nature of the systems, I use 6" vertical cable management on the front and rear between the racks.

Office server room wiring uses both horizontal and vertical wiring managers as the cable count is generally much higher. I attached a picture of a small office rack for visuals. It is a bit of overkill for 7 users on average, but has to be completely redundant. They have no onsite support and I am about 700 miles away. The rack contains wireless, POE VOIP switches, office and server subnet switches, Cisco Unity Express routers, Cicso MPLS routers, firewalls, horizontal PDUs and an auto transfer switch to handle single power circuit failures.

Cable arms are convenient for moving out a server, but it needs to be off to service it in any event. It is not much more trouble to unplug a couple of cables to do things right. Think of it as a tag out/lock out process. You don't want to work on equipment with a chance of it being turned on. In my case, non HPC cluster servers all have remote management including power. They could be remotely started if the servers have power and the dedicated management network connection. This could go very wrong in an instant.

One of our locations wanted to get around 30 arms for their servers. I perhaps went a bit over the top in saying no perhaps too forcefully.

Stayonline is also good for short power cables.

[thideras]

Very good information, thank you.

[Aynjell]

How do you intend to hook it up? Have a rack mount htpc with some kind of remote setup or what?

[thideras]

Originally Posted by Aynjell

How do you intend to hook it up? Have a rack mount htpc with some kind of remote setup or what?

I'm not sure what you are asking. The cables would run up through the floor.

[Aynjell]

Originally Posted by thideras

I'm not sure what you are asking. The cables would run up through the floor.

So what you're intending is a long ass hdmi cable? That's what I was asking.

[thideras]

Originally Posted by Aynjell

So what you're intending is a long ass hdmi cable? That's what I was asking.

Long? Sort of. A 15ft should be more than enough. The rack sits directly below the TV.

[Aynjell]

Originally Posted by thideras

Long? Sort of. A 15ft should be more than enough. The rack sits directly below the TV.

How will you control it? That's another curiosity I have. You could run a usb cable with it, and then have a hub at the end nearest the TV, with wireless stuff plugged into it. Or did you have something more overkill in mind?

[thideras]

Originally Posted by Aynjell

How will you control it? That's another curiosity I have. You could run a usb cable with it, and then have a hub at the end nearest the TV, with wireless stuff plugged into it. Or did you have something more overkill in mind?

UHF goes very far, even through floors. This would allow me to run a single HDMI cable through the floor.

[Aynjell]

Originally Posted by thideras

UHF goes very far, even through floors. This would allow me to run a single HDMI cable through the floor.

I guess that works! I'll be interested to see how this turns out!