I have a 36U rack in my office that currently contains all my network gear (5U worth), a big uninterruptible power supply (UPS), a very big 4U server case, and a couple shelves for spare work laptops and two Synology NAS devices (an 8x16TB from around 2018 and 2x16TB 2023 model). The server basically just runs Roon server (for music) and Plex (for music and movies) under Windows 10. Other than a few random hiccups due to Windows updates, this has been a solid setup for me since I moved into this house five years ago. However, there is some room for improvement:
And so it begins.
- I would LOVE to get the 36U rack out of my office. As theSven can probably attest, it's a bit cramped in there.
- My energy bill is only increasing, as (I assume) is the norm these days.
- The network gear sucks down a fair amount of power, I have a network gateway in addition to two large switches, one of which provides POE to several other devices.
- The server isn't exactly the pinnacle of efficiency (power or space), though I believe the power supply is at least Platinum rated.
- The server and my desktop computer are basically turned on 24/7.
- The network panel in my house is actually in the master closet, and it is a mess that spills over into the closet itself. My wife would like it to not be that way anymore.
- When starting a movie out of nowhere, there is a delay as the Synology NAS comes out of hibernation and spools up the hard disks. This also happens for music, but it's even slower as the PSU in the 2x16TB NAS (that which holds my music media) can only spool up one drive at a time. I find this irritating.
- My desktop computer I currently use for work (though I should be using a work laptop) is setup for gaming with an Nvidia 3070Ti. Problem is, I don't game on it - ever. It's on 24/7 as I often use this for compressing movies once ripped, and this is a bit time consuming (even with the 3070Ti and an [older] 16-core processor).
- My desk is very cluttered. I currently have two laptops and a desktop setting upon it with a 38" ultrawide monitor. I would like to reclaim some of that space.
And so it begins.
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