I guess this is where i start.
Well i got myslef my first home and been doing little DIY stuff and fixing it up.
Plus i play around with computers a lot and always enjoy tearing my current rig apart and putting it back together or upgrading it or just buying new technology because i can.

Over the past few years i started transfering all my dvd's and vhs and such to digital MKV files. So i'm into backing up all my stuff. i enjoy good quality.

I always enjoy anything thats techy.
Bought a new 55" LED LCD TV a soon a s they came on the shelves a while back.

And for this site, now I'm at the point where I would enjoy a nice Hardwired home.
I have started a fairly decent size storage of videos and need more storage. So i figured a NAS with about 4TB would be good for a while.

So this is my current project.
1. Hardwire the house
- need about 12+ dops for everything
2. Get a decent switch to handle: (NETGEAR ProSafe FS726T)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833122146
- 6+ copmuters
- 2+ media players
- 3 game consoles
- 1 NAS
- provide internet to all computers/devices?????
3. Get a NAS for: (Synology DS410)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822108050
- 4 x 1TB storage
- RAID 5 Support
- Host web page (personal use/minimal use)
- Host mail server
- user management (add users, control storage amount)
- 1000mbps (stream media. video/music)
- ability to access it/files from outside LAN (WWW)
4. Maybe a firewall????? (NETGEAR FVS318)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6833122007
- not sure if i would need this. but makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and i got the $$$
- I have even less knowledge about firewalls

Yeah... So those are my intentions. Would like to hear back from the community about what you guys think. Like i said I'm new to networking and know very little. Got the basics, but maybe you might have some better ideas.

Thanks!

I use XBMC in 2 rooms and play my media off my ds210j

Firewall not really needed. Most consumer routers have some sort of spi firewall

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

Ok thanks.

I've been convinced to do away with the firewall.
My plan is to run cat6 to every room and run it with every CATV outlet. Just change the faceplate to support both. And add a few extra drops here and there.

And I'm still liking the DS410 after everything else I have looked at.

I have found a central location for everything and this is what i have:
ISP -> cable modem -> WRT54G wireless router & NAS -> NETGEAR FS726T -> to a patch panel -> to the separate rooms. I know the 24 switch is a lot for right now, but gives me flexibility for the future because I'm sure I will build on this.

So am I on the right path so far?

Here's my awesome skills at drawing my diagams.

2nd floor


and the first floor.

More sweet skills.

Here's a diagram of how I image everything connected.


I imagine that there will be other smaller 4 port switches somewhere mixed in.

Looks perfect. Pretty much the same way I have mine set up

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

ok cool. I'm doing something right.

So i updated my drawing again....


Now I have a few question based on this schematic. I know its kind of a lot, but I have a lot running through my head...

1. Internet???
a. will i be able to provide internet to "All" drops?
b. if Yes, can the internet be used "Simultaneously" among all drops?

2. Plug and Play?
a. Will i be able to just connect any device to the drops?
b. or will new devices need to be identified and set up?

3. LAN and WLAN?
a. will all devices be able to communicate with the NAS? wired or wireless?
b. will all devices be able to communicate with each other? wired or wireless?
c. will it require some type of setup like creating a home network through Windows.
d. Or are they limited to just communicating with the router and NAS?

4. Printer?
a. will my NAS still work as a print server if the printer is connected to any of the drops?

5. DNS? Dynamic DNS?
a. can i etablish a static IP address for the NAS?
b. do i have to talk to my ISP for a static IP address?
c. can i associate a domain name with my router?
d. mysite.somecompany.com(yes i can) vs mysite.com(???) // i would prefer mysite.com
e. can i do multiple mysites.com?

6. The drops themselves?
a. Does each drop get its own address?
b. does a device acquire that drops address when connected to it?
c. does the address change?

Also, i added that 6 port switch to bridge my 300ft(100m) gap. Don't think i will hit that distance, but i haven't measured yet and want to be safe.
Will that switch extend my range? 300ft from that second switch? Is that right?

Sorry if I'm asking a lot, but I'm trying to figure out how this is all gonna work. Like I said, I'm new to this stuff.

Thanks.

Yes, as long as the router is NAT'ing traffic


If you've got DHCP configured it'll be plug and play. May want to hard code the NAS though



As long as they are all in the same subnet, they can speak to each other without even going to the router


Yes



I use dnsmasq on my router. I have no need to give anything locally a domain name. What for? I use a single IP address and have my router update my external domain name through dyndns


'The drop' is not a layer3 device, so does not get an address and does not need one. Again, as long as DHCP is configured, it'll all work


It should be good up to 100m. If it's further you'll need to think about fiber and media converters

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

Wow thanks for the fast and good info.
Looks like i have the right equipment to do what i want to do, its just figuring out how to configure it properly.

I still have a lot to learn. Understood most of what you said, but going to have to learn a lot more to actually make it work.
Like: NAT, DHCP, and the whole DNS and Dynamic DNS thing.

Thanks.

I'm sure I'll have more questions when the hardware starts arriving and the installation process begins.

I just wanted to share a quick update on my home project.
Everything is setup and its working great.
I appreciate everyone's help with this.
Thanks!

I dropped a new coax cable line into my closet and then added a new power outlet to connect everything. Placed a patch panel on the inside wall and ran all my wires into my attic and throughout my home. It was tricky(lots of drywall cutting) getting my lines from the attic to the first floor on a two story house.

But here is my quick and dirty home network center.
What do you guys think?

Nice.

Do you have enough ventilation in there ?

_________________
Save water, drink beer

Yeah... its a decent walk in closet. that's just one corner of it. and the door is almost always open.
The only heat i get is from my sprint router device(not really used for routing, but sprint purposes only) not too worried about that. and my NAS stays in the 40's Celsius range. So its working fairly well.

I thought about ventilation, but along the coast in South Carolina, it gets extremely humid and hot here. So i didn't want to give any reason for that to find its way into my closet/room.

So it works good for me.

Just wanted to say "Awesome Job!" For someone who is "new to the world of networking," you're one hell of a DIYer. The company I work for would have charged massive amounts of $$ to do this for you

Hey very nice work. I would not stress 'ventilation" issues with this amount of hardware. But it is always good to keep that in mind for the future. It looks good man. Solid setup.

Thanks for the Props guys. The hardest part was just the labor of running the cables.
The network side was a just plug n play with a lot of trial and error. Don't know if its configured correctly, but it works great for me and gets the job done.

Though its not as impressive as some of those Cisco setups you guys have out there.
This was pretty cheap. The NAS and hard drives was the most expensive thing.

Nice job MSHoward. I'm from SC, too- Charleston- so I know about the heat and moisture concerns.