Things to do with a spare PC

D'Agger

I recently purchased a laptop as I need to have computing on the go with work, travel etc.

I still have my Inspiron 545 Desktop and was wondering if anybody had any interesting ideas as to what I could use it for myself?

My initial thought was to install the tower behind my TV, connect it to both the TV & router then use the wireless keyboard and mouse to allow me to browse, stream, watch IT tutorial videos on my TV. Also - anything I download on the laptop could simply be fired onto the PC through a home network and watched on TV - no need for cables etc.

Another idea was to use it to get to know the feel of Linux, Perl, Unix and other languages I want to know how to use in the future.

Any suggestions or bright ideas??

Spear

Do some scientific work?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=851

fionny

Use it as a proper media pc / server with software like Boxee or something similar. Get a little handheld keyboard like the Logitech DiNovo mini.

You could also host a small Minecraft server for you and your friends?

Or you could use it as a footstool :P

D'Agger

fionny wrote: »

Use it as a proper media pc / server with software like Boxee or something similar. Get a little handheld keyboard like the Logitech DiNovo mini.

Cheers - never heard of Boxee before tbh but this is why I want the thread - get more information on software that I could use to set it up as best as possible.

It's a strong machine - has a quad core 2.5ghz processor, 4gb RAM and 500GB HDD.

I'm working in deskside support atm and hoping to move into Networking so want to use this side project as a way to learn more and teach myself.

fionny

Well you could kill 2 birds with one stone, install Linux and then put Boxee on that as a double whammy so you can learn the new OS and have a media pc.

Boxee is my fav media pc software: http://www.boxee.tv/make

EDIT and thats a damn nice pc to have set aside for mere tinkering! Lucky git :P

D'Agger

fionny wrote: »

Well you could kill 2 birds with one stone, install Linux and then put Boxee on that as a double whammy so you can learn the new OS and have a media pc.

Boxee is my fav media pc software: http://www.boxee.tv/make

EDIT and thats a damn nice pc to have set aside for mere tinkering! Lucky git :P

I know that's why I'd like to put it to good use - it's too good a PC to waste!!

I was thinking of installing Linux alright....in addition to Windows 7 which is already on it.

With regard to Boxee - are there many free channels on it/ what are the main free features of it? the website didn't give much info - I checked it as soon as you mentioned it earlier!

I was planning on just using a web browser for ch131.com & atdhe.net/myp2p.eu for streaming sports etc.

the_syco

PaulieC wrote: »

I still have my Inspiron 545 Desktop and was wondering if anybody had any interesting ideas as to what I could use it for myself?

:pac:

fionny

Well boxee is more for playing video files you already have, it does work with things like netflix and stuff but I dont think they are available here yet.

Dual boot with Linux is good, also if you want a fun side project you could try make a hackintosh out of it, its tricky but fun that way you could also learn the fruit based OS :P

D'Agger

fionny wrote: »

Well boxee is more for playing video files you already have, it does work with things like netflix and stuff but I dont think they are available here yet.

Dual boot with Linux is good, also if you want a fun side project you could try make a hackintosh out of it, its tricky but fun that way you could also learn the fruit based OS :P

Ah so it basically gives a UI to allow you play your files correct?

I have a 1tb iomega screenplay director which I could always use at home - use it mainly at work atm for myself and the people I work with to look at stuff during lunch. Could always just bring that home and use that instead of Boxee, then use the PC for simple browsing and watching stuff online.

Or just add the media player to the PC and use it for additional storage - it takes a bit too long to load the UI on it imo

fionny

Ya its just a program that pretties up the interface and fetches data etc... ie if you have tv programs on your disk it will go off and find the info and covers and ratings etc... and pull it all in for you.

Also you can just close it and use the PC as normal.

D'Agger

fionny wrote: »

Ya its just a program that pretties up the interface and fetches data etc... ie if you have tv programs on your disk it will go off and find the info and covers and ratings etc... and pull it all in for you.

Also you can just close it and use the PC as normal.

Sounds good...will definitely give it a go, I'll try out alot of different OS, Software etc on it just looking for more and more tips on how to use it

Cheers for all the help though!

Was looking at this article for ideas also....might try out some of the NAS stuff on it

fionny

Aye good shout, also playing around with virtualisation would be a good shout for your IT stuff!

study68

use as a linux pc. use this PC to take a backup your new laptop. explore linux and other software & games..

D'Agger

study68 wrote: »

use as a linux pc. use this PC to take a backup your new laptop. explore linux and other software & games..

That's part of the plan anyway - even in college I've never had to use Linux and if I want to move into Networking/system administration then I'm going to need to know it.

Any tips on software worth exploring??

D'Agger

Just to give this a bit of a bump:

Installed Boxee Fionny cheers for the recommendation....I especially like that you can start playing one song then start browsing for more music etc.

With regards to creating playlists I haven't fully looked into it but I always have itunes to fall back on...

The streaming channels available are brilliant for me as they're nearly all tech related and seeing as I'm just out of college I'm looking to learn constantly - the TED channel in particular is brilliant.

With regards to other uses - I'm going to install VMware on the PC - then install a number of different OS that I want to try out and get a feel for like Ubuntu.

If there's any other software out there worth looking at just to test out etc. then feel free to let me know

And again, cheers for the help lads

fionny

Good stuff cheers for the update!

Cuddlesworth

PaulieC wrote: »

I'm working in deskside support atm and hoping to move into Networking so want to use this side project as a way to learn more and teach myself.

ESXi, build a working domain and get your MCSE.

D'Agger

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

ESXi, build a working domain and get your MCSE.

Already studying for my SCCM 70-401 cert as I'm using that software at work.

Have access to CBT Nugget videos online so that's another reason why I connected the PC to the TV - can watch now on a big scree while taking notes...

Any tips on using ESXi?

Cuddlesworth

PaulieC wrote: »

Any tips on using ESXi?

If what you want is to set up VM's then its a great tool, close enough to ESX to give you a good understanding of what VMware is about and invaluable in building your own lab for study and testing. But useless if all you want the box to do is play movies.

D'Agger

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

But useless if all you want the box to do is play movies.

Well that's not all I want but I only have the Desktop and a laptop...I could source another cheap desktop soon enough if I needed it for testing - it wouldn't seem like much of a 'lab' with just 2 PCs....

That said - were you to tell me I could practice alot of testing etc. with just the laptop & desktop on my network at home then I'd be very interested in learning more.

With regards to software etc. then I want to use it for getting to know the run of different softwares & OS without having to worry about fúcking up the PC.

Krusader

Use it as a cloud server for you and your family,
http://www.tonido.com/

study68

Interesting post. after reading comments, I also feel like make use of my 2 old PCs, currently sitting idle. their config is not so good. 2 Gb RAM and Pentium 4, but probably will work ok. I had unstalled Unix on one of them and tried games and other stuff etc... I like idea of installing VMware and try out different OS.. also can be used as home network.. Thanks.

D'Agger

study68 wrote: »

Interesting post. after reading comments, I also feel like make use of my 2 old PCs, currently sitting idle. their config is not so good. 2 Gb RAM and Pentium 4, but probably will work ok. I had unstalled Unix on one of them and tried games and other stuff etc... I like idea of installing VMware and try out different OS.. also can be used as home network.. Thanks.

Well if you're using it for multimedia then the processor wouldn't be much of a problem if you just wipe it using killdisk/DBAN and install XP on it - Vista or 7 will just take up too much juice imo

Then install boxee like was recommended earlier & get it to run on startup or something.

I'm finding it handy for home networking - no wires required - just download on my laptop and fire it onto the Desktop then bang it's ready to play

Cuddlesworth

PaulieC wrote: »

Well that's not all I want but I only have the Desktop and a laptop...I could source another cheap desktop soon enough if I needed it for testing - it wouldn't seem like much of a 'lab' with just 2 PCs....

That said - were you to tell me I could practice alot of testing etc. with just the laptop & desktop on my network at home then I'd be very interested in learning more.

With regards to software etc. then I want to use it for getting to know the run of different softwares & OS without having to worry about fúcking up the PC.

ESXi will be placed before any OS. The only output to the screen with be a command line console or the IP address of the box(which should be fixed). For this reason it would be useless as a media player. It does allow you to install any OS on the system and console in on it. The box does all the work can could in theory run quite a few of them at once, although you would want a ram upgrade to at least 8 gigs for that.

It would allow you set up a fully working domain with clients for a host of different reasons, the main one being training and certs.

Depends on whether of not you want to stay in Deskside support.

Zapho

I used my spare machine to run ubuntu linux and to create nice ideas. I far prefer using linux than windows but in work its far more convenient to use windows on my laptop so its nice to have a seperate machine that is 100% linux. MY PC is also a lot more powerful than my laptop.

So here's what I ended up using this PC for:

1. Wrote a bash script so that my PC searchs for the presence of my laptop on the network. If detected, it synces my music folder using rsync. Makes a handy backup and means I have my entire music collection on both machines.
2. I store all of my movies on the PC. My housemates and I can stream them whenever we want.
3. Setup the machine so I can ssh to it from anywhere (dynamic dns) and also set up teamviewer so I can get a GUI if I need it.
4. I host a simple webpage on this machine just to learn about managing an apache server and learn about html/php/sql etc.
5. Games machine! Like I said, my PC is a lot more powerful than the laptop and can play slighty older games at the resolution of my monitor (1920X1200). I've setup these games using WINE.

fionny

What games do you have humming with WINE.

If ever they perfect the code wrapping or whatever it is wine does id be all over Linux...

D'Agger

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

ESXi will be placed before any OS. The only output to the screen with be a command line console or the IP address of the box(which should be fixed). For this reason it would be useless as a media player. It does allow you to install any OS on the system and console in on it. The box does all the work can could in theory run quite a few of them at once, although you would want a ram upgrade to at least 8 gigs for that.

It would allow you set up a fully working domain with clients for a host of different reasons, the main one being training and certs.

Depends on whether of not you want to stay in Deskside support.

TBH I don't see myself doing that although I will prob experiment with VMware on it at some stage just to check it out.

I don't want to stay in deskside support - networking has always where I want to head but I'm just out of college so deskside is the first rung on the ladder for me.

I'm learning bits & pieces from the networking guys I work with and if I need to setup a test environment then I have the resources at work to do so.

atm the only certs I'm looking at are a number of MSCE certs & the CCNA