Thinking through a new Computer Infrastructure for my Home Office

[ChiFlyer]

This thread is a spinoff of my "Computer Repairs Recommendations?" thread.

I thought that the original thread was becoming a little cluttered with cross topic posts. Nothing wrong with that.

I wanted to solicit a little advice about how I am planning to set up an improved overall infrastructure (at least I hope so).

The @forcebwithu comment about how he uses multiple machines registered with me.

I plan to do the following (this is a conceptual plan so far).

• Buy a new high end Lenovo laptop to replace the current one as my primary machine. Lenovo Thailand is not processing new orders until July 8th or so.
• Before the new machine arrives move some higher priority xls and doc files from the old machine over to MSFT One Drive. I currently have One Drive turned off as it has conflicts with some IPT files.
• After the new machine arrives, do some basic installs (Firefox etc.) and register the new machine to my MSFT account. This will allow me to install MS Office base products on the new machine at no additional cost and use One Drive files. hmmm - seems like I can install/activate these abilities on my ios phone as well. Sounds like Phase 2.
• The old machine will become my IPT processor and backup machine. New machine is turned off at night and closed to extend it's reliability life cycle.
• Work out a plan as to how to manage One Drive file sharing.
• Test retest and curse. 🙂 

Comments are welcome.

Edited June 28, 2024 by ChiFlyer

[forcebwithu]

I leave my laptops running 24/7. I have them sitting on cooling pads (link) to keep them running as cool as possible.

Rather than use cloud storage, I was using multiple external drives. The drawback to that is they weren't getting backed up. That is a risk I'm currently rectifying as I type this post.

One of my purchases during my visit was the QNAP TS-464 (link) configured as a RAID 5 device. I've never worked with an NAS device before, so I'm now going through the learning curve of setup and configuration.

[Freee!!]

I recommend adding an Raspberry Pi to the infrastructure to run Pi-Hole. With sufficient disk space it can also serve as a backup server and media server.

[ChiFlyer]

20 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I leave my laptops running 24/7. I have them sitting on cooling pads (link) to keep them running as cool as possible.

Rather than use cloud storage, I was using multiple external drives. The drawback to that is they weren't getting backed up. That is a risk I'm currently rectifying as I type this post.

One of my purchases during my visit was the QNAP TS-464 (link) configured as a RAID 5 device. I've never worked with an NAS device before, so I'm now going through the learning curve of setup and configuration.

Interesting. I ordered a cooling pad for my current machine.

I am thinking to go with the MSFT One Drive Cloud approach to get started for file sharing, but will be interested in hearing how your Raid-5 NAS works out for you.

 

[ChiFlyer]

20 hours ago, Freee!! said:

I recommend adding an Raspberry Pi to the infrastructure to run Pi-Hole. With sufficient disk space it can also serve as a backup server and media server.

hmmm - I have read you saying good things about this product line before. I did follow up a bit on one of your links. My basic question is can I integrate the Raspberry product line into my predominately MSFT infrastructure  painlessly? I do not have time for a new hobby.   

[Freee!!]

6 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

hmmm - I have read you saying good things about this product line before. I did follow up a bit on one of your links. My basic question is can I integrate the Raspberry product line into my predominately MSFT infrastructure  painlessly? I do not have time for a new hobby.   

It will be a separate (and small) box, probably living next to your modem/router if you use it for the purposes I mentioned, especially when running it headless. Your major problem will probably be that it will be running some version of Linux, but your MSFT machines will have no problem with that when using it as a file/backup server.

I have six active Raspberry Pis at home (retired an old Raspberry Pi 3B+ yesterday), next to four Windows laptops (one each for every person in the household), one laptop running Linux Mint Debian Edition (for me, slowly switching over to Linux), a couple of Android phones (and Android is really a flavor of Linux), two iPhones (the lady of the house) and a smart TV (don't really know the OS) and everything works together as it should.

Once correctly set up, that Raspberry Pi should take a couple of minutes per week, mostly in updates.

[forcebwithu]

34 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

Interesting. I ordered a cooling pad for my current machine.

I am thinking to go with the MSFT One Drive Cloud approach to get started for file sharing, but will be interested in hearing how your Raid-5 NAS works out for you.

The learning curve wasn't to bad with setting up the QNAP. I'm now in the process of copying over data from my external drives to the NAS.

[forcebwithu]

11 minutes ago, Freee!! said:

It will be a separate (and small) box, probably living next to your modem/router if you use it for the purposes I mentioned, especially when running it headless. Your major problem will probably be that it will be running some version of Linux, but your MSFT machines will have no problem with that when using it as a file/backup server.

I have six active Raspberry Pis at home (retired an old Raspberry Pi 3B+ yesterday), next to four Windows laptops (one each for every person in the household), one laptop running Linux Mint Debian Edition (for me, slowly switching over to Linux), a couple of Android phones (and Android is really a flavor of Linux), two iPhones (the lady of the house) and a smart TV (don't really know the OS) and everything works together as it should.

Once correctly set up, that Raspberry Pi should take a couple of minutes per week, mostly in updates.

Is is correct that with Raspberry Pi "some assembly required"?

I opted for the QNAP as it was basically ready to go out of the box. Just needed to educate myself on the QNAP app and the web interface so I could get started on copying files to the server.

[Freee!!]

25 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Is is correct that with Raspberry Pi "some assembly required"?

I opted for the QNAP as it was basically ready to go out of the box. Just needed to educate myself on the QNAP app and the web interface so I could get started on copying files to the server.

Some but not really much.

As you already have a QNAP (something I initially overlooked), you can install Pi-Hole on that.

[forcebwithu]

I'm quite happy with my new QNAP NAS. Wish I had bought one years ago. Very handy to have all my external drives and data consolidated into one box on my home network. Keeping my fingers crossed that it operates trouble free for many years to come.

[forcebwithu]

@Freee!!, would it be a good idea to keep a spare drive handy on the chance one goes bad in the NAS?

[Freee!!]

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

@Freee!!, would it be a good idea to keep a spare drive handy on the chance one goes bad in the NAS?

Only if you use a raid system which allows rebuilding.

[forcebwithu]

2 hours ago, Freee!! said:

Only if you use a raid system which allows rebuilding.

I am. RAID 5.

[Freee!!]

4 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I am. RAID 5.

In that case it will be, but make sure you build the array with drives from different batches as drives from the same batch have a tendency to fail close to each other when used simultaneously.

[ChiFlyer]

19 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I'm quite happy with my new QNAP NAS. Wish I had bought one years ago. Very handy to have all my external drives and data consolidated into one box on my home network. Keeping my fingers crossed that it operates trouble free for many years to come.

Glad to hear that it is working out for you.

I have decided to go with a high end Lenovo laptop for my second machine. I will likely make that machine my primary and have the current misbehaving laptop become my IPT processor.

My current thinking is that I migrate all function to the new machine and then hand off the current box to Pattya2U for a full analysis of what is wrong with it. After any problems with the current box are corrected, I begin migrating to a multiple machine environment that requires data sharing.

I can start with a simple MSFT "One Drive" approach.

My q4u is do you think that your Raid approach will support remote access? Just curious.   

[Freee!!]

27 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

[...]

My q4u is do you think that your Raid approach will support remote access? Just curious.   

That will require you to set up a VPN to your home (or wherever else that box is located). I recommend WireGuard for that.

[forcebwithu]

9 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

...
I can start with a simple MSFT "One Drive" approach.

My q4u is do you think that your Raid approach will support remote access? Just curious.   

You can enable remote access, but I would advise investigating how secure QNAP is. I believe Synology has a better reputation in that regard than QNAP.

I haven't fully investigated how to lock down remote access as that's something I don't intent to enable.

Pic of my QNAP quietly doing its thing.

[ChiFlyer]

@forcebwithu

Sorry if I am being a little pesty here, but ....

I submitted the order for the T16 G3 last night. Lenovo Thailand sent me an email about how to pay with a bank transfer. Following their instructions I went to set up their account as a 3rd party account in my online Bangkok Bank account. There were some differences (primarily the Lenovo Citibank name) between what BKB showed for a Citibank account and what Lenovo said.

This made me a little nervous. I assume you paid for your T14 with a bank transfer. Any problems with that?

 

[forcebwithu]

6 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

@forcebwithu

Sorry if I am being a little pesty here, but ....

I submitted the order for the T16 G3 last night. Lenovo Thailand sent me an email about how to pay with a bank transfer. Following their instructions I went to set up their account as a 3rd party account in my online Bangkok Bank account. There were some differences (primarily the Lenovo Citibank name) between what BKB showed for a Citibank account and what Lenovo said.

This made me a little nervous. I assume you paid for your T14 with a bank transfer. Any problems with that?

I paid via bank transfer, account details below which should match what you were sent.

Like you I was a bit nervous about sending 48K THB and trusting Lenovo to send me the correct product in return. Normally I wouldn't do that, but I took some comfort that Lenovo is a large, multi-national company and the risk of them screwing me over was small.

[ChiFlyer]

3 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I paid via bank transfer, account details below which should match what you were sent.

Like you I was a bit nervous about sending 48K THB and trusting Lenovo to send me the correct product in return. Normally I wouldn't do that, but I took some comfort that Lenovo is a large, multi-national company and the risk of them screwing me over was small.

I am guessing that you do not use Bangkok Bank. Their transfer system works by using their definition of  a 3rd Party or a Payee. I am unable to match what you and Lenovo have shown. Instead, I end up with 

As you can see, the Company name is a little different.

I am going to call their "Order Support" to verify. I had replied to their payment e-mail, but got no response on that. It was Sunday.

 

[forcebwithu]

14 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

I am guessing that you do not use Bangkok Bank. Their transfer system works by using their definition of  a 3rd Party or a Payee. I am unable to match what you and Lenovo have shown. Instead, I end up with 

As you can see, the Company name is a little different.

I am going to call their "Order Support" to verify. I had replied to their payment e-mail, but got no response on that. It was Sunday.

I use Bangkok Bank, and the screenshot I included in my previous post is from the transfer history for the payment I made. The account number in your screenshot matches the one I used. Same with the bank name.

[ChiFlyer]

1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

I use Bangkok Bank, and the screenshot I included in my previous post is from the transfer history for the payment I made. The account number in your screenshot matches the one I used. Same with the bank name.

All's well that ends ok.

I called them. They do have a lovely v-mail carousel in place, including a few numbers that are out of service.

As usual, if one hangs onto their rapidly eroding sense of civility, you get to someone that can help.

Payment made. Well at least it has left Bangkok Bank.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

Edited July 8, 2024 by ChiFlyer

[Glasseye]

9 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

All's well that ends ok.

I called them. They do have a lovely v-mail carousel in place, including a few numbers that are out of service.

As usual, if one hangs onto their rapidly eroding sense of civility, you get to someone that can help.

Payment made. Well at least it has left Bangkok Bank.

Thanks for your assistance.

 

 

Yes. Sometimes difficult not to blow your stack when dealing with them. But what we are dealing with primarily are conflicts with A.I. related issues. That's why when I finally connect with a real human I treat them (about 85 % of the time) like gold. 

If it is something that is a tough nut to crack I will even tell the person that I understand they may have to jump through some hoops and I don't need the answer or problem to be solved that moment. Those folks have a tough job and I'm sure there are days that are much worse than others. Offering this allows them more time to make correct decisions and perhaps even go an extra step for you. A high percentage of the time problem is resolved when they override the fcuking bots.

Had two such cases like this within the past month. Everything now hunky dory.

[ChiFlyer]

On 7/8/2024 at 3:14 PM, Glasseye said:

 

Yes. Sometimes difficult not to blow your stack when dealing with them. But what we are dealing with primarily are conflicts with A.I. related issues. That's why when I finally connect with a real human I treat them (about 85 % of the time) like gold. 

If it is something that is a tough nut to crack I will even tell the person that I understand they may have to jump through some hoops and I don't need the answer or problem to be solved that moment. Those folks have a tough job and I'm sure there are days that are much worse than others. Offering this allows them more time to make correct decisions and perhaps even go an extra step for you. A high percentage of the time problem is resolved when they override the fcuking bots.

Had two such cases like this within the past month. Everything now hunky dory.

I agree with much of what you are saying, but the vmail carousel predates AI. As much as 25 years ago there was a corporate demand for more effective (cheaper) call center approaches.

Since that time and more so all of the time the focus has been to place the labor and time cost on the customer. The persons taking the calls are rated by how quickly they can get rid of the call. They tend to have a litany of stock answers available whereby they can cast blame on the customer.

Combining this with a move to outsource call centers outside the US (cheaper once again) and one develops the mess that we are talking about.

 

 

 

 

[Glasseye]

8 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

I agree with much of what you are saying, but the vmail carousel predates AI. As much as 25 years ago there was a corporate demand for more effective (cheaper) call center approaches.

Since that time and more so all of the time the focus has been to place the labor and time cost on the customer. The persons taking the calls are rated by how quickly they can get rid of the call. They tend to have a litany of stock answers available whereby they can cast blame on the customer.

Combining this with a move to outsource call centers outside the US (cheaper once again) and one develops the mess that we are talking about.

As Frank Zappa once recorded:

 

 

 

 

 

Yes. Agree with you. That is why doing as much research regarding the issue as you can is completed before making the call. Combine the politeness with a mild yet friendly firm tone and anticipate what they may throw at you.

Example.... I recently did a transfer through my bank using their "Plaid" service. The app has a flaw where you enter the amount you want transfered followed by the account info. of the linked sending acount and receiving account. The flaw - blurs the image of the amount which may appear correct, but can actually be incorrect amount (example - $651 v. $6,511). Well I made this mistake recently and immeadiatly contacted the bank in order to cancel. He was a nice guy but he began to hem and haw saying there was nothing they could do, and it wasn't the banks fault (actually I could tell he was newer and didn't really know).

Well, my b.p. shot through the roof but I kept my cool. I had early on mentioned to him about the flaw before I got into the nitty gritty. He acknowledged that he knew about the flaw (I had assumed he had as I'm sure there are probably thousands of other people who have made the mistake). So.... I set things up nicely planting the fact that I had a strong case based on their flawed tech. It was also apparant that I knew more about their transfer system then he did, but I did so repectfully using case examples of major problems with similar systems and the massive lawsuits that followed.

He paused as he was staring at his computer screen not knowing what to say. 

I then said nicely. "Hey, I know you folks are probably kind of busy. Why don't you check with your manager when you have a few minutes and get some clarrification on the matter. Then you can call me back within the next hour". I could hear a sigh of relief. Ten minutes later he called back and everything was taken care of.

If I had blown my stack (even though it would have been justified) I could have found myself dealing with a massive headache.