My Home Network

For the last two weeks, my most significant other has been bugging me (yes, I’m using that term) with the “I don’t know how this stuff is all put together. What am I suppose to do when you die and something breaks.”  Ignoring the fact that I really don’t think I’ll care whether the laser printer is working when I die, I decided to show her how the stuff is put together.  The stuff refers to my home computer  network. So last night I diagramed it out, showed it to her and filed it in a book that I had her label so she knows what it is.

In a way I’m glad I diagramed my network because it made me appreciate my setup. I know that there are others who have much better setups than I do, but mine does everything I want and more. The hub of my system remains my Windows Home Server (WHS) which I wrote about in October 2008. (As I looked at the photo in October article, I realized that the only thing I still have from that picture is the server and the gigabit switch.)

As I’ve said countless times before, the Home Server houses all my stored media (pictures, videos , music and movies) and automatically backs up all connected computers. The Cisco E3000 router (which is new) is a dual band device so the Xbox which is connected to the TV is on a separate frequency (5 GHz vs 2.4 GHz) than the IPod, my laptop or my son’s laptop when he comes to visit.  The router also lets my son and daughter have remote access to the Home Server so they can see our pictures or drop pictures of the grandkids directly on the device.

In short, I’ve come a long way since my first home network of crossover cables. But I didn’t realize how far until I drew it out.