Tag Archives: Computers

Home network, backup solution – now I can sleep.

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been about two weeks since I updated my home network with a file server and backup drive. So far, the performance is fast and the backup has been flawless. I didn’t have a ton of cash to spend on setting it up, so I went on the “frugal side”. Here is an outline of the set up if anyone is thinking of doing this.

Need

I realized not too long ago that all my music, client work, finances, pictures, emails and everything was in danger of being completely lost in the case of a drive failure. It hit me with an uncomfortable unease to think that I had no way of saving any of this data because I had no copy or backup solution for home (big) media files. I needed to set something up, asap. Once I realized it was all at risk, I became all paranoid about even faintest “odd noise” my laptop made.

I also have a big media collection on my machine (80 or so gigs of mp3s). I share the library across the network to my wife’s laptop, but it’s availability was contingent on my machine being on. And, she could only “read” the files. This meant that I had to actually burn CDs when she wanted one. I wanted a way for her to be able to manage the same library as me, but of course did not want to actually duplicate it on her machine. I also stream media to my PlayStation 3 from my laptop. Again, my machine needed to be on for this to work.

I figured it was time to build a backup solution and media server at home to deal with all this. Besides, I’m a web developer/techie anyways. My home network was lacking to say the least.

Continue reading →

Home Recording and Windows Media Edition? Not So Much…

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve wanted to set up a home recording studio for years. Nothing too fancy or expensive, just something I can use during those increasingly rare moments when I get time to sit down and play my guitar. I occasionally find myself playing something catchy, brainstorming up some lyrics, and writing at least the basics of a song. Unfortunately, because I don’t write music with any regularity, I usually completely forget the song by the next time I sit down to work on it. Or, if I scribble it down in a notebook, I find it hard to recall the melody or get the same feel I had when I first wrote it… bah…

Well, I decided to bite the bullet and get things rolling on this studio thing. I’m certainly not new to the concepts of multi-track recording. In fact, over the past 18 years of playing I’ve used a ton of systems including Tascam multi-track cassette recorders, reel-to-reel systems, and computer hardware/software interfaces. I pretty much know what I need get; I’m just a little out of date with the available technology and what falls within my price range.

After talking to a lot of people, reading a bunch of articles, and doing what I can to bring myself up to speed, it became obvious that a computer-based system was the way to go. This was no shock, but I have to say…

I hate recording music with a computer.

I know computers fairly well. I’ve worked as a Web Developer for more than 8 years and can find my way around a machine better than most of the people I know. The issue I have is that sitting at a monitor, using a mouse to adjust virtual sliders, praying that the computer runs smoothly, and dealing with drivers and codecs makes me crazy. It just takes something away from the “playing music” part of recording when you need to deal with the computer at the same time. I prefer using “stand-alone” systems with real knobs and buttons, but it’s no secret a computer based system offers more possibilities. I accept that, I just hate using them.

Continue reading →