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7.4

Advice on what Home Computer Setup

Asked by amacfarl in Personal Computers, Computer Servers, General Laptop

Tags: what, advice

Hi,

I am looking to update my home computer setup and looking for some advice.

What I have currently?
 - I work computer
 - A home computer (desktop)
 - An external USB storage for Backup (sync'd daily)

My Profile
 - I currently spend over 80% of my time travelling, therefore I largely use my work laptop
 - My wife largely uses desktop
 - I am completely paperless, therefore all bank statements, letters, bills etc.. are all scanned and stored on the computer.
 - I use a mixture of Microsoft Groove & Vice Versa Pro 2 to sync betwen Work Computer, USB Storage, and Home Computer
 - I don't play games, but tend to use alot of storage and processing power.

Problems with Setup
 - I am very security concious - having everything scanned in - I need to be.
 - I have only one good backup (USB Storage), if my house is burgled, I could loose everything (except what I have sync'd with my laptop).
 - I don't have enough storage.
 - Sync'ing setup works.  But not well.

Options that I am considering
1) Replace Desktop two pieces of kit (a) laptop and (b) Home Server.  Therefore I would have 2 laptops, one work and one home.  Then purchase online storage to sync everything which is not replacable from the server to the online storage (e.g. pictures, scanned files etc - but not music).   The server would also sync with each laptop for the relevant data - e.g. All music will be sync'ed with home laptop only, but scanned files will be synced with both.

The home server that I am looking at is HP's new offering - HP Media Smart Server - EX475 - which I can get for GBP 399 with 1 TB of storage.

2) Replace Desktop with a new desktop.  Have this new desktop act as a server.  This is reduced cost as it is only one piece of kit.  The disadvantage is that my home PC is also a central point of failure.  In addition, a more powerful desktop will be required.  There is also a disadvantage is that my wife and others will be using the computer that will be responsible for everything - hence will restart it etc.. etc..  However the advantage is that being a desktop, I can easily open it and upgrade specific components etc.. Laptops & Home Server I cannot.

So... this is my brain dump of ideas, and I would be interested it getting some expert advice.

My main aim is to setup something that will last years 4 to 5 years with little upgrade

Thanks in advance
[+][-]12/17/07 11:28 AM, ID: 20487131Expert Comment

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[+][-]12/17/07 11:28 AM, ID: 20487138Expert Comment

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[+][-]12/17/07 11:33 AM, ID: 20487165Assisted Solution

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[+][-]12/17/07 11:38 AM, ID: 20487207Assisted Solution

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[+][-]12/17/07 10:31 PM, ID: 20490304Expert Comment

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[+][-]12/18/07 03:19 AM, ID: 20491205Author Comment

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[+][-]12/18/07 01:47 PM, ID: 20495826Accepted Solution

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About this solution

Zones: Personal Computers, Computer Servers, General Laptop
Tags: what, advice
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Solution Provided By: PCBONEZ
Participating Experts: 5
Solution Grade: B
 
[+][-]12/18/07 02:14 PM, ID: 20496060Expert Comment

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[+][-]12/18/07 06:26 PM, ID: 20497157Assisted Solution

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[+][-]12/19/07 03:30 AM, ID: 20498756Expert Comment

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