Picked up a Proliant SE1101 server this weekend that I plan to use for my home server to replace an aging eMachine that has held up for about 7 years. The server is probably almost the same age but has much more functionality (dual, quad-core Xeon processors, 16 GB RAM, etc). Unit was $50 on Craigslist and is a little beat up on the outside, with 2 drive trays missing and the 1 remaining drive being questionable, but interior is very clean. Will probably get 2 additional drive trays and put several 2 TB drives in the system in a mirrored RAID configuration (unfortunately, the internal RAID is 0,1 only). Also have a Dell PowerEdge R805 coming that will hopefully become a NextCloud server on CentOS 7.

While I’m more comfortable with Xubuntu distro, I believe I’m going to migrate my existing home server from Win 2003 PDC to CentOS and utilize a SAMBA configuration instead. I still need my home users to be able to login on Win 7 through Win 10 (or whatever they want), but I’m tired of maintaining a Windows Server. Then again, I might just keep it on Windows just for practice. Either way, will probably be running on ESXi bare metal with virtual machines. Much easier to maintain.

The system is currently dispersed throughout the house. However, with recent kid departures, we are rearranging and I will be consolidating equipment into one room, with more powerful and reliable Cisco equipment taking the place of other cheap equipment.

Finally bought a LaserDisc player this weekend along with the first 3 Star Wars (Wide Screen). Also picked up a few LDs from Goodwill in Austin through their online sales. So far, the quality might not be as good as other modern media but it’s a joy to watch movies with the artifacts and imperfections that you often see in analog vs. digital. Unfortunately, the player didn’t have an original Pioneer remote control, but I found a cheap GE 8 unit universal remote that includes codes for several LD player brands, including Pioneer, that seems to work (code #0222 if it’s a CL3 variant). It won’t turn the player on, but other functionality is good enough to play, pause, and stop, which is really all I care about at this point. It can also do some chapter searching but I haven’t played with it much more.

Currently watching Vertigo. I haven’t seen it before, so it’s actually pretty nice watching it on a clean media. Very little deterioration of the disc considering it’s over 30 years old.