Hey everyone,
I'm sure there are a lot of people asking for this kind of help, but I'm at wits end. I am the owner of a couple of small businesses that all run out of the same apartment. I'm the "techie" so the network stuff falls on me, but frankly I'm over my head.
So we need to buy a complete new network setup. Currently we have:
- Linksys WRT45g
- HP Media Center (acting as the current file server) (100mg Ethernet)
- Up to 3 Mac Books (wireless N and G)
- Up to 2 Ubuntu Machines (wireless N and G)
- Up to 6 PCs (wireless N and G)
- Brother MFC 2770N (100mg Ethernet)
The goal:
- We need an N router. We'd lock this down the Mac addresses and only for business use.
- We were thinking of using the WRT45g for the G connections - Guests would use this, as well as the older Macs.
- Need a NAS for file serving. We use Dropbox heavily, so compatibility or at least hacking for Dropbox would be great. There would be 4-5 people accessing the server at a time, max.
- The Media Server would be a pure media server. We'd put in a wireless card N USB adapter, and hook it to a projector.
- Needs to work with Comcast and the Brother network printer.
My thoughts:
- Buy a Linsys WRT610n - for the N wireless and to be the gate way (the WRT45g would connect to the WRT610n and the 610n would be the gateway to comcast)
- Buy a Cisco Valet USB Wireless Connector for the Media Center
- Buy a NAS - I was looking at the Diskless Netgear Pioneer NVX with 3 1gig WD Caviar Blacks ran in X-raid. Alternatively we were looking at the Synology DS710+ ran in Raid 0 with 2 WD Blacks and a 1gig backup drive.
The Question:
We want to rework the network for a budget of $800-1000. The File Server needs to perform well with 3-5 people accessing it and dropbox running on it. The Media Server will be self sufficient (ie we wont be serving video from the NAS, just files for the business). The NAS needs to be reliable, and as mentioned, work with Dropbox.
Are there any clear compatibility problems with the above? Are there any components that would be better give the goals and general setup for performance?
Thanks everyone, I know this is broad, but really need some guidance from those in the know.
I'm sure there are a lot of people asking for this kind of help, but I'm at wits end. I am the owner of a couple of small businesses that all run out of the same apartment. I'm the "techie" so the network stuff falls on me, but frankly I'm over my head.
So we need to buy a complete new network setup. Currently we have:
- Linksys WRT45g
- HP Media Center (acting as the current file server) (100mg Ethernet)
- Up to 3 Mac Books (wireless N and G)
- Up to 2 Ubuntu Machines (wireless N and G)
- Up to 6 PCs (wireless N and G)
- Brother MFC 2770N (100mg Ethernet)
The goal:
- We need an N router. We'd lock this down the Mac addresses and only for business use.
- We were thinking of using the WRT45g for the G connections - Guests would use this, as well as the older Macs.
- Need a NAS for file serving. We use Dropbox heavily, so compatibility or at least hacking for Dropbox would be great. There would be 4-5 people accessing the server at a time, max.
- The Media Server would be a pure media server. We'd put in a wireless card N USB adapter, and hook it to a projector.
- Needs to work with Comcast and the Brother network printer.
My thoughts:
- Buy a Linsys WRT610n - for the N wireless and to be the gate way (the WRT45g would connect to the WRT610n and the 610n would be the gateway to comcast)
- Buy a Cisco Valet USB Wireless Connector for the Media Center
- Buy a NAS - I was looking at the Diskless Netgear Pioneer NVX with 3 1gig WD Caviar Blacks ran in X-raid. Alternatively we were looking at the Synology DS710+ ran in Raid 0 with 2 WD Blacks and a 1gig backup drive.
The Question:
We want to rework the network for a budget of $800-1000. The File Server needs to perform well with 3-5 people accessing it and dropbox running on it. The Media Server will be self sufficient (ie we wont be serving video from the NAS, just files for the business). The NAS needs to be reliable, and as mentioned, work with Dropbox.
Are there any clear compatibility problems with the above? Are there any components that would be better give the goals and general setup for performance?
Thanks everyone, I know this is broad, but really need some guidance from those in the know.