Hello everyone 🙂
I am new to the forum and I hope this is the right place to ask.
I am currently planning a new build. I have now reached the point where I am thinking about the locations for my computers. I work with computers a lot, both privately and professionally.
I am planning an office where I will often work from home. Ideally, I wouldn’t have my computers right next to me, but rather in a separate room. It would also be great if not every child needed their own PC, but this could be managed centrally as well.
I have thought of two options:
1. PCs located in a central room, with signals distributed to other rooms via HDMI or USB cables inside the walls. I’m not sure if this is even possible?
2. PCs in a central room and terminals in the individual rooms. Here I wonder which terminals would be suitable (up to 4 monitors) and whether special software is needed. I am familiar with Citrix professionally, but I don’t know how expensive it could be for private users.
What options do I have or do you use?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Regards,
Chris
I am new to the forum and I hope this is the right place to ask.
I am currently planning a new build. I have now reached the point where I am thinking about the locations for my computers. I work with computers a lot, both privately and professionally.
I am planning an office where I will often work from home. Ideally, I wouldn’t have my computers right next to me, but rather in a separate room. It would also be great if not every child needed their own PC, but this could be managed centrally as well.
I have thought of two options:
1. PCs located in a central room, with signals distributed to other rooms via HDMI or USB cables inside the walls. I’m not sure if this is even possible?
2. PCs in a central room and terminals in the individual rooms. Here I wonder which terminals would be suitable (up to 4 monitors) and whether special software is needed. I am familiar with Citrix professionally, but I don’t know how expensive it could be for private users.
What options do I have or do you use?
Thanks in advance for your advice!
Regards,
Chris
N
nordanney8 Jan 2021 12:10Chris90 schrieb:
In my employer’s office, all PCs are located in one room, and everyone accesses the virtual machines via terminals. Everyone has different monitors with full performance and resolution. There are no PCs and no noise in the office. First of all, a PC in the office does not take up space – you would need a separate room.
A PC in the office is easy to cable – with a separate server room and four required monitors, additional cabling is necessary.
A PC in the office is whisper-quiet – maybe unknown brand computers are a bit noisy. But a decent computer placed under the desk or anywhere else in the office is not audible.
I myself work from home with three computers and three monitors – the ThinkPad is silent and directly connected to my employer’s data center. Plus two monitors. Then there is a private computer with quiet fans and one monitor, as well as a data server for all media (photos/videos/data). Everyone can access this over LAN and Wi-Fi. I would never consider dedicating a separate room for this, since it does not improve work at all. At most, I would put the data server in my server cabinet, where router, switch, and so on are also located.
But this seems to be your preference/requirement. Then you should get a network professional to plan the technical infrastructure for your house and equip it with the appropriate technology/software.
T
Trademark8 Jan 2021 12:13In the end, it’s your hobby. Rick has described it quite well. However, there are people here who don’t consider your solution to be the best or most practical.
What puzzles me a bit is the following: Rick is tech-savvy and therefore spends quite a lot of money on his hobby (okay, the overall project is also in the luxury category). For me, that fits the overall picture – a modernist/high-tech villa (this is not meant negatively). Installing technology worth tens of thousands of euros as a hobby somehow fits. Especially because Rick is basically explaining to us how things work in that context.
With you, I currently get the impression that you want to fit such a solution into a single-family house with 150 m² (1,615 square feet), and the solutions you actually need or want probably cost several times more than your PC. This immediately invites more criticism because the cost-to-benefit ratios are different.
What puzzles me a bit is the following: Rick is tech-savvy and therefore spends quite a lot of money on his hobby (okay, the overall project is also in the luxury category). For me, that fits the overall picture – a modernist/high-tech villa (this is not meant negatively). Installing technology worth tens of thousands of euros as a hobby somehow fits. Especially because Rick is basically explaining to us how things work in that context.
With you, I currently get the impression that you want to fit such a solution into a single-family house with 150 m² (1,615 square feet), and the solutions you actually need or want probably cost several times more than your PC. This immediately invites more criticism because the cost-to-benefit ratios are different.
untergasse438 Jan 2021 12:14Chris90 schrieb:
Sorry, but I thought this forum was for constructive discussions and that someone might come up with a different idea. Just because someone wants to solve something differently doesn’t mean it’s pointless...
I’m sure there will be a good solution found!
With that said.... Sorry, you say you work with this kind of thing in your company. So you must know how it’s done, right? The reason nobody else does it at home might be because it doesn’t make practical sense for home use. Otherwise, try searching for thin clients—that should be exactly what you are looking for. For a budget version, use RDP and some mini PC capable of driving the number of monitors you need.
I’m a big fan of Jens’ YouTube channel (Austrian Gamerstech / AGTech). He does a lot of virtualization on powerful Dell servers (for example, rendering). You might find some inspiration there.
bauenmk20208 Jan 2021 12:18@Chris90
What you are looking for is probably something like "Wireless HDMI." As far as I know, this technology is not yet well established in the consumer market. However, the advantage is certainly the transmission of video and audio without cables to compatible monitors.
I’m not sure if there are solutions that allow one PC to connect to multiple monitors showing different images wirelessly.
For me, one potential issue remains with the following scenario: Quickly connecting a USB stick or USB device (external hard drive, camera, phone, etc.) to the work computer. That would no longer work with an “outsourced” computer setup.
Otherwise, energy-efficient PCs that are used with Google Stadia / cloud gaming come to mind.
edit:
I was once one of the first to have a Steam Link. I used it a few times to stream from the PC to the TV. I’m not sure if it is still available?
What you are looking for is probably something like "Wireless HDMI." As far as I know, this technology is not yet well established in the consumer market. However, the advantage is certainly the transmission of video and audio without cables to compatible monitors.
I’m not sure if there are solutions that allow one PC to connect to multiple monitors showing different images wirelessly.
For me, one potential issue remains with the following scenario: Quickly connecting a USB stick or USB device (external hard drive, camera, phone, etc.) to the work computer. That would no longer work with an “outsourced” computer setup.
Otherwise, energy-efficient PCs that are used with Google Stadia / cloud gaming come to mind.
edit:
I was once one of the first to have a Steam Link. I used it a few times to stream from the PC to the TV. I’m not sure if it is still available?