PenguinMaster

I am going to be running a Christmas Lightshow to music and I had an idea to make it into a text messaging service. I will have a sign set up so anyone who is at the show can send a text message to the phone number (I have an iPhone SE that I'll be using), and it will send a text back with a list of songs to chose from. The Mac will have iMessage set up on it. I will be making a program that will listen for when the specific "song text" is sent back from the user to the Mac, the software will then play that song. I don't really think much processing power would be needed for something like this, but I'm not really sure. I was thinking something like a Mac mini or a Mac Pro? My budget would be around $200-$300 max. I would greatly appreciate your suggestions. Or if you've had experience doing something similar on the windows side using some sort of texting service, I would be open to that too.

Im going to say around 8TB but I have no idea right now.

What would u recommend I do for a backup?

I've found a lot of dual-CPU machines with two 6-core processors in them. Would that work? It seems like you would be recommending more like 64GB of RAM for sake of future expansion.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R5.TR12.TRC2.A0.H1.Xdell+pow.TRS0&_nkw=dell+poweredge+r720&_sacat=0 So these? Should I be looking for any specific processor?

The NAS would be for PC Backups mostly only and some simple file sharing so maybe 4 Tb Max and For PLEX I'm not sure, maybe 8TB? How much space does 200 DVD's take up? I'm assuming a lot more space than i'm thinking. What would you recommend as a backup for the PLEX Server?

Over the years I seek to improve on my network setup. This year, I am looking into a NAS and a PLEX Server. I have a 25u Server Rack and only 5u is currently used, so I have plenty of rack space available. I was looking into either an HP Proliant or a Dell PowerEdge. The Server Rack is in my office, so I would prefer if it wasn't too loud, but a little noise is fine. Would you recommend I get separate units for each or try to virtualize and use 1 unit for both? I don't know much about virtualization since i'm only in high school. I'd prefer if the budget was under $500 total for both. For the NAS we would only be looking at about 5 users max, with maybe only 2 users active at the same time and for the PLEX Server we would be looking at 5-10 users active at once, with many idle devices that are connected, but not currently using it. I have a Dell PowerConnect 5548 Switch so I have 2 10Gig SFP+ Ports available. This would be my first Server or Servers ever, so I need some guidance on which way to go. Also our PLEX Server's purpose would be so we can scan all our DVD's (to start), and then later down the road scan the blue-rays on. The DVD's are the priority at the moment. I would say we have about 200 total spread out across the families. Recommendations on which drives to use would also be appreciated.

Ok thanks for those part lists!

I am looking to build a PC for light gaming This is the spec list: i3 9100f 8GB DDR4 2400MHz Asus RX 570 4GB Thermaltake 600w 80+ DIYPC Solo-T2-BK 240GB SSD 1TB HDD I am contemplating on a motherboard choice between these three https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-B365M-DS3H-LGA1151-Motherboard/dp/B07T6N8N56/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=gigabyte+b365&m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&qid=1586285443&s=warehouse-deals&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/ASRock-H370M-PRO4-CrossFireX-Motherboard/dp/B07BMVTZDW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2YH5GA4FFR83E&dchild=1&keywords=h370+motherboard&m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&qid=1586285567&s=warehouse-deals&sprefix=h370+%2Cwarehouse-deals%2C152&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-H370-HD3-LGA1151-Motherboard/dp/B07CCWBV37/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YH5GA4FFR83E&dchild=1&keywords=h370+motherboard&m=A2L77EE7U53NWQ&qid=1586285567&s=warehouse-deals&sprefix=h370+%2Cwarehouse-deals%2C152&sr=8-1 Is there any reason to go B365 over H370 or H370 over B365?

Ok, thanks!

I found three boards one is a B365 another is H370 and the other is H370 Is H370 better than B365? For GPU I've got 2 Stock AMD RX 570 or ASUS RX 570

I am planning on building a PC for light gaming. I need recommendations for the GPU and Motherboard. These are the parts that I am planning on using: i3 9100f (already have it) ~ Using the stock cooler 8GB DDR4 2400MHz (already have it) B365 Motherboard; Used Option, New Option ~ I would like to stay under $80 600w 80+ Thermaltake Power Supply (already have it) 240GB SSD (already have it) 1TB 7200rpm HDD (already have it) DIYPC Solo-T2-BK (already have it) For the GPU i'm not really sure, I was thinking RX 570 or RX 580, or GTX 970 or 980 ~ I would like to stay under $130 (I've found the RX 570 & GTX 970 are selling for about $90 including shipping, and the RX 580 & GTX 980 are selling for $110) I was wondering if it would be worth buying used hardware when for $20 more I can get a brand new B365 Motherboard and for $30 more I can get a brand new RX 570. I am completely open to changing the GPU and Motherboard options I've gathered if you can find something better or that makes more sense. Any input is greatly appreciated!

Great! Glad it worked out.

It could be an issue with the HDMI port on the monitor, but I'm not sure how likely that would be. What brand and model is it?

Did you try going through device manager and just updating everything. (the GPU, the monitor, the keyboard...)

I had this issue also, I found that updating the BIOS on my motherboard fixed the problem if your not running the latest version.

Did you try going into device manager and updating both the graphics card and monitor drivers?

By any chance do you know how to update the BIOS on a Dell PowerEdge r210 II?

By any chance do you know how to update the BIOS on a Dell PowerEdge r210 II?

Yep that worked, thanks!

I got a TRENDnet TEG-448WS B3.0R switch a while ago, but I can't configure it. I downloaded the "TRENDnet Management Utility" Software from their website and it located the switches IP Address as 192.168.0.1. My router and home network are using 192.168.1.- right now. When I press the configure button in the utility it doesn't let me change any settings, they just go back to the way they where. I'm not sure why this is happening, but I can't access the web interface when I type in the IP Address. Please help. I tried to SSH into it using Tera Term also.

Yep that was it, thanks!

I have a Dell PowerEdge r210 II ~ PfSense router, a Dell PowerConnect 5548, and 2x TP-Link EAP-225 v2's as my home network setup. When connecting directly to the switch through a Cat5e Ethernet cable; after turning on a computer from "Shutdown" or "Sleep" mode, it takes about 30 seconds for the network connection to be re-established. For Wireless devices its almost instant because I figure the Access Points already have established a connection to the switch, so the device being connected doesn't need to fight for a link speed to the switch? I'm a senior in high school, so i'm just starting to fiddle with enterprise gear. Does anyone know how I can fix this issue?

I’m also open to New and Used Hardware.

I am currently in the process of building a new NAS. My original plan was to use a ryzen 3 1200 because I thought I would be able to get a good deal with decent performance. It turns out that the processors are selling used for more or the exact same price as buying a new one. Also the motherboards for these processors are $75+. So then I was looking at the Intel i3 9100f. Those seem to be slightly cheaper, but the performance is better and the motherboards are way cheaper. This is an ok price point, but a little above what I was looking to spend, as this is my first NAS. I already purchased a 4 Port Intel GbE NIC, 8GB of DDr4, an AMD Radeon HD 6450 (Just for a video output because the Ryzen 3 1200 doesn’t have video out), this also means I’m open to processors without Integrated Graphics, and a Micro-ATX case. I also purchased a PCIe to SATA Card for more ports if the board doesn’t have enough. I’m looking for a processor powerful enough, but that doesn’t draw too much power. I was also looking into power supplies. Does anyone have any suggestions for the CPU, Motherboard and Power Supply? I am between using UNRaid and FreeNAS as the OS because I have multiple HDDs of different speeds and sizes.