New Home Network - Any Critiques & Help?

[NavXIII]

Hey y'all,

 

Sometime early next year the construction of my new home will begin and since my Dad knows nothing about computers I've been tasked to figure out how to set up a home network throughout the house. The network's purpose is to:

A) set up ethernet and HDMI ports throughout the house to stream media content,

B) set up the home theatre in the basement,

C) to future-proof and increase the value of the home for tech-savvy buyers,

D) to stream gaming content from a gaming PC to the home theatre (not really his requirement, but something I want to do).

 

Frankly, I don't really know much setting up a home network either. The most "home networking" I've ever done is streaming movies from my gaming pc to my PS3 using PS3 Media Server. The following diagrams shows the network layout and the house plan. It took me a lot longer than I thought to make this and by no means is it final. I want to know what you guys think. and if there are any problems in this current layout. There's a lot info to take in as a first timer to home networking and since this is probably a year long project I'll be updating this thread bit by bit over the next few months until this project is done.

 

 

Questions I Need Help On (I will start with a few and add more):

1. Do I even need 10 gigabits or is 1 gigabit alright for 4K streaming?
2. What RAID setup for the NAS would give me enough speed (1 or 10 gigabits) so it’s not a bottleneck?
3. Do I even need a HTPC or can I just use my existing gaming PC?

To Do List (I may add/remove some stuff here):

1. Find a good NAS that won’t break the bank and allows for upgradability.
2. Figure out a proper RAID setup for the NAS and maybe the 4K PC.
3. Find proper network switches that aren’t too expensive.

For Conversion purposes:

1 gigabit = 0.125 gigabyte

1 megabit = 0.125 megabyte

1 gigabyte = 1000 megabyte

1 gigabit = 1000 megabits

 

Internet: 50Mbps (6.25MBps) Download Speed

 

ASUS RT-AC3200

• 64.7Mbps (8.09MBps) at 30ft on 2.4GHz
• 160Mbps (20MBps) at 30ft on 5.4GHz in N-mode
• 254Mbps (33MBps) at 30ft on 5.4GHz in AC-mode
• x4 Gigabit LAN ports (125MBps)

QNAP TS-670

• 10 Gigabit (1250MBps)
• 2 LAN

Cat6 Cable

• 1 Gigabit (125MBps)

Cat7 Cable

• 10 Gigabit (1250MBps)

Video Bitrates according to the following website:

http://toolstud.io/video/filesize.php

4K (4096x2160) 60FPS Speed

• Blu-Ray H.264: 573Mbps (71.7MBps)
• Prores422: 2.25Gbps (282MBps)

1080p 60FPS Speed

• Blu-Ray H.264: 134Mbps (16.8MBps)
• Prores422: 528Gbps (66MBps)

[skywake]

Questions I Need Help On (I will start with a few and add more):

1. Do I even need 10 gigabits or is 1 gigabit alright for 4K streaming?
2. What RAID setup for the NAS would give me enough speed (1 or 10 gigabits) so it’s not a bottleneck?
3. Do I even need a HTPC or can I just use my existing gaming PC?

1. Do I even need 10 gigabits or is 1 gigabit alright for 4K streaming?

1Gbps should be ok for 4K streaming. With 10Gbps if you're asking if you need it then you probably don't need it. Looking at the Australian prices an 8 port 1Gbps switch can be found for $30AU, $150AU gets you a 24 port switch. An 8 port 10Gbps switch is $1000AU. It's more within reach than it used to be but it's still a luxury that you should only bother with if you really know you need it. That money could do a lot elsewhere on the network. I'd also add that for 4K you probably should think about H.265 if possible, it'll give you file sizes that are ~30% smaller.

 

2. What RAID setup for the NAS would give me enough speed (1 or 10 gigabits) so it’s not a bottleneck?

A decent 4x HDD RAID 5 should saturate 1Gbps fairly easily. But it depends far more on what sort of controller you're using, just look up reviews if you're going with a consumer grade one. With 10Gbps? It's a bit trickier. To fully saturate 10Gbps you're going to need either a huge array, like 7+ HDDs, or SSDs. And a fair bit of horsepower behind it also. You said you didn't want to break the bank, 10Gbps will break the bank. Especially if you want storage that fast. Again, lots of progress here in the last few years but... we're not quite there yet. Unless you really know you need it. /broken record

 

3. Do I even need a HTPC or can I just use my existing gaming PC?

Depends. What do you intend on doing with it? What is going to be different about it? I mean it may be that you want a HTPC because it's quieter and in a less conspicuous case. If your gaming PC doesn't fit that role very well then it doesn't. If it does? If you have some other idea of what you're going to do? Then go for it.

[NavXIII]

I just realized that there is no colour in my diagram when there was before I exported it.  :angry: The lines with the arrows indicate audio/video

 

 

1. Do I even need 10 gigabits or is 1 gigabit alright for 4K streaming?
1Gbps should be ok for 4K streaming. With 10Gbps if you're asking if you need it then you probably don't need it. Looking at the Australian prices an 8 port 1Gbps switch can be found for $30AU, $150AU gets you a 24 port switch. An 8 port 10Gbps switch is $1000AU. It's more within reach than it used to be but it's still a luxury that you should only bother with if you really know you need it. That money could do a lot elsewhere on the network. I'd also add that for 4K you probably should think about H.265 if possible, it'll give you file sizes that are ~30% smaller.

 

2. What RAID setup for the NAS would give me enough speed (1 or 10 gigabits) so it’s not a bottleneck?

A decent 4x HDD RAID 5 should saturate 1Gbps fairly easily. But it depends far more on what sort of controller you're using, just look up reviews if you're going with a consumer grade one. With 10Gbps? It's a bit trickier. To fully saturate 10Gbps you're going to need either a huge array, like 7+ HDDs, or SSDs. And a fair bit of horsepower behind it also. You said you didn't want to break the bank, 10Gbps will break the bank. Especially if you want storage that fast. Again, lots of progress here in the last few years but... we're not quite there yet. Unless you really know you need it. /broken record

 

3. Do I even need a HTPC or can I just use my existing gaming PC?

Depends. What do you intend on doing with it? What is going to be different about it? I mean it may be that you want a HTPC because it's quieter and in a less conspicuous case. If your gaming PC doesn't fit that role very well then it doesn't. If it does? If you have some other idea of what you're going to do? Then go for it.

Thanks for the help! Based on what you said I'll be sticking to 1 gigabit switches and a 1 gigabit NAS for now since I can't find any cheap 10 gigabit switches. Those Cat7 cables now seems more like future proofing than useful. By the way it is possible to "link" together like ten 1 gigabit ports to achieve 10 gigabit speeds right? I think I've seen that in one of Linus' move in videos.

 

4K at 60fps H.264 is 573 Mbps. If H.265 is about 30% less then that would be about 400Mbps. In a worst case scenario (although not very likely to happen often) that all the old TVs are upgraded to 4K ones in the future and all of them are playing 4K at 60fps on H.265 at the same time there would have to be 1.6Gbps coming out of the NAS, not including WiFi or moving data from both PCs to the NAS. Some NASes come with 2 ethernet ports so I could link a 2 ports on the switch together and have some bandwidth to spare for file transfers or WiFi. I'll probably have to do the same with the ports between the two switches.

 

My main question about the HTPC is that can I run something like Kodi on my gaming PC and have people use it on the projector while I game on my PC? My gaming PC is in a room adjacent to the home theatre so fan noise wouldn't be a problem. 

[skywake]

 

Cat7 I wouldn't bother with. Cat6 is probably going to be enough for 10Gbps for the lengths you'll get within a house anyways. But also because "Cat7" isn't always "Cat7".

 

When you talk about combining multiple ports? For sure, that's an option. Though why you'd want 10x I don't know. You mentioned 1.6Gbps across 4 screens? Well you could probably be covered with just two. But it's worth remembering that Link Aggregation doesn't give you faster single links. It just gives you a faster overall bandwidth across multiple links. Getting a NAS that supports it for 2x ports? Pretty easy. Most decent four drive consumer grade NAS' will cover it.

 

With the HTPC, again. Depends on how you use it. If you have a reason why you want to have it there? Go for it. Sounds like a decent idea.

[xjaffacake]

You say you want to future proof the network. Then surly the 10gigabit cables would be a no brainier. You don't want to find 5 years down the line that your network is bottlenecked by the 1GB cables. How much of a ball ache would that be.

[NavXIII]

Cat7 I wouldn't bother with. Cat6 is probably going to be enough for 10Gbps for the lengths you'll get within a house anyways. But also because "Cat7" isn't always "Cat7".

 

When you talk about combining multiple ports? For sure, that's an option. Though why you'd want 10x I don't know. You mentioned 1.6Gbps across 4 screens? Well you could probably be covered with just two. But it's worth remembering that Link Aggregation doesn't give you faster single links. It just gives you a faster overall bandwidth across multiple links. Getting a NAS that supports it for 2x ports? Pretty easy. Most decent four drive consumer grade NAS' will cover it.

 

With the HTPC, again. Depends on how you use it. If you have a reason why you want to have it there? Go for it. Sounds like a decent idea.

I'm gunna have to agree with the poster below about Cat7 vs Cat6 since most of these cables will be in the walls, and replacing Cat6 will be problem for me rather than the next owner =P. For Link Aggregation I was just using 10x as an example. 2x or 3x will probably be most practical. 

 

But I'm confused by what you mean Link Aggregation doesn't give you faster single links. Do you mean that if I'm transferring a 1.5 gigabit file it will transfer at 1 gigabit? And 2 files transferring at 1 gigabit each will transfer at 2 gigabits total if i have 2 ports linked? If that's the case then that's completely fine as far as I know. 

 

For the HTPC, I'm looking for a reason NOT to have one if my gaming PC can do Kodi on the projector while I use the PC for other things. 

 

You say you want to future proof the network. Then surly the 10gigabit cables would be a no brainier. You don't want to find 5 years down the line that your network is bottlenecked by the 1GB cables. How much of a ball ache would that be.

[skywake]

I'm gunna have to agree with the poster below about Cat7 vs Cat6 since most of these cables will be in the walls, and replacing Cat6 will be problem for me rather than the next owner =P. For Link Aggregation I was just using 10x as an example. 2x or 3x will probably be most practical. 

 

The problem is you can get a lot of cables that say they're "Cat7" but aren't really "Cat7". With Cat6 you're more likely to get actual Cat6 because a lot of very decent cables are only rated for Cat6. So I'd generally avoid stuff that claims it's Cat7.

 

Also to avoid some confusion here's the actual spec:

Cat5e: Can't do 10Gbps. Not officially at least. But if you had a very, very short cable? It'd probably work

Cat6: Is rated for 10Gbps upto 55m in a favourable environment (i.e. single runs through walls)

Cat6a: Is rated for 10Gbps at 100m. It's also a PITA to install because they're heavily shielded

Cat7: Is rated for 10Gbps but isn't an officially recognised standard

[NavXIII]

The problem is you can get a lot of cables that say they're "Cat7" but aren't really "Cat7". With Cat6 you're more likely to get actual Cat6 because a lot of very decent cables are only rated for Cat6. So I'd generally avoid stuff that claims it's Cat7.

 

Also to avoid some confusion here's the actual spec:

Cat5e: Can't do 10Gbps. Not officially at least. But if you had a very, very short cable? It'd probably work

Cat6: Is rated for 10Gbps upto 55m in a favourable environment (i.e. single runs through walls)

Cat6a: Is rated for 10Gbps at 100m. It's also a PITA to install because they're heavily shielded

Cat7: Is rated for 10Gbps but isn't an officially recognised standard

Is there a handy chart or webpage I can look at for Cat cable stats? I always thought Cat7 was 10Gbps and Cat6 was 1Gbps.

[skywake]

Is there a handy chart or webpage I can look at for Cat cable stats? I always thought Cat7 was 10Gbps and Cat6 was 1Gbps.

A bit of googling, this is the best summary I could find:

http://www.datatechprofessionals.com/cabletypes.html

 

Cat5 supports speeds up to 100Mb/s

Cat5e supports speeds up to a Gigabit Ethernet 

Cat6 supports speeds up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and can be achieved with distance of 37-55 meters or less depending on the grade of the cable and quality of installation. 

Cat6A supports speeds up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet with distance up to 100 meters

Cat7 & Cat7A support speeds up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet with distance up to 100 meters

 

Examples of when you might use each type of network cable.

Cat5 - Cat5 cable is outdated. Do not install this.

Cat5e - Cat5e cable is suitable for Gigabit speeds and networks that change frequently. If the network changes frequently or is temporary in nature, Cat5e may be the optimal selection.

Cat6 - Cat6 cable is optimal for extra margin and higher performance. Cat6 cable will support gigabit ethernet, but will only support 10 Gigabit Ethernet if the total length and loss is low enough. If a project requires a 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection, Cat6A or higher is recommended.

Cat6A - Cat6A cable will support speeds up to 10 Gigabit. If a project requires a single installation solution to support the facility and is inteded to stand the test of time, Cat6A will protect the investment and serve as a reliable backbone for the company going into the future.

Cat7 & Cat7A - Cat7 cable will support 10 Gigabit Ethernet with plenty of margin to spare. Cat7 has pair-sharing capability, making it possible to use one cable to power several different devices at the same time utilizing each pair as needed. For the best and most versatile infrastructure Cat7 provides the solution.

 

A typical house? Most runs will be less than 20m or so and they'll usually just be one or two cables. So I while I wouldn't go with Cat5e I don't think Cat7 is really worth the effort. Again, especially given that the higher quality fittings etc tend to be Cat6 only.