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Planning Isolated computer/"in another room"

Discussion in 'Modding' started by spyplane, 14 Jan 2014.

  1. spyplane

    spyplane What's a Dremel?

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    So I've been fooling around with the idea of building my "supercomputer" in my basement, directly underneath my normal office/battlestation. Main reason is this is planning to be a very noisy and messy build (more on that in the future).

    My question is, does anyone have any experience with wiring/controlling a PC from another room? What would be my constraints? What cables (Displayport, DVI, USB 3) can be used at what length?

    I know I've seen at least one PC here like that, R.A.S II. I know someone else must have done this, I would just like to see what steps were required and any possible pitfall that could be encountered.

    Thanks a ton guys!
     
  2. skyrip

    skyrip What's a Dremel?

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    maximum lenght for usb and hdmi is about 5 meter, for longer you need a repeater.
     
  3. dancingbear84

    dancingbear84 error 404

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    In a previous existence we used an hdmi to cat5 adaptor, it does at you'd think, hdmi to twin cat5e/cat6 ports. Run of cable, then other adaptor the other end to turn back to hdmi. It worked well for what it was used for. Don't know what if any latency it'd add though.

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
     
  4. spyplane

    spyplane What's a Dremel?

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    Thank you for the info guys. I've been looking up cable lengths online, and I think I don't have to mess with repeaters at all. The distance will be short enough for just 'maximum length' cables (maybe 3 meters).

    I will take some measurements today, and possibly some pictures to illustrate what I want to do. Right now I'm aiming at using DisplayPort, DVI, USB 3, stereo audio, and CAT5 (pffff, I can lay that to the moon and back!).

    Thanks again!

    Just did some quick figures, and 3 meters is more then enough for the all cables, including the USB.
     
    Last edited: 17 Jan 2014
  5. Dr. Coin

    Dr. Coin Multimodder

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    Typically such a set up would be handled via remote control (SSH or remote desktop). On only constraint would be that the machine wouldn't be suitable for gaming.
     
  6. Wonky

    Wonky What's a Dremel?

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    Why would it not be suitable for gaming?
    Curious as i've thought about doing something similar before. Just never got around to looking into it in great details.
     
  7. Dr. Coin

    Dr. Coin Multimodder

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    Remote access via SSH or remote desktop will introduce lag.

    If the remote computer is connected with long cables then there shouldn't be problem.
     
  8. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Except it sounds like this setup will be controlled using wires, so no lag at all. He's literally going to run the wires through the ceiling in the basement and control the rig from directly above (or near as damnit)!
     
  9. spyplane

    spyplane What's a Dremel?

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    Yes, that I my Idea. Simply use cables that would allow me to operate the PC at a distance of one floor down. My measurements show I would not need to worry about 'lag' either from inputs or in video signals. If this setup was further away, I could imagine that becoming a problem, but at no more then 3 meters from the back of a motherboard to each component in my office (monitors, speakers, mouse/keyboard, disk drive, blablabla, including the stock cord of thinks like mice), the cable lengths would be under maximum spec.

    I'm still in the bar-napkin sketch phase on this, but this is a real project that I cannot wait to share. "Please be excite" comes to mind.
     
  10. Xaine

    Xaine Death... destroyer of brain cells

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    I like it :), you considered making it like like an Oppenheimer era computer that takes up the space of a desk but looks all nuclear style retro?
     
  11. seapanda

    seapanda moobs r us

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    Well actually, running long wires for displays (especially with repeaters) may also introduce enough lag to make gaming ungameable.

    I've reasonable experience building out datacenters for myself and I'd say that if compute fabric / render farm style use is what it's for then no problem with it being in basement and controlling via SSH / remote desktop / etc - that's basically what I do, though not in a basement but in colocated facilities (IP KVM).

    Gaming - especially if you're talking top-end gaming - at the most in the next room, not multi-tens-meter cable runs unless you account specifically for lag in your cable run.

    Somewhat relevantly, I'm in the process of building out a GRID setup in a dusty corner of one of my datacenters to see what it's all about. I'm suspecting lag to make it an iffy prospect but since it looks like I can throw together a decent setup for not much (like 10-15K using white label servers) or so I'm going for it. I would imagine - though I've still got to bury my nose in references for this - that GRID setups are optimised for laggy environments. Maybe if you're building a 'supercomputer' you could actually look at a GRID setup so that you can play anywhere, not just elsewhere at home - assuming you have a decent Internet connection.
     
  12. spyplane

    spyplane What's a Dremel?

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    I've gotta look more into this, but I have found no evidence of measurable signal delay for displays. I could imagine hooking 50' of DVI together would make for a ms or two, but not for the 9' I am looking at. Also, no repeaters are planned in this.
     
  13. Wonky

    Wonky What's a Dremel?

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    Ah yeah i know that, i thought you meant the whole concept would be unsuitable.

    p.s.
    Sorry for hijacking your thread sky :lol:
     
  14. seapanda

    seapanda moobs r us

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    Oh OK - as little as that, then yeah, may be imperceptible. I was thinking you'd be snaking cables down.
     
  15. Dr. Coin

    Dr. Coin Multimodder

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    A couple of questions, I probable should have asked before I replied initially...

    spyplane, what do you mean by suppercomputer? Why do you want to install a computer in another room? Are you wanting noise/heat isolation? Or are you wanting to use it as a server?
     
  16. spyplane

    spyplane What's a Dremel?

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    Max fan speeds on air cooling. The isolation would be mainly for noise, but also for clearing space in the office.
     

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