I'm not sure if this is a hardware forum question or not, or even how to ask it really. I have two boxes -- my main everyday desktop and my server -- upstairs and I have a major problem with heat now that the weather's warming up. My main box used to idle in the low 80s (F) after switching to Slackware and I came home tonight and it was idling at 92 and it was unbearably hot in the computer room. At midnight.

• I would like to be able to move both boxes downstairs since I spend most of my time upstairs, but I still want to "use" them upstairs if that makes any sense.
• I'm not looking for anything fancy like wireless or anything like that, I just want to be able to "use" my computers upstairs at my desk while they're physically downstairs.
• It's about ~50 feet from where I'd like to "use" my computer and where I'd put the actual boxes. Just making extension cables (I'm pretty sure I could hack something together) for my keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakers/network wouldn't work because of the distance, right?
• I think I've seen something where you use a POS dummy box that essentially acts like a "router" but I'd like to get rid of all the heat producing things I can if that's possible.

I could have sworn I'd seen something like this before here at LQ, but I tried searching with Google and here to no avail.

Find a powered KVM switch that can connect to computers several hundred feet away. The price will not be cheap. Another way is to use TightVNC. For sound, you need fiber optic when using at the length you want because copper wires will ruin sound quality. Another way is just buy a window air conditioner to cool the room and then you do not have to move the computers. Moving computers does create problems like unexpected errors.

Everybody does. The only way to do this is to use an optical computer which costs a lot of money.


BTW, my computer temperature is at 130 degree F because it is a Pentium 4 2.0 GHz.

Theres no cheap solution to your project.

90 degrees ideling is NOTHING. Don't be concerned.

I agree 100%

What I would do, and I do this every year, is open up my machines, clean THOUROUGHLY with a DataVac, and replace fans.

I clean the machines twice a year.

It will be hot with or without the computers running in there. It will be hot for you, with or without the computers in there!

Solution, said already, buy an AC unit.

Scott

That's what I figured .. just thought I'd see if I could do anything like I was thinking of. I'm not concerned with the temp of my computers at all since they'd routinely idle in the high 90s/low 100s when I was running XP, I was just trying to keep the room as cool as possible. The window AC isn't an option either because this room faces the front of the building and I'm pretty sure it's against the rules of the apartment complex I live in to have them in the front.
I did that last fall and plan on doing it again sometime soon.

There aren't as many issues with network cables are there? I could get away with putting the server box and modem/router downstairs and run a network cable up to the box upstairs couldn't I? Or I guess I could just get a wireless router and network card, huh?

Anyway .. thanks for the replies.

Hardwire would be the way to go.

Put server downstairs with a router. Run ethernet up to your room to your workstation. Install RealVNC on server and run vncviewer on your workstation.

The reliability of wireless is fluky, and for remote desktop connections its always nice to have the 100mbits throughput.

If you use an old CRT on your workstation, dump it and get a flat panel. A lot of heat comes out of CRT's.

Costs...

CAT5e cable: 10-20 cents per foot
Linksys WIRED Router (BEFSR41): $40
Dell 1905FP Flat Panel: $300
RealVNC: FREE

Too bad about the AC!!

See ya,
Scott

I've never heard of RealVNC. I don't have a window manager installed on the server, I just use SSH+pico to create/edit most of the server files. Would using RealVNC allow me to edit my server side files in a windowed environment?

I don't have one mainly because I didn't want to break the bank anymore than I did when I built my computer and I just haven't given it much thought since. I also thought (probably mistakenly) that you had to drop $400-$500+ on an LCD monitor to performance comprable to that of a standard CRT which set me back ~$100.

I was doing a little reading on RealVNC and it doesn't look like the Free versions are encrypted/secure.

Link

I don't guess it makes much difference if I'm only using it on my network behind a router, but I was just wondering if I'm misreading the info on that page.

TightVNC provides the same features as RealVNC's Enterprise Edition but TightVNC is free.

Ah .. OK .. I'll take a look at it, thanks.

just like using the fiber optic for speakers you probably want to go with cat5e for your vga cable since it starts to degrade the quality noticably after 15 feet or so.