Home Network Upgrade – HomeNET2.0
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| Photo by jessicafm |
My home network was never planned (it just kind of happened), but since its inception it grew rapidly to meet my ever expanding needs. For along time it more than met my requirements, but as is inevitable, I began to demand more of it than it could comfortably provide. So after much deliberation I have just completed a long awaited and much needed upgrade.
My home network originally grew from having a single Laser printer connected directly to my PC, to having my house wired throughout with CAT5e network cable, with every room having potential access to the Internet and a central file server. The file server was responsible for storing all of the household’s data (user files, music and pictures etc.).
My file server (an old 300MHz Compaq) was probably passed its sell by date when I first installed it, but after 5 years of continuous use it was certainly struggling to keep up. This, coupled with the fact that my storage capacity of 100GB was almost maxed out, meant that it really was time to upgrade!



Every time you use an MP3 player or an iPod, you’re using compressed audio files, whether you realise it or not. Whilst MP3 is probably the most common compressed audio format, it’s certainly not the only one available.
By now you’ve probably heard of the term “bit rate” used in connection with MP3 tracks and podcasts, you may even know that higher bit rates give better quality audio. However, like most things in life, nothing is simple and we can further complicate the whole bit rate discussion with variable and constant bit rates. So, what are the pros and cons of these constant and variable bit rates?