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I have some fairly specific needs for data storage on my computers.  I use 3 different computers at home on a regular basis, depending on what I am doing.  I also run a couple of fairly large websites that need backups done on a regular basis.   I have decided that I will be putting together a Network Attached Storage device for my local network.

For parts, I have decided to go with a Mini-ITX platform, as it is compact, quiet, and easily stashed away to run undisturbed in a closet. At this  point, the on-board 100mbps LAN is quick enough, as I haven’t fully converted my home network over to gigabit yet. I will be putting 3x 500gb hard drives in a RAID-5 array on this, using a PCI scsi controller.  The OS will be held on a 1gb compact flash card, with a backup made and ready to swap out should something go wrong.

What do I need it to do? Well, I currently run both windows and linux at home, so I will need to run CIFS so that the windows computers can access the network drive.  For the Linux computers, I will be using NFS.  I will also be running a FTP server to allow me to grab files from remote locations. SSH access will also be required for management and large file operations. It would be nice to also run a print server, and SVN repository on this machine, but those will come at a later date (once I have some more Linux experience).

After trying out a couple, I have decided to run FreeNAS as the operating system.  It is easy to configure and maintain, and appears to be stable so far.  I did have some issues with CIFS and Ubuntu, but that was easily worked around by using the quicker NFS protocol.  Another feature of FreeNAS that I will make great use of is a built in Torrent Client.

I was able to source the parts for this Mini-ITX computer from ebay for less than $100 including shipping (not including hard drives, I already have those kicking around).  That said, I neglected to order any RAM, so I might just pick that up locally, though it will be the most expensive component of the computer if I do that.  I also plan on building my own case for this computer, as I was not able to find a Mini-ITX case for less than $75, which is more than I was willing to pay. My current case plan is to hollow out a vancouver phone book, and coat it in resin.  The hard drives for the NAS would be housed in a different case.

I built myself a relatively simple light box for under $45.  This will allow me to take the cool looking photos in my last post, where it can appear that the subject is either on a colored back ground, or not on a back ground at all.

All I needed was 4 20″ by 30″ pieces of white foam board, 2 clamp on work lights, and two pieces of posterboard.

I cut down one piece of foam board into two 15″ by 20″ pieces to use for the sides.  The reason that I did not want the sides extending all the way to the front is so that it is easier to get a light deeper into the box.  The foamboard is just held together with duct tape, so I can easily take the box apart for storage or moving it. It is very helpful to have a second person to help you hold pieces while you tape them together, but I was able to assemble mine by myself.

This box is bigger than what most people suggest, but I figure that it was easy to start off big, and I can always trim it down if needed.  Since the photo was taken, I have also cut doors into the top and one side.  I cut all the way through on 3 sides, and just scored one layer on the last side to create a hinge.  The doors fit snugly enough that I do not need anything to hold them closed.  This will be useful for either adding in some different light sources, or taking a photo from directly on top of an object.

As you can see, there is currently a black backdrop in place.   I simply use two push pins to hold the backdrop in place, it is just poster paper so it is not heavy.  I also picked up a few pieces of white poster paper, as I suspect they will get marked up quite easily.

I made a relatively simple light box, which I will describe how I did it later, but here are a few of the photos that I took in it.

Enjoy!

You can check out the whole album on Flickr.

We replaced the spark plugs.  Sounds like an easy job, and it was, sort of.  On the passenger side, The back two went in fine, but I had to unmount the a/c unit to get at the third one.

On the driver’s side, the front two plugs went in just fine, but the back one was more of a challange.  Something got misalighed while pulling the spark plug out, and we ended up having to take the upper valve cover, air pump, and fan shroude out to get the spark plug and jammed socket out.

Engine back to the state it was when we removed the alternator.

And finally, the new alternator installed in it’s mount, ready to go in tomorrow.

Today was spent giving the interior of the car a good cleaning, I shampooed the carpets, and conditioned the leather on the seats, door panels, and rear dash. The seats are looking much better, and the car does smell cleaner.

We installed a JVC KD-G440 AM/FM CD Player with remote.  It also features a 1/8″ Aux in, and a USB port to play MP3 files off of a memory stick.

Also today, we fxed the right fog light. All it required was a new bulb.

Digging around under the hood, we found a hidden surprise of the good kind. The car is equipped with a 4 channel alpine amplifier. I don’t have any specs on the amplifier, but it powers up and appears to be in working order.

The head unit for the stereo will not power up, so I have removed it, and it will most likely be replaced.  The equalizer that was mounted to the bottom of the dash has been re-located to the glove box.

The alternator has been pulled, and is currently being shipped to a family friend for some repairs.  It wasn’t too hard to remove, but hopefully it goes in easier than it comes out.

And finally, we had the dent doctors out today to remove a few dents and dings from the bodywork.

Just recently my father and I received shipment of our latest project.  A 1979 Porsche 911 SC Targa.  This is the ‘Super Carrera’ that was originally planned to be the end of the 911.  The 944 that was intended to replace the 911 did not catch on as expected, and so we still have the 911 today.  This model was designed for easy drive ability, better reliability, and good value for the money.

The 911 SC Targa came standard with chrome trim, but this particular car has option M496, or black trim.

EDIT: No, it does not have the M496 option.

The 3.0 Liter 6 Cylinder, air cooled engine is specified to put out about 170hp into a 5 speed manual transmission.  The alternator on this car needs some work before the car hits the road.

Finally, the origional wheels on the 911 SC Targa are 6″ wide up front, and 7″ wide on the back.  This car has 7″ on the front, and 8″ inchers on the back.

One area of computers that has interested me for some time has been controlling physical devices from a computer.  A goal of mine would be building a simple robot that can carry out a number of pre-programmed actions on it’s own.  A couple of months ago, a friend and I built a couple of well…thingies… that use servo motors to rotate and move up and down.  Attach a laser pointer to the end of it, and you’ve got hours of fun!

The next step for me here, is a way to control this device via computer. To do this, I needed an interface that can allow a computer to talk to several servos.  I ordered a Pololu Serial 16-Servo Controller.  It came in kit for, and I had to assemble the PCB my self.  A fairly easy assembly, as it is all through hole components, and none are too close together.

My next project will probably be one of their Dual Motor Controllers.

Over the past couple of days I have had the opportunity to help out at the 2008 Youth Regionals climbing competition over at The Edge Climbing Center. Most people, myself included, do not realize the amount of work that goes into putting on an event like this. For those of you that aren’t up on the whole competitive climbing scene, here’s a brief overview on how the comp goes down.

Since this is a regional competition, it was spread out over two days. Normal competitions are usually a day or even just half a day, Nationals is usually 3 days, and continentals/worlds/other are more than 3 days long.

On Friday, the first day of the competition it was registration and Qualifier 1. Most people will assume that all that matters is being the fastest person up the wall. This is not the case, with the exception of speed climbing competitions. Each category will have a climb designated for them, that is set with their climbing abilities in mind. (Competition climbing in Canada is still a growing sport, so at this point everybody knows everybody.) Each hand hold on this climb is given a numbered point value, and a designation after the number.

If I just brushed hold number 23 with my finger tips before falling, I would be scored as 23-. If I was on hold number 23 solidly, I’d be scored 23. If I was on 23 trying to move to 24, I would get a 23+. These numbers are all entered into a spreadsheet and magically come out with a ranking for each climber.

After the first climb has been completed, we used Friday night to strip all of the routes off the walls and put up all new ones. (I was feeling quite ill on Friday night and couldn’t stick around to help out, Sorry Andrew!) Bright and early on Saturday morning is qualifying round 2. It works exactly like Q1 did, and again, at the end of the round, we emptied out all of the climbers and spectators once again to change the routes.

Next would be Semi-Finals, which work a little bit differently than finals. Before anyone is let into the gym, the competitors were let into an isolation room so that they could not see the climbs, and could not see any other people climb them. They are brought out for a 5 min preview where they can look at but can not touch the climb. After the preview, they are put back into isolation to wait for their turn to climb, and do any warm-ups, snacking, chatting with competitors, planning their climb, etc. Competition climbing is a very friendly sport in which all the climbers are willing to help each other out, offer tips and advice, and hang out!

Once the semi-finals have run, only a top percentage (based on original numbers in category) remain. And, as you may have guessed, we now do exactly the same thing for Finals.

Even if it does not sound like a lot of work, the number of hours that go into a competition of this scale, or any competition for that matter, are un-countable! I’d like to send a shout out to the crew at the Edge, and all of their volunteers to say that they did an awesome job on yet another awesome competition! See you all at Nationals!

P.S. I will link to a photo gallery shortly, once I get it online.

Well, I’ve got the layout down to basically what I want it…take a peek! Will post again as it changes into a working website, but for now this has turned into a rush to get version 1 running and released.