Setting up a RAID array is an important step in setting up any home server. Doing so will ensure that your data is protected if one (or more, in some circumstances) of your hard disks fails.
What’s more there are usually some performance benefits to a RAID setup as data can be sourced from multiple drives, effectively increasing performance beyond that of a single drives normal read speed.
A while back I was in need of a new case for my Unicorn Orgy build. I’d tried cramming all the hardware into a Corsair Carbide Series case but it was all a bit cheap and plain looking.
I took myself off to Nehru Place where I found the excellent Deep Cool Matrexx 55 case for 4000 INR (around £45). Frankly, at that price, this case is an absolute bargain, and a quick look at several online retailers shows that you can expect to pay the same or slightly more depending on where you live.
Many modern homes could benefit from having some sort of personal server to house files and run things like a media server, private cloud, IP CCTV or download server.
For a long time I would have suggested using a pre-built NAS system from the likes of Synology. I reviewed an awful lot of their devices on the old Tech Made Easy site and I still think they make some of the best NAS devices on the market.
Lenovo has long been associated with exceptional performance in both the business sector and, to an extent, the gaming sector with it’s Thinkpad and Ideapad lineups.
Case and point my main machine for a couple of years was an Ideapad Y500 gaming laptop, with a Core i7 processor and SLI Nvidia 650M graphics cards.
I’ve never bought in to the idea that you need to spend an awful lot of money to get a usable experience with a mouse. Not to say that the uber-expensive offerings from Logitech or Corsair aren’t good products, they just don’t offer the best bang for the buck.
My preference has always been to spend less than £20 on a mouse, something I’ve managed to achieve with room to spare with the Redragon Gainer M610 mouse.
As much as I love a good mechanical keyboard, my wife (or more specifically, her hearing) does not. There’s no denying that even though a good mechanical keyboard is the ultimate typing experience they can generate an ungodly amount of noise.
So, I was despatched to my local IT market with an instruction to buy a quieter keyboard. OK, love, don’t have to tell me twice.
I am a huge, huge lover of the Raspberry Pi platform and have used them all over the house for years now, but even I would have to admit that the built in audio capabilities are pretty dire.
That’s not really surprising, the Raspberry Pi was designed as an educational tool, it just happens to have been taken on by the hacking/modding community.
I recently switched to a Macbook Pro as my daily driver laptop, with one of the compromises made being that it only has USB type C ports on the side. This is incredibly annoying given all I have to carry around; a mouse, USB storage, SD cards, the list goes on.
So, I was in the market for a cheap and easy USB C Hub, and Inateck kindly provided for the purpose of this review.
