Need to expand the infrastructure around here
The good old days: when a single telephone line provided a channel for pizza and all the BBS connectivity one could ever hope for. But that was a simpler time in our lives, and we’re a greedy family. Tonight I ran short of ports.
You see, computers and the internet make a great combo. And, in some warped way, game consoles and the internet make a great combo. Mix some computers and game consoles and a family that can’t forego being online and my network infrastructure is straining at the seams. The cable modem attaches to the router, and the router attaches to another switch in the basement AND to a print server, and the desktop machines want their own ports and the laptops and the Wii all feel the need to radio for chit-chat and now there’s an XBox 360 that need a wire and I’m back to juggling… If I were a rich man.
Something will have to sleep (stand alone) for the next few days. Do we really need to connect everything in the house, long before we’re ready for IPv6? What is the impact of one or more machines losing that Messenger link for a bit, especially when the usual typists are elsewhere? Beats me; we’re going to find out.
The answer will be to rethink the structure here, put in a fibre backbone, teach the dog to do tricks; this is the weekend and I’m not going out in the storm to buy anything else. Suffer folks; the technician is on break. Until I get back, draw straws and decide who needs a priority connection to the outside world.
