Cerulean
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2006
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http://ask.slashdot.org/story/15/11/09/1459250/ask-slashdot-tiny-pcs-to-drive-dozens-of-noc-monitors
I thought this was very interesting. I have always wondered about how setups are done, so I decided to create this thread to inquire here. Is there anyone here who is knowledgeable about their NOC setup and would care to share its technical setup? I would love to learn more about how to set these kind of things up (not that I would have an opportunity to do it).
We are building out a new NOC with dozens of LCD monitors and need ideas for what PCs to use to drive all those monitors. What is small and easy to stack, rack, power, manage, replace, etc.?
The room is 8m x 8m. It has a central 3x3 LCD array, as well as mixed-size and -orientation LCD monitors on the front and side walls (plus scrolling LEDs, custom desks, team tables, etc) — it's designed as a small version of the famous AT&T Ops Center. We are an MSP and this is a tour showcase center, so more is better — most have real functions for our monitor teams, DBAs, SoC, alert teams, and so on, 7x24. We'll post pics when it's done.
But what's the best way to drive all this visual stuff? The simplest approach for basic/tiny PCs is to use 35-50 of these — how do we do that effectively? Almost all visuals are browser-only, so any PC can run them (a couple will use Apple TV or Cable feeds for news). The walls are modular and 50cm thick, and we'll have a 19" rack or two, so we have room, and all professional wiring/help as needed.
Raspberry Pis are powerful enough for this, but painful to mount and wire. Chromeboxes are great and the leading candidate, as the ASUS units can drive two monitors. The Intel NUC can also do this — those and the Chromeboxes are easily stackable. My dream would be a quad-HDMI device in Chromebox form factor. Or are there special high-density PCs for this with 4-8-16 HDMI outputs?
Each unit will be hard-wired to its monitor, and via ip-KVM (need recommendations on that, too, 32+ port) for controls. Any other ideas for a cool NOC are also appreciated, as we have money and motivation to do anything that helps the team and the tours.
I thought this was very interesting. I have always wondered about how setups are done, so I decided to create this thread to inquire here. Is there anyone here who is knowledgeable about their NOC setup and would care to share its technical setup? I would love to learn more about how to set these kind of things up (not that I would have an opportunity to do it).