Version 2.0

I’ve been itching for a change and reading all over the web trying to come up with ideas for my home office.  The work I do depends on accessing and using multiple computers both locally and remotely.  The more systems I can see/monitor and access the better and faster I work.

Inspired by Stefan Didak’s Home Office page, I’ve decided to write up my own article on how I implemented my home office change.

Since all things have a beginning, Here’s a picture of what my command station looked like before I revamped it.

The left side of the desk is where my laptop is placed which is missing from this image.

The revamp came mostly due to the overly cluttered feeling expressed in this image.  So step 1 is to remove everything and clean!

I’m not a very organized cleaner…

I’ve added another slightly wider (4’) shelf to support the (4) 15” LCD’s I’m wanting to add.

Also, power is extremely important.  As seen above and in this picture to the left, I’ve added both wall and table mounted plugs.  This is where I’ll plug all the basic stuff like spare PC’s and monitors.  A battery backup will be used for my main development system.

The most difficult thing to setup is the 4 upper monitors.  Thus, they get installed and wired first.

Next comes my lower main monitors.  Stefan’s design makes sense for me.  I always resort back to my two main 22” LCD’s, and this way I can do so without compromising or missing the additional monitors for my other systems.

I’ll RDP into servers on my rack in the Garage, but for my spare workstations… I can keep them close and access them directly with ease.

I hooked up my laptop’s base station to the far left 15” screen as a secondary monitor.  The next links to an older XP test system.  The next one is waiting for a CPU ordered 3 weeks ago to finally arrive… then it’ll be hooked up.  Lastly we have the far right which is hooked to my Threat Management Gateway server while I am setting it up and configuring it.  It will eventually move onto my rack and act as my main router.

Hope you like the design.  It’s all I can do for now… like Stefan, I do not believe in going into debt just for well… anything!  The (4) 15” monitors were purchased at a local corporate auction for $10 each.  The Laptop is issued to me for work, the two center 22” LCD’s were purchased when my wife and I bought matching HP’s from Sam’s club several years ago (yes I’m in need of an upgrade).  The second laptop belongs to my sis which I’m refreshing for her.

Lastly the top center 21” LCD is connected to my Mac Mini which is right next to it.

Last year I upgraded my desktop with a tri-head video card.  When I want to watch movies or demonstrate something on the couch in the office, I enable it and can drag-n-drop content onto it from my main computer.

Much of my time involves RDP’ing into my server rack… so don’t forget to read up on that.

Thanks Stefan for your great site and the inspiration to work harder on my own office.

See more photos at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielheth/sets/72157627055990645/