While DVDs are relatively small, if you have a large library like I do, it can quickly consume a lot of space. So, I decided to put my entire DVD collection on my home network and get rid of the DVDs altogether. This was a relatively simple process even though it was fairly time consuming. But, in the end, I ended up with a complete set of all my movies which I could watch on demand (read, “I can change disks without getting off the couch!”) that fit nicely on a small home NAS.

Software You Need

I used two pieces of software to put my DVDs on my computer and shrink them down to a size that is useable:

• RipIt4Me - used to make a copy of the DVD to your computer’s hard drive.
• Handbrake - shrinks the movie down to a manageable size. DVDs can use up to 8 GB of disk space. Handbrake will shrink a typical 2 hour movie down to about 750 MB (a saving of about 90%!)

Hardware You May Want

In order to make things truly “on-demand”, you will want a few pieces of hardware. Technically, these are not needed as you could easily store all of your movies on your hard drive and watch them on your computer but it is way better to be able to sit on your couch and watch your movies with nothing more than a remote.

Here is what I have set up:

• Home network (’nuff said!)
• NAS - a home made FreeNAS server fits the bill perfectly as it is easy to set up and lets you use some of your old hardware. When you are building your NAS, make sure that you estimate the correct amount of disk space by multiplying the number of movies you have by 750 MB. If you want to make sure you never lose you movies, double your hard disk space and put in a RAID configuration
• Networked multimedia player - this can be a home made DIY setup such as MythTV or Freevo, or a full blown stand alone device such as the Archos 705 WiFi or the TViX HD M-5100 SH (I have both of these devices and they just rock!)

What To Do

I’m assuming that most of the readers are relatively technical so I’m not going to go into extreme details as to how to do every little step of the process. If there is enough interest, I might create some step by step tutorials at a later date. For now, here are the basic steps:

1. Using RipIt4Me, rip a DVD to your hard drive. You will only need the actual movie, not all of the movies and menus. Make sure that you have enough disk space because this can take up as much as 8GB on your drive.
2. Use Handbrake to now convert the ripped DVD to an Xvid encoded single file. This should reduce the movie size down significantly (about 750 MB). Do not be alarmed if this takes some time to do. It could easily take over an hour to encode the file.
3. Move the movie file to your NAS.
4. Delete the movie files on your hard drive that were created by RipIt4Me and Handbrake (you will need the space later).
5. Point your multimedia player hardware at your NAS. How you do this will vary depending on hardware.
6. Enjoy the show!

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2008/01/19/make-your-dvds-view-on-demand-and-save-space-too/trackback/

As my wife and I are in the process of packing, we have discovered that there are tons of documents that we have which are in binders.  Binders are great if they are on the shelf or if their contents are being accessed on a regular basis but when you are moving and space is a key factor, they sure become a pain.

We decided to use Chicago screws to save some space. They are flat and allow you to get rid of the extra space that is taken up by partially empty binders, covers, etc.  We figure that we have reduced the amount of space that our documents use by about 60%.

Sorry that this isn’t really a techie post but this was such a cool idea, I needed to share it.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2008/01/12/archive-documents-with-chicago-screws/trackback/

There are a number of Debian based Linux distributions out there. My personal favorite is Ubuntu. I will typically use the desktop or server version for most of my Linux needs.

Each time I build a new system, there are a number of steps that I typically follow which I seem to forget and need to research again. So, both to document my actions and for your benefit, here are the first few things that I do for any new installation.

The Starting Point

This guide assumes that you have just completed the base installation and have access to a command/terminal prompt. You will also need to have the root password but are logged in as a typical user.

Edit Sources

 sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Except for the very first line, remove all of the # in front of each line the begins with # deb and save the file.

Update Distribution

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Assign a Static IP

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

In this file, find the line that says iface eth0 inet dhcp. Comment out this line (put a # in front of it) and then add after it on the next lines:

iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.0.100
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        network 192.168.0.0
        broadcast 192.168.0.255
        gateway 192.168.0.1

Make sure that the network information you enter here is accurate for your network. Once you have saved this file, then restart the network:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Next, update your host file to reflect your new static IP address:

sudo nano /etc/hosts

Find the line starting with 127.0.1.1 (usually the second line) and change 127.0.1.1 to the IP address you desire. From the example above, it would be 192.168.0.100. Save the file when you are done.

Install the SSH Server

sudo apt-get install ssh openssh-server

Other Useful Tasks

These are some other things that I have found to be useful from time to time. They are not necessarily a part of my default setup but they do come in handy

Determine Your Static IP Address

ifconfig | grep Bcast

Enable root

sudo passwd root

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2008/01/11/first-steps-on-debian-based-distros/trackback/

As many of you have noted, I have been absent from the blog for some time now. The reason for this is that I find myself recently looking for work. I really do not want to get into all of the details why I am looking for work but all of the reasons are positive!

I also wanted to add a little something for those who have come from links on my resume, either paper, digital or online version. This is just to emphasize that Tim Fehlman is my pseudonym that I am writing under and you can rest assured that I did not just link to some random blog!

If any of you live in the Edmonton, Alberta area and know of someone who is looking for a good Director of Information Technology, please feel free to send me an e-mail at tfehlman@dailycupoftech.com.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2008/01/02/welcome-employee-seekers/trackback/

It happened again to me this morning. A user requested that we put “some kind of web survey software” on out Intranet. This is a trial so we do not know whether or not this will be in place long term or if it will even work.

Outside the fact that we do not have an Intranet in our office, normally a tech person would either flat out say, “No!” or start looking for something that would specifically work in their environment.

Depending on the environment that you are working in, this could end up being a very costly test.

But, what if you were to have a number of servers with various configurations sitting in a massive closet somewhere ready to plug into your network and get you up and running? This would cut down your build time and your would be able to use whatever software you want.

This is precisely what I do in order to create test systems in a really quick turn-around using VMware and virtual servers/appliances.

Get the Software

In order to do this, I downloaded the free VMware server software and installed it on a spare workstation. If you do not have a spare workstation, you can install it on your own workstation. Since these are virtual servers, you can move them to another computer running VMware server at any time without having to rebuild the entire system.

Select Your Software

It is now time to find the perfect software for what you would like to do. Once you have done this, you can then create the proper virtual server to support this software.

This may seem to be a bit backwards for many people because most are accustomed to being constrained to the network resources that they are presently working with. This way completely opens up for you what you can use.

Create Your Templates

Once you have created a base system, do not immediately install the software on it that you want to use. Rather, create a snapshot of the server and then shut it down. Go to your virtual machines folder and create a folder called Templates. Copy (don’t move) all of the files that you have just created for your virtual machine to the Templates folder.

You now have a copy of your new server that you can duplicate at any time and add the duplicate to your inventory for customization.

Whenever you need a base system that is significantly different from any of the template systems that you already have, simply build it from scratch and then add it to your templates for later use.

Use Prebuilt Virtual Appliances

On the VMware website, there are a large number of prebuilt virtual serve appliances that may save you a ton of work. These are systems that have been created by various people that are ready to go as is. This means that you could have a complete system ready to go in the time that it takes you to download the appliance!

Track Your Server Templates

It is important to know what is on each of your server templates so that you do not duplicate effort. This can be something as simple as an Excel spreadsheet that looks something like this:

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/11/27/creating-disposabletemplate-servers/trackback/

If you are having a hard time convincing your manager that you need to start using encrypted e-mail or to go away from POP3 e-mail access, here is a nifty little trick!

1. Install Wireshark on a computer that is off the network.
2. Install a managed switch that supports port mirroring or port spanning between your Internet connection and your firewall.
3. Mirror the port that your firewall is plugged into to another port andplug your computer with Wireshark into that port.
4. Capture the information with Wireshark for about an hour (or however long you want) using the following filter:

   pop.request.command == "USER" || pop.request.command == "PASS"

5. Show your manager everyone’s username and password that you captured from outside the network on the Internet!

You can also find all of the FTP passwords using the same method and this filter:

ftp.request.command == "USER" || ftp.request.command == "PASS"

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/10/25/e-mail-password-discovery-trick/trackback/

I think someone misunderstood when they were told that they needed a router for their new computer:

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/10/09/wood-mirror/trackback/

After dealing with several 2 GB PST files, this video is required training at my work.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/10/02/reduce-e-mail-clutter/trackback/

An interesting perspective on trusted computing:

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/09/25/who-chooses-whom-you-trust/trackback/

According to this video, Windows reserves 20% of your bandwidth for Windows Updates. This is how to reclaim that bandwidth by modifying the local computer policy.

This might be something worth looking at implementing via a group policy on your Windows corporate domain.

Trackback link - http://www.DailyCupOfTech.com/2007/09/19/windows-bandwidth-thief/trackback/