Noob confused about C.A.P.S.

[BigBadger]

I've read through as much as I can understand and so far am a bit confused about the CAPS projects. May be the best way to attack this is to list my misunderstandings in point form. Any help form this community would be greatly appreciated. I am not against PC's, in fact I have a hard time with Mac's so I'm not predisposed against Microsoft.

 

 

• Apart from the music player being 'app' controlled, are any other input/output devices used? If not, how is the server's OS controlled?
  
• These run on Win 7 or 8. What stops the incessant message pop-ups such as updates, errors, bluescreens, device driver requests, etc, etc.
  
• Is there a list (I've looked without success) suggesting the most efficient Winstallation do's, don'ts and Ehrmigherds!?!?
  
• I presume the lack of a HDD and the use of a SSD indicates that the storage is elsewhere, likely a NAS. Or is this incorrect?
  
• I cannot find many of these parts easily (Canada) especially the cases. I realize that many PC items are interchangable but the CAPS idea seems to for very specific parts. I may have to use whatever I can get to get the server up and running and still conform as best I can to the ideals of the design. (fanless, low energy, etc, etc.)
  

 

I will have more questions but this seems like a good place to start. And thanks in advance for spending the time answering my ignorance.

 

BigBadger

Victoria, BC

[iago]

Some aspects of C.A.P.S. usage seem a little strange if you have not used a computer in this way before.

 

(1) & (2) You set up your computer to require as little interaction as possible. After everything is installed and tested you do not change anything anymore, so you will not get pop-ups, driver requests or errors. Whenever you change hardware, update the O/S or drivers, connect a screen or log in remotely.

 

You can set up your computer so that updates are either completely ignored (then ideally it should not have access to the internet) or handled in an automatic way. If you need access to the operating system, log in remotely. You can either do it with the windows RDP (remote desktop) protocol or with something like VNC (needs an installation on the server) if you want to access it from a non-Windows PC.

 

(3) No, there is no list currently. There exists quite a lot of useful information somewhere on this forum, but not in an ordered way.

 

(4) The default configuration of C.A.P.S. assumes that you store your music on a NAS and access it via network file share. Some people connect storage directly to the music server.

 

(5) The C.A.P.S. build is tested. You can build your own from that blueprint and be reasonably sure that it works as intended. You can just as easily do it with your own components, then you just have to do your own testing, that's all.

 

There are some aspects which need close attention, for example the selection of the main board. Not all ITX boards will fit into the proposed case(s). Study board layout and case geometry closely before buying. Once you have matched case and board, the rest of the gear is not very challenging.

 

If you have never assembled hardware before, get some local help ;-)