I realized a while ago that I didn’t really have a “dream computer” build in my mind, but a “dream network” with a few interconnected machines. I’m kind of thinking out loud with this configuration; input is welcome.

I need a desktop. It’ll run Mac OS, but I can always boot into Windows when I need to. It’s got to have gobs of RAM, and I expect to have virtual machines running here and there. I’m going to want lots of storage, but it doesn’t have to be local. (More on this soon.) An SSD for boot and apps might be nice, though I figure it will stay running pretty often, so ample RAM might negate the need for this. I do want dual monitors.

I want plenty of storage, and I really, really want everything to redundant, which implies that RAID is needed. Many motherboards these days do hardware RAID, so this shouldn’t be too hard. (I don’t need battery-backed cache or anything.) I think the easiest way to accomplish this is with a dedicated NAS machine. An Atom-based setup might work, though I’m not sure how many Atom motherboards have onboard RAID.

I don’t have cable, and really don’t value TV at more than $10/month or so, which means that there is nothing I would pay for. But something like Boxee would support streaming from Hulu and such, and, frankly, looks really cool. I think the Boxee could sit on the same box as the NAS.

The downside is that I want my desktop and the NAS connected via Gigabit Ethernet, since otherwise I’d be capped at 12.5 MB/sec. throughput. (Or, if I did wireless, even worse… 54 Mbps is a bit over 6 MB/sec.) The problem is that my TV and my desk are at opposite ends of the apartment, with no Ethernet run. So I’m not sure how I’m going to make that work. I’m not sure running Cat6 is an option.