While I am waiting for the equipment to come in for my new media center installation, I thought I would share with you a diagram of the network I plan on having installed when I get this completed.  I am sure that the MCSEs and other engineers of the world out there will no doubt find something about this that is off (especially symbols), but I would recommend that even if you do not have an understanding of all of the networking concepts, it helps just to get your mind around what elements you will have in your network and how they will interact with each other.  If you are married (like me), it is also a great way to show the huge gaps in your setup and the critical need to budget to fill them in :-).

Here's a quick narrative on the diagram posted below (you'll get the actual installation activities as these components arrive):

I have asked my cable company to set up my cable modem point of entry next to my main media armoire in the family room.  This will ensure that the media center machine that I have there (HP Pavillion Slimline s3330f) will have a hardwire to the Internet and to the Home Server so I can be sure that in the main entertainment area we have as little possibility for skips and interference as possible.  This particular Slimline came with an HD/Blu Ray DVD drive (for VERY cheap) so it can replace my current DVD player.  This all goes through a D-Link Xtreme-N Gigabit router so I can eventually upgrade all components to N and reduce latency for wireless connections.  The monitor is an older Samsung 720p 42″ DLP.  This is one of the future upgrades I hope to make.

Upstairs in the master bedroom, I have used the xbox media center mod to recycle my old xbox into an extender.  This plugs into a Vizio 1080i 37″ flat screen.  I highly recommend that if you have an xbox lying around, you check this mod out.  It's easy and it puts any of the extenders currently out there to shame (even plays .VOB files).  For both the modded xbox and my office computer, I have used Linksys Wireless N gaming adapters for maximum wireless throughput.  The laptops come with the wireless built in, of course.

The computers in my wife's office and mine will act as the "feeders" for new digital files such as home video, pictures, music and legally backed up DVDs.  These will be copied to the Home Server and shared with everyone (the point of a home server).  I'm still working on how to back up the home server (yes, you should back up your stuff at least 2-3 times.  Don't trust one backup - I made that mistake).

And another cool gizmo to check out is ORB, a free media sharing service that let's you play your music, videos, etc. on any Internet connected device, including your smartphone's browser.  There are several other ways to do this as well.

Finally, I plan to get an extender of some sort in my girl's playroom, but it's not critical (they're 3 and 1) and I am waiting and hoping that mainline extenders will one day allow streaming of .VOB files.  A pipe dream, perhaps.

Do any of you have designs you want to share?