Re: Systems advice pls: Server(s)? Strong laptop? Laptop/wkstations?

From: JAX (slipnslide_at_guesswhat.not)
Date: 02/19/04 

Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 23:15:26 -0700

After reading most of your post, I would suggest, just buy a good laptop and
start writing novels for a living/pastime. This is the largest text only
post I have ever seen. What was your question, I forgot.

JAX

"Alex McKenzie" <reverseof7318cam8137@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:IMXYb.74723$uV3.534274@attbi_s51...
> Please help me form a plan of attack for deciding on what to
> buy/build/adjust. I've been getting by with inadequate computing power
for
> a long time. I've been accumulating some parts, but I feel like I don't
> have a solid enough plan for what set of computers to end up at. I want
to
> build and buy what's needed to get to a stable, strong set of
> PCs/servers/laptop for doing development, testing, and general power-user,
> with high-end uses in lots of areas--the only high-end ones that come to
> mind that I'm =not= needing to be able to do are gaming, CAD, and
graphics.
>
> (I'll list my existing hardware (PC and printers/PDAs/etc) and my software
> at the end. Basically, I have almost no modern hardware [except a DV
> camcorder!], and I have lots of modern software including MSoft's Action
> Pack.) I'm sorry for the length of the post. I think that your answers
> will help other users who are stuck at mid-powered computing, particularly
> if they have lots of software and haven't had the hardware to make use of
> it. Please let me know if I've picked the wrong newsgroup or if I should
> crosspost--I've never done so but this post is hitting server software and
> hardware, desktop/laptop hardware choices and software, and a bit of
> business operations.
>
> My questions are, basically, what equipment do you recommend that I
> get/build/dispose of, and what server products do you recommend I install
> and on which equip? At a minimum, the choices I'm thinking I need to make
> include these. Some are either/or, some are stand-alone decisions.
>
> The questions include what equipment to buy/build (and whether to buy or
> build), what combination of server products to install and on what
> equipment, and what RAID, partitioning and backup strategies to employ.
The
> questions in brief:
>
> --Get/build one or more strong desktops (or just get and use a super
> laptop?)
> --Get a super laptop or use the approx 800 mhz one. (I've not researched
> building a laptop...)
> --Get/build one or more servers (using server boxes, or desktop boxes and
> buying RAID card for mirroring, or just relying on programs like fastback
> --Partition, and if so, how many with what size, and if on a desktop, then
> across how many drives, and if on a laptop, how critical is it to get to a
> two drive RAID solution (I think the only one I saw was on a custom
maker's
> super high end laptop). I've seen recommendations that partitioning is
now
> non-productive except for keeping drive letters to sizes that fit on DVD
> backups, and I've seen recommendations, perhaps mostly older, to at least
> partition pure data, especially video, and I've seen ones saying to have
> many partitions (Operating system, swap file, applications, temp
directory,
> data files, and I'm probably missing a category or two).
>
> That includes, do you recommend setting up a Windows 2003 server or Small
> Bus Server 2003 or somehow no server (please see below, I'll need some
sort
> of installation that allows me to use SQL Server (which is in Small Biz
> Server and perhaps elsewhere in MSoft's Action Pack), and possibly
> Sharepoint (which I think is a standalone).
>
>
>
> I'll be going from:
>
> --currently mostly using Win 98 (with lots of reboots voluntarily or
> forced),
> to as soon as possible always using XP Pro, and if not too expensive to do
> now, I of course would prefer to be ready for 64 bit if its cost effective
> to be ready now rather than wait for equip to drop a bit.
>
> --currently almost never needing mobility (beyond a great cellphone-palm
> combo)
> to soon needing it at least some of the time.
>
> I'm not sure that mobility means needing a laptop. (For example,
sometimes
> I could see using a foldout keyboard with my PDA, or just bringing files
on
> a USB pendrive or perhaps files and e-mail/desktop along on a MIGO, or
> logging in remotely.) And I'm not sure that needing a laptop means
needing
> the laptop to be so strong as to never need a desktop, and instead maybe
I'd
> save the strongest needs for when I'm at a desktop, and maybe synch the
> desktop's data files with the laptop or use the laptop as the desktop's
data
> drive. In fact, the wider and heavier the laptops I see, the more I think
I
> might want a light small one!
>
> --currently occasionally developing in office vba,
> to as soon as possible occasionally or more often developing with Visual
> Studio and perhaps with other apps, and at least trying out some solutions
> that use products that maybe are server based, like sharepoint
> server/services, and SQL Server.
>
> --currently having a static pretty simple web site,
> to as soon as possible having several, including one that will have dozens
> to perhaps several hundred pages, and either could be created as a static
> site or, perhaps, as a dynamic one (but one that really doesn't have to be
> dynamic, because the data will be the same). Due to the amount of
related
> pages I need to get into it, I hope to create it programmatically, perhaps
> by putting together something that drives Front Page's object model, pulls
> files from my data folders, and creates links among them using a
> semi-relational database file I'm creating. Or perhaps using what I've
read
> that Sharepoint with Front Page 2003 can do--if the documentation is not
> hype, one could create a data driven site without having the expertise
> that's been needed to create data driven sites up to now; however, if the
> use of Sharepoint means that regular internet users can't get to it
without
> an access license, then that won't work.
>
> --currently having no employees though sometimes subcontracts,
> to perhaps having a secretary / office manager or some sort of solution to
> free me to do more sales or billable consulting or development or perhaps
> hiring of people to do same. I have a small non-home office available and
> have proof of concept on networking between that and the home one.
>
> --currently being basically a sole consultant,
> to soon trying to build a multi-people practice. Considering how hard it
is
> just to deal with the equipment issues alone, I have even more respect for
> those who've built consulting practices!
>
>
>
> Even my current uses are varied. I'm almost always using at least several
> apps and several browser sessions at a time, and sometimes I'm a
developer,
> and sometimes do tech support and sometimes training. I probably will be
> shifting from doing all work at one office to supporting clients at their
> companies or doing sales demos on site and occasionally at trade shows.
>
> I want my family to still have access to the net and peripherals, perhaps
> only through through separate PCs but at least through profiles that can't
> hurt my data.
>
>
>
> I can spend $ and time to semi-reasonable amounts, but I do have some good
> equipment (80, 120, & 160 gig hard drives), and I'm prepared to buy a high
> end laptop if that's the solution or part of it.
>
> High end needs:
> --So far, no gaming but I could see bonding with my teen kids<g>.
> --ideally I'll have video editing (no need to do that mobilely, I think,
> though I realize that if I end up getting a high end laptop I'd probably
be
> able to do it remotely). I have a cheap DVD+R (not installed anywhere
yet),
> it's made for going into a 5.25 slot of a desktop or server, not a laptop.
> --video recording (portable would be great, but the recording I do away
from
> the office is for church so it won't pay for itself<g>, so far I've just
> lugged a 1.5 ghz desktop and monitor to plug in our DV camera for
continuous
> recording, and that's a lot of lugging)
> --voice recog. (ideally portable, but definitely at the office). I think
> that to get better accuracy I'll need some sound card (or for a laptop,
USB)
> extras. I'm headed toward Dragn's pro version.
> --I definitely need =a lot= of RAM because sometimes I need virtual
computer
> (vmware/Virtual PC) sessions--so far I've done individual ones but want to
> link them so I can test, demo, and train applications that are networked.
> By "a lot" of RAM, my idea of a high-end laptop is that it would allow me
to
> put in at least 2 gigs, even if I don't use it right away, and my idea of
a
> high end desktop is unclear, I probably wouldn't pay an extra $200 or more
a
> motherboard that could go beyond 2 or 3 gigs.
>
>
> Note: mostly due just to not being able to take in a fraction of what's
> already available to me in Microsoft's Action Pack, and due to having
> licensing thanks to the Pack, I've not looked to other languages and
> servers. I know they're out there, but don't know whether in my case
they'd
> be a simplifier or a complication.
>
>
>
>
>
> What I've got now:
>
> --Perhaps most important, a budget that, if necessary, will allow for
> getting a high end laptop and will allow for building or perhaps buying
one
> to two desktops and one to two servers. (I am halfway through building a
> PC, so far so good, so I think that, perhaps with hiring a consultant, I
> could build the desktop or server PCs if that would help keep the cost
good
> without taking hordes of time or having a high risk of ending up with a
> brick<g>.)
>
> Software
> --MSoft's Action Pack, which gives me 10 licenses of XP Pro, 10 licenses
of
> Office, most if not all MS servers software (including Server 2003, Small
> Biz Server '03), and just about everything imaginable other than Office
> developer and Visual Studio
>
> -- NFD Windows Server 2003 (with 25 access licenses), and NFR Small Biz
> Server 2003 Pro (with 10 access licenses)
>
> --Office Developer '97
>
> --Visual Studio Pro 2003
>
> --Acrobat, Paperport, DNS 7 Pro (voice recog)
>
> --Mix of Norton & McAffee anti-virus etc software
>
> --Palm simulation software, not yet installed. (This should help for
> testing software and for supporting Palm OS's other than those on my
> systems, and for not having to reinstall my data when I do
> development/test.)
>
> Note--I stay fully licensed, that's non-negotiable. However, I do watch
for
> deals and have gotten a lot of this by upgrade and rebate deals. That's
to
> help explain if it seems like I'm half way to having a good set of
> development software<g>.
>
>
>
> Non-PC Hardware
>
> --an old laserjet and a modern multi-function deskjet/officejet, currently
> used just for copying and printing because I got it up and running quickly
> and at the time I did, HP didn't yet have drivers for XP. And several
> scanners, one new USB, one uses a card (perhaps pre-ISA), and one goes on
> parallel port (which maybe is practical again now that printers are USB?)
>
> --An ancient but still working fax machine.
>
> --several cable routers, including a wireless one I've put off trying
> because of security.
>
> --wireless card for laptop, and I think one wireless ISA card.
>
> --several old Palm Pilots and keyboards, and a good Palm-based cellphone,
> USB based. No Pocket PC yet, but would like to unless there's a good
> simulator so I could develop/test/train. For perhaps another year, my own
> PDA preference probably will stay at Palm.
>
>
>
> PCs
>
> --a couple of super old laptops (roughly 100 to 133 mhz, RAM 40 to 128,
hard
> drive max 2gig), they're OK for the kids to do homework but I'm curious if
I
> should junk them in order to get better control of the kids' computing by
> making the kids have "regular user" profiles in XP, which means having
> stronger computers.
>
> --an approx 800 mhz laptop, 256megs currently in it, max 500 allowed.
Hard
> drive is approx 6 megs. Has a DVD/CD, no writer, but has USB (possibly
USB
> 2) so can handle external USB, and has built in firewire so could handle a
> firewire writer. I got it used so I'd have something for an on-site
> requirement coming up, but I'm not committed to keeping it.
>
> --a half dozen Pentium desktops ranging in the 100 to 350 mhz range, I
> scavenge parts from some (e.g. I just grabbed an apparently 64 megabyte
> video card but it was in a white slot (ASI?) not an AGP slot. And I've
> actually been using the 350 for years, it's got jazz, 380 or so RAM, and
> poorly functioning Win 98.
>
> --1.4 name brand pentium, bought refurbished and never really worked
right.
> It came with XP Home but thanks to having the Action Pack I'm thinking
I'll
> clean-install XP Pro after moving the data to safety.
>
> --A half built desktop, 1.6 or so Athlon (which seems to run at 1.2 mhz or
> so equivalent) in a 1 gig memory board that presently I've maxed out (two
> 500 meg memory modules), I started building it partly to get comfortable
> with changing system level equipment like CPUs and fans. The building
went
> great so far. Now that it actually is time to choose what drives to put
in
> and what operating system and what partitioning, it led me to draft this
> post, because I'm unclear whether to install server software on it, or
> upgrade the processor, or go get a powerful box & board & CPU, or....
>
> --Four or five full sized monitors (17 inch, 19inch, 21 inch)
>
> --Several small monitors (14 / 15 inch). Currently using them for:
> -- at church, when I lug my strongest desktop for DV several-hour
> recording, I grab one of these so I don't have to take a heavier one.
>
>
> Video equipment/software
>
> (Just in case it's helpful, I'll detail the video recording equipment
> situation. My top need is to get the above things on track. So I hope
this
> is not a distraction. And perhaps having Digital video could tie in to
> making some training content.)
>
> -- DV+R equip: I recently got a low cost but 8x DVD +R that fits in a
> desktop. I haven't installed it yet, somewhat due to time but mostly
> because I'd like to finally get a solid strategy and then put it in once
> instead of installing it in one PC and then ending up moving it.
>
> -- VCR that might or might not have S-Video out; I'd have to check the
back.
> (This relates to being able to convert our old VHS tapes to DVD.)
>
> -- DV camcorder (connects to PC via firewire) and a couple of pretty old
> full size VHS camcorders. With the VHS I always just have given the tapes
> out after direct recording, so no editing. The goal is to transition to
the
> DV camera and to make DVDs, and I'm getting there slowly. I think I've
got
> recording to the PC down now, and upon deciding one way or another on DVD
> equipment I'll need just a bit of practicing in order to be ready to shift
> away from VHS. Ideally I'll be able to convert a few of our VHS
recordings.
>
> -- Note--so far, no high-end video software, I've experimented with MM2
> which comes with XP.
>
> -- As far as making training content, I used to use screen recording
> software, it would record whatever was going on on the screen, and
> optionally capture spoken audio. It might not run on XP/2000. So, I
could
> risk installing it and risk the system's stability, or could install it
> under a virtual PC / vmware.
>
>
>
>
>
> Whew! It feels good just to get all of this listed. I'd guess that a lot
> of others who've been on their own for a long time might also have a mix
of
> equipment and goals. Thanks for reading this and for any answers, it will
> help others as well as me.
>
> Thank you!
>
>
>

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