[NTLUG:Discuss] asking for thoughts and guidance ... new desktop ...

[Fred James]

Couple of good questions raised here, and I shall attempt to respond

(1) Why modem if I have LAN? - in fact we have Cable.
     (a) Backup connection.
(2) Why SCSI hard drives?
     (a) In the case of the file server, I was looking forward to full 
drives on IDE.
         (  i) We always saying that "no one will ever need more 
than..." (say 512 K memory, for example, or a 100MB Harddrive).  It may 
be hard to think of filling up a couple of 80GB drives, but store some 
graphic files (photos and such), and it may surprise you.
(3) Why a floppy?
     (a) It is still a handy way to carry small files (< 1.44MB)
     (b) Quick and dirty way to transfer files from a Linux box to that 
other OS, or the other way.
(4) Why VMWare (or something like that) instead of dual boot?
     (a) If the box is "also" running as a file server, wouldn't the 
file server be out of service while the box was booted as a MS machine?
(5) Memory?  See point 2.a.i - same general idea, though I admit 512MB 
seems big.

Does any of that help to clarify the picture - I hope the discussion is 
still open.


Tom Woody wrote:

> Building the computer is the easy part...  Most any parts that you do get will be compatible with Linux.  While I applaud your "overload it" and use it for other stuff I think you are going a bit over the top.  
> 
> CPU: you are fine there...maybe look at an Athlon (you will save a lot of money, and get a lot more).  
> MEMORY: for a desktop machine, even one used as a server as well would be fine with 256MB, 512MB unless you had a large number of people using the machine, or a lot of services running (mail, DNS, web, DB, etc) you would be just tossing money.
> HARD DRIVE: SCSI is throwing more money away even faster (ATA100 can keep up with any SCSI Drive unless like above - you are having a huge number of I/Os hit that machine), a lot of current boards come with the IDE RAID (0,1,0+1) they are all very good, and I have run multiple linux machines on them with no problems.  2x 60-80GB Drives RAID0 (Striping will get you more than you would need).
> CD/CDRW: take your pick its a price thing at this point
> Floppy: i would say why (haven't had a floppy drive for 2 years!)
> Graphics: For awesome support get a MATROX graphics card (not the best for games - but doesn't sound like thats your ball of wax anyhow) great linux driver support
> Sound: While I am not sure of the Support for the Newer SB cards (had some problems with a SB Live a while back - but havn't revisted it - my linux box has a SB AWE32 and it works great!)
> Modem: Why?  You have a LAN it sounds like.
> NIC: any nic works great
> OS: Redhat is fine, SuSe is great also - a little more workstation centric, while Redhat is server centric - but both are good (I have one of each and love them both)
> WM: Gnome is good, but for a person starting out with linux, it might be a little easier to use KDE, it feels a lot more like Windows - but again I switch between them both at a whim anyhow.
> If you still need to keep Win95 around, have you though of just doing a dual boot system (With Grub in the latest releases its even easier) Install windows on a partition, then install Linux (Grub will find and setup your partition for Win95, and it will be in the bootloader when you need it)
> 
> 
> On Wed, 13 Mar 2002 13:47:31 -0600
> Fred James <fredjame at concentric.net> wrote:
> 
> 
>>At last, my wife is consenting to be moved to Linux, but now I must ask 
>>for your thoughts and guidance, if you don't mind sharing.
>>
>>I first thought of having Dell or Compaq build it, but they flat don't 
>>do Linux installs on Desktops (only servers).  I would consider going to 
>>a Linux integrator, but I don't know any well enough to feel confident, 
>>either locally, or on the WEB - service and support would be a issue 
>>there.  I would consider building my own if I could get the guidance - I 
>>have cracked open a case or two to install/remove/replace 
>>components/memory, but I have never built one from scratch, and of 
>>course it would mean making sure I got Linux compatible parts.
>>
>>Here is a sketch of what I had in mind:
>>CPU: maybe not the latest, but at least a PIII, and at least approaching 
>>1Ghz speed, thought I probably wouldn't turn my back on a P4.
>>Memory: 512MB to 1GB
>>Hard Drive: 100+GB - one or more drives, could go SCSI, wouldn't 
>>complain about a RAID.
>>CD/DVD/CD-RW: all of those would be lovely, especially the CD-RW.
>>Floppy: 1.44MB
>>Sound/Video/Graphics: Not looking for a home entertainment center here, 
>>but would like some modicum of quality to handle the general stuff that 
>>comes down the WEB pipe.  The graphics we would be producing would be 
>>basically on the level of GIMP - no 3D or animated as yet.
>>Modem: Internal
>>NIC: 10/100Mbs
>>OS: Linux (probably Red Hat, since that is what I am most familiar with 
>>- though I suppose I could be convinced to try something else).
>>Desktop: GNOME
>>Other stuff: VMWare (or something like it) - want to run Linux, but need 
>>to keep Win95 available for some legacy stuff that she doesn't want to 
>>loose just yet).
>>
>>Primary use will be her Desktop/Internet machine, but I am considering 
>>"over building" it (that explains some of the high numbers above) so it 
>>could also act as a file server for other machines on our LAN (behind 
>>the firewall).
>>
>>Sorry to be so long winded - just trying to anticipate questions - if 
>>there are more, please ask.
>>
>>Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
>>
>>
>>-- 
>>...make every program a filter...
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
> 
> 


-- 
...make every program a filter...