>From: "Greg Zartman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> What would your explaination be to your boss?... Well, you see, I was
> playing around, experimenting really, with this old machine that we had.
> I figured if I could make it through the install routine, we'd be good to
> go. Everything seemed to be working OK so I transfered all of our
> project files to the server hard drive. I thought I was saving us
> money.... If there is reall a "network admin" here in this group that
> actually operates like this, please speak up... ;-)
I do -- almost... I would have agreed with the 'server class' hardware
a few years ago, but today even the cheap stuff almost never breaks
and you can buy spares and replace it with something twice as
fast in a year for less than a real server and maintenance costs. Maybe
I've just learned to avoid bad hardware, but I wouldn't have any
qualms at all about tossing a new pair of drives into a 4 year old
desktop Dell Optiplex and shipping it to a remote office as their
server. If it is on a UPS it will run for many more years and if it
did break the replacement would be just as cheap (I've seen these
on the used market for $99). On the other hand, you have to be
prepared for software failures and human errors that lose data so
you can't avoid the need for backups - and as long as you have
them the tiny chance of increase in uptime you would get from a
dual power supply or hot spare in a raid array will only pay off
in a few situations. I have been thinking that it would be nice
to have a floppy-boot Linux version and a USB<->ethernet
adapter that could be used with any spare PC/laptop to use as
an instant replacement for a failed SME server's gateway function
but so far I haven't needed it and most of my remote offices have
someone who isn't afraid to open a case and swap cards around.
Les Mikesell
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