I ran into this as well once at a previous employer (a large telecom equip mfgr), I made this suggestion to the managers: order a server!
Servers will usually not be subject to the desktop software licensing requirements, (MS-Office, disk partitioning, case access (installing cards), latest OS, etc...) are offered in rack mount cabinetry, don't come with outrageous video cards, sound cards or modems (nothing to be removed or dealt with re: IRQs) and offer options that might be of value in a test station that needs to run in a 24/7 mfg floor env. like ECC RAM and RAID. If you us MS Windows, IS can create a hardware domain in which you have the ability to install hardware, software, update drivers, etc... without calling IS, yet this hardware domain can be connected to the corporate user domain for access to things like your document space, company intranet, etc..... IS probably doesn't even know how to do this, or have dreamt of trying it bat had no application. You've now got IS on your side! One last thing; if you need to send the test station out of house (CM, off-shore), you can still have your own complete network with just a hub and a couple of Ethernet cables. You get the CM to provide a gateway PC (type of use, not brand) to act as a transfer point for YOUR DATA to THEIR network. I was amazed when my test computers were delivered to one CM; they suddenly became the property of the CM's I.S. group, not MINE (read, the --CUSTOMER--). With your own private network, there's no need to wait for your CM network account password to be reset by a monkey with a too many body piercings, colored hair and a Limp Bizkit T who keeps asking you "Dude, why haven't you logged in in 4 weeks! Don't you know the boss tracks logins!" Put in a VPN/dialup connection and you can monitor your CM equipment! ------------------------------------ IET Labs, Inc. Phillip Brooks Test Engineer [EMAIL PROTECTED] 10 Dedham St. Newton, MA 02461 tel: 617.969.0804 fax: 617.969.6604 http://www.ietlabs.com ------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Subject: Corporate PC purchases for factory test, your experiences please > From: "Boyd, David" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 08:40:47 -0400 > > All, > > This may really be a Windows-only question, but I can believe there are > establishments that have standardized on Macs for factory use. > > Recently I was required by our IT department to 'upgrade' a couple of > networked factory test PCs (still running LV5.1 apps under Windows 95!) > to Windows 2000, and since the original PCs were decreed too > underpowered, IT gave me a few 'cast-offs', of 400MHz Pentium-II > vintage, as replacements. Long story short, at least one of these has > turned out to be unreliable for long term use, so now I'm given the nod > to buy something akin to the standard-issue current workstation. > > We've got a corporate purchase agreement with a big computer > manufacturer (rhymes with 'hell'), and now I'm told that all such PCs > MUST come with a license for MS Office Pro/Exchange/WinServer2003 etc, > which adds close to 500USD to the total. The IT line is, 'If it plugs > into the network, it must include these licenses'. Plus, W2K is no > longer an option, so it comes with WinXPPro, and if you reload the OS, > you're unsupported. > > I'm just curious to hear from some of you folks who work for (or > contract for) LMCO, Sperry, Litton, and other medium-to-large > corporations, what your experiences are. Are you free to buy your own > hardware if it goes on the corporate network, or do you get what's > offered? (Usually, I'm more concerned with things like how many open > PCI slots the thing has...) > > Best, > > Dave > > David J Boyd > Senior Test Engineer > Respironics > 175 Chastain Meadows Court > Kennesaw GA 30144-3724 > (V) 770-429-2809 (F) 770-423-2300 >
