MacAttack
Now that I’ve had a few days with my new Mac Mini I’m learning to really like it. The operation is very nice, smooth and engaging. I can see the draw to the ease and user friendliness. In addition I can see improved speed, response times and video quality over my PC (now to be fair, my PC is a couple of years old – core 2 quad) Carolyn is very non-change friendly and she is even liking it, but she hasn’t done much with it yet.
I’ve begun the preparation, but haven’t set up email or web serving yet, but www.godzgood.com will be moving to the Mac – hopefully you won’t notice a thing, but I’m always looking for a way to save a few dollars. I am certainty going to increase security before live.
Mac is Back
While technically not back, my Mac Mini has arrived. I only had a few minutes with it last night so its only built and on the network, not joined to the domain or authenticating, sharing or any of the real “server” stuff. It’s quick and powerful so I’m really looking forward to working with it. Being Lion server edition I can host www.godzgood.com myself and have it serve my mail as well as the normal domain functions.
A new Chapter
Its officially time for a new chapter around the house. I’m adding a Mac Mini to my network mix. This one comes with Lion server. So the end result will be a Windows 2008R2 domain with Windows and Mac clients as well as an integrated Mac domain with both Windows and Mac clients. This will bring a new level of complexity to my home domain, but hopefully some valuable information and experiences for the Church arena.
Mac fans, what are your “must have” apps?
I took the plunge.
With all the hubbub about android on tablets I decided to try for myself. Installing CM 9 on my HP Touchpad proved to be quick and easy, considering. CM 9 isn’t perfect but is fast, runs lots of android apps. My favorite is YouVersion and it works better on this platform than on my iPod touch, PC Webos, or android phone.
Is this upgrade foe everyone? Certainly not! But its also not only for the uber geek. My advice, weigh the pros and cons and decide if the inconvenience is worth the features go for it. And don’t forget to make a good backup of your data (and a good list of your applications)
Refocus
The last few months have been totally slammed for me. We are implementing a full refresh and redesign of the data center. All new network, all new servers the whole gamut. 15 hour days have been the norm for months and things don’t look to be subsiding for some time to come.
That said, GodZGood.com has taken a back seat.
As part of my refocusing for the year – posts will be forthcoming on a much more frequent schedule. Topics will include:
- Networking
- Church IT
- Ministry
- Doctrinal matters
- Job search
The Lord has impressed upon me a desire to take my IT skills into the ministry arena.
Desktops
I was fortunate to receive donations of 6 computers from the Citizen Potowatami tribe. While these weren’t current machines they were better than what was currently being used. They couldn’t support Windows 7, and only barely could they support Windows XP. However the server had plenty of power to support virtual desktops. I could use these machines as “terminals”. This allowed me to utilize the Windows XP Professional licenses from the machine’s on the virtual desktops.
For the “terminals” I wanted a very lightweight linux build. These machines were not for storing or processing, but just for remote desktop capabilities. I chose Puppy linux. It is very small and loads extremely quickly.
Next – packaging it up
The Server
Server class?
A server class machine is built to higher specifications for reliability and mean time before failure. If you can afford this class of machine it should be at the top of your list for your core infrastructure. The down side is the cost, even used a server class machine can be expensive to purchase. Server class parts are more expensive as well, so maintenance can become an issue. With a $1500 budget this just didn’t seem to be a good idea.
Workstation class?
This term is often misunderstood and used with general pcs or desktops. A workstation is actually a class of machine between the basic desktop and server class machines. A workstation is of higher quality components for better reliability, but many of the components are of the pc category. Thus you get nearly server reliability with the lower maintenance costs.
So off to ebay. I found plenty of Dell workstations in a very reasonable price range. The machine selected has 2 dual core Xenon processors (server class processor), 8GB memory, a 72GB high speed HD for booting, 4) 500 GB hard drives with a raid controller. All for just $650
Next desktops
Hardware
Components:
Server, with sufficient “horsepower” to run a domain controller and a minimum of 3 for instances for desktops. Storage sufficient to retain all current audio and video files.
Desktops for vdi access, 3 machines.
Network switch, 16 ports for connectivity throughout the building.
Wireless access point with remote VPN capability.
Backup – for simplicity and cost external USB 3.0 drives.
Next – selecting the server.
Networking – Step 1 Part B
So the VM discussion comes down to cost, requirements and features.
For this situation I was strapped with a budget of $0 for this portion. Since all three vendors have a free version that didn’t make the decision.
With the budget restriction I knew that I’d be dealing with older hardware – that took Citrix off the table. System backups are essential so that became the next driver.
With the free version of VMWare the backup API is disabled and that would mean utilizing a batch copy procedure rather than a simple backup. Microsoft has stepped up the game with the 2008 version of Hyper-V. The backups via Hyper-V are simple, easy and it even triages the VMs prior to backup. Thus Hyper-V it is.
Next up hardware decisions.
Network – Step 1 Part A
Having worked with Windows for many years I know the plight of a system failure. Even with a good backup the downtime and system “tweaking” to make everything happy again can be very difficult, time consuming and more than a little disconcerting. So the I made the decision to utilize a “virtual” environment. With this type of system each machine is backed up as a file, sometimes a group of files. Restoration is quick, easy and reliable.
So, which technology?
VMWare
Hyper-V
XenServer?