Your Next Computer, Buy or Build?

By Gerry Morris, J.D.

If you had looked around my law offices seven or eight years ago you would have seen about ten PCs networked in a peer to peer arrangement. Most would have been running Windows 98 with at least one loaded with Windows 2000. The Windows 2000 machine would have been my file server. Most, if not all, of the computers would have been built by yours truly. Most would have been put together from parts scavenged from earlier models with slower processors. As the new faster processors came out I would buy a new motherboard and processor, swap them out with the old ones keeping the same video card, sound board, network cards and hard drives from the previous incarnation. With Windows 98, I could usually just start the upgraded computer and the operating system would reconfigure itself to accommodate the new hardware.

For all its ease of configuration, Windows 98 had its definite drawbacks. Chief among its shortcomings was its frequent crashes. The NT based workstation operating systems, Windows NT, 2000, and XP were much more stable. In my opinion Windows 2000 was the first really usable business workstation operating system from Microsoft. It was extremely stable and ran enough applications and peripherals to make it practical. However, the switch to Windows 2000 in my office ended the practice of upgrading my computers each time a faster chip came on the Market.

During the installation process, Windows 2000, and later XP, installed only the hard disk controller driver and other essential drivers necessary for your individual computer rather than an array of generic and specific drivers. This meant that if the motherboard was changed, the computer would no longer boot, unless the new motherboard was virtually identical to the replaced one. So, if I upgraded a computer’s motherboard, I also had to start over with a new installation of the operating system and software applications. I was never able to find a way to work around for this problem. There were some software applications available to transfer programs from an old computer to a new one, but not to make an upgraded computer boot.

Also, the price of new PCs continued to fall. In the past few years it just hasn’t been worth it for me to build workstation computers. The basic workstation in my office is whatever PC Dell had on sale at the time I needed to add or replace a computer. I would order them with the current version of Microsoft Office installed, and basic hardware peripherals. It doesn’t take much video power to adequately display Microsoft Office, nor is a super sound system important. I have one PC with above average video and sound for video editing. The rest are as bland as they come. I do order extra RAM. We usually have several applications running at once on any given desktop. The more RAM, the better the performance with multiple applications open. The price of a Dell on sale was significantly lower than anything I could build. Michael Dell buys in larger volume than I.

However, I will probably continue to build the PC I use for a server. Here, I am picky about getting just what I want and no more. The server I use now has been running 24/7 for about five years. It’s time to start thinking about constructing a replacement.

It’s really very easy to build a PC, and it’s gotten easier over the years. Ten years ago, most motherboards did not include onboard video, sound or network interfaces. I had to install peripheral boards to add these functions. Now, since chips continue to get smaller, it is standard to load up a motherboard with all the basics. So, the place to start is with locating a motherboard that has what I want and accepts the type of CPU chip adequate for my needs. I would make sure it has onboard video, sound and network interface. Video and sound quality is not important for a server so I wouldn’t pay a premium for high end boards intended for gaming and multimedia. I would start by looking in the paper and finding the sales at places like Fry’s or Best Buy.

For a server I want adequate horsepower, but not necessarily the newest, fasted CPU (Central Processing Unit) chip. Having bought several over the years I’ve learned that there is a significant price jump from the next fastest to the very fastest chip. I want to be sure and get a processor chip that is more than adequate to run the software that will reside on the server. I would check the minimum requirements for applications such as Amicus Attorney and overshoot the minimum requirements by as much as I want to spend. Five years from now that chip will look pretty slow. The motherboard box will tell me what types of chips may be used. There are several different configurations of processor chips from two major manufacturers, Intel and AMD. I have used chips from both over the years and haven’t noticed any difference when matched with the proper motherboards. I personally think AMD offers more bang for the buck. A cooling fan for the processor chip is also essential.

Sometimes the CPU chip is sold already mounted on a motherboard. This should mean that the chip is one recommended for that motherboard. It also means that I can’t bend the pins on the chip while installing it or otherwise mess up mounting the chip. Fortunately, that’s hard to do now since they all are made so that they will only go in the correct way. Years ago, they would go more than one way and the result of putting them in the wrong way would be instant destruction of the chip when powered up. When putting on the cooling fan it’s important to use the gooey stuff that comes with it. This serves as a heat transfer medium between the chip and the fan. Nowadays, chips run pretty hot, so the cream is essential to prevent overheating.

Also, keep in mind that older operating systems may not work well with the newer multicore processors. For instance, I run Windows 2000 Advanced Server as my server operating system. I am told that this operating system will recognize each core of the processor as a separate processor. While that will work to some extent, newer software is written to handle the advanced processors more efficiently and take full advantage of their sophisticated features. If I upgrade, I will probably purchase a new operating system. More about that in a minute.

For a server I would choose a motherboard with onboard RAID capability. Simply put, this allows me to connect two hard drives and have one be the mirror image of the other. If one hard drive fails, the other takes over. I simply have to replace the bad hard drive. The system then again mirrors one to the other. My current server does this through the operating system rather than via hardware. The result is the same. I keep a spare hard drive and have had to use one a couple of times. It’s the best first line of defense for data protection.

Also, I would buy about twice as much RAM as the software specs call for. Over the years the consistent trend for software is that each upgrade uses more RAM. I can buy it now or wait and risk that the particular type of RAM used by the motherboard will be hard to find a few years from now when I desperately need it. The motherboard box will tell me what type of RAM the motherboard accepts and in what sizes.

The motherboard with the CPU, RAM and cooling fan fastens into a case. There are hundreds of different types of cases ranging from the generic to the absurd. I go for the generic. I would need to buy a case that would accommodate the motherboard configuration and footprint and would conveniently accept two hard drives and a CD drive. Beyond that, size isn’t a consideration.

I would install two identical hard drives for the redundant RAID system and a CD drive for use to install software. Hard drives keep getting bigger and faster. I have two 80 meg hard drives that store five years of my practice. So far I’ve used about ¼ of their capacity. Here, I would buy whatever is on sale. The average drive now is over 200 meg. The CD drive will probably be the one I have on a shelf in my closet. Nothing has changed over the years for basic CD drives other than speed.

Once all the parts are put together according to the instructions accompanying the motherboard and case (it really is easy), and the mouse, keyboard, monitor, network cable, etc. are connected, I’m ready to install the operating system. When I buy a new motherboard, processor or hard drive, I am entitled to buy the operating system and some other types of software at OEM prices. (Original Equipment Manufacturer). The savings are significant. Network operating systems are about half price OEM compared to retail.

I would first fire up the new computer without the software installation disk and tweak the settings in the BIOS according to the instructions included with the motherboard. Setting up the RAID redundant drive system is also accomplished through the BIOS in accordance with the motherboard’s included instructions. Then the operating system disk goes into the CD drive and the system rebooted for installation. (The BIOS has to be set to allow the system to boot from the CD drive). Most bookstores have books that take you step by step through configuring the operating system to do what I want it to do. For instance, my current is set up to accept VPN connections over the Internet. The documentation that comes with the software won’t be as useful as an aftermarket book.

If you decide to build a computer, you can be assured that you have what you need to run your server-based software and perform the other functions important to your network setup. You can include everything you need but nothing that you don’t need, such as trial software to cause pop-ups and take up disk space. There is also no software hidden in the installation that sends marketing data to software vendors. Besides all that, it’s something to do that is a nice temporary diversion from the practice of law.

E. G. “Gerry” Morris is a small firm practitioner and has practiced law for over 29 years in Austin, Texas. He is certified as a Criminal Law Specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His firm web site is at www.egmlaw.com. Email your comments and questions to Gerry at tech@egmlaw.com.