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I build every machine using the best components that will fit your budget

If you tell someone I built your computer, I want that to make them want one too

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Phone: (512) 564-0367

Email me at jmay@linuxfamily.org

Isaiah 55

8 ¶ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

LABOR ONLY USING YOUR PARTS: $100 to build a PC and $300 to build a server - I earn every penny

**NOTE: If you bring incompatible parts, additional charges may apply

I service Windows + Linux, Solaris & some other Unix-like operating systems.

I specialize in providing small businesses with dependable & inexpensive networks

First just a word about how I estimate the number of users a server will support; my entire work paradigm is built around a small office of 10 to 20 users.  I grew up in a rural area and I've seen sales people load up a farmer or rancher with equipment and software much more appropriate to an insurance company or bank.  The same goes for a local retail sales business; not everybody is as big as Walmart. However, if business growth exceeds expectations my systems are designed to scale easily; adding servers or workstations is quick and painless.

Larger networks have to be approached differently because small problems in large networks multiply exponentially when you have a lot of users. Something you might notice but ignore in a small office network can bring the system to it's knees with more users; but that doesn't justify an overkill solution. It's inappropriate at best and probably unethical to sell small businesses the same solutions suited to large companies.  Most of the sales people from major IT companies are paid commission and not enough to survive; that's sad but you need to protect yourself from those with strictly self-serving motives.

The server networks I configure will scale well if your business grows because I will balance the workload and adding another server or workstation is a simple task.  I configure every server with DHCP and caching-only BIND DNS; caching DNS servers do not affect your ISP's DNS service and make adding other services a snap. 

What all that means to you is there are no hard coded configuration parameters like IP addresses etc.  To add a workstation is a simple operation of adding it to the DNS zone (5 minutes) and plugging it in.  The server will then automatically assign workstation an IP address from it's pool and adopt it into the network family. 

Likewise if you need another server; I will assure your new server doesn't interfere with others and the workload is balanced with every machine working harmoniously with its peers.  It may come as a shock to you, but there are very few networks configured correctly, let alone optimized; and yet it really isn't difficult.  It truly is easier for everybody concerned to do it right; Shrek would say "Really, Really".

If I build you an entry level server optimized for 10 users, the server itself will have processing power and memory slightly exceeding the requirements for 10 users. There will be a safety margin of reserve processing power. The amount of processing power required for a network depends largely on the kind of tasks being performed.

If most of your workers are doing word processing you don't need as much as a group of workers who are all doing exhaustive research on the internet. However, if everybody does a lot of printing an over loaded machine will crawl. Intensive database access with large result sets, as opposed to drilling down, will also load the server.

An example of an overloaded or improperly implemented server might be illustrated by visualizing a system where if one or more users hit the print button simultaneously, everybody thinks their machine is frozen.  Some of you probably don't need to rely on imagination to visualize this.  Anyway, print jobs should be relegated to a lower priority since there isn't a printer on the planet that can print as fast as a computer can spool to the queue.  The limiting factor for a properly implemented server network should be the data transfer rates across the network.

This being case, after assuring the server has adequate processing power, I use the following criteria to assure data flow. Connectivity is handled by Gigabit ethernet cards on my multi-purpose servers.  For example, if you assume 10 users with a 100 Megabit NIC connection you need a minimum of one 1 Gigabit NIC. To summarize, the server needs the flow capacity of at least the sum of the products of each user on the system multiplied by their connection speed. Thus if there are 10 users connected at 100 Megabits and the server has a 1 Gigabit card, then flow capacity is equal to the sum of their combined connectivity speeds.  Incidentally, you can get super deals on 100 Megabit ethernet cards and they are usually more than adequate; if you are hampered by slow speeds it's unlikely the NIC is at fault unless you're using a really old TEN Megabit card.

Remember I specialize in small businesses and this formula works well in small networks. Since I do build in a safety margin of processing performance, it follows that more throughput can be built into the servers lan connection ports until the connectivity performance threshold is exceeded; then you need a peer server or a larger server.

If your office has a lot of users, a larger server may be required, depending on each users demands. My multi-purpose servers allow for a web proxy to share internet connectivity, email distribution, printer sharing, file sharing, a database with no more than ten concurrent connections and automated backup/log file rotation.

If your users require intensive processing power for their tasks you may need more than one server with dedicated servers for the internet connection/email, one for database access and possibly at least one more for the other aggregate functions. If this is the case, you can at least use less expensive servers and distribute the load. It isn't so much how many people are working that overloads a system as what they are doing.  It's a very rare occurrence for everybody to hit the server with requests at exactly the same moment and even if this happens the server should simply lag momentarily and continue.

Old IT Guys Proverb: Don't ever do a backup with users online. That is begging for file corruption.

Decisions in building the machine

What's your favorite processor? This is sometimes a good starting point. I can help you select a motherboard with the proper socket which is matched to the CPU or you can approach it the other way and choose the motherboard first.
NOTE: Motherboard sockets must match CPU design

What's your favorite motherboard? I've got my favorites and I've run across a few with known issues too. What's your pleasure? Be glad to advise if you wish. Call for my recommendations.  As stated above, the motherboard socket specification must match the the CPU socket type. The newer motherboards will accept a greater variety of processors.

** If you select a component that I know or suspect has issues I'll tell you

What's your favorite brand of memory? I've got some good recommendations here based on hard earned experience. Defective or improperly matched memory modules can (like an ailing power supply) cause some of the weirdest problems ever encountered.  They can also lead to bruising of the head caused while you are banging it on the wall.  Name your brand or call for my recommendations and remember that major brands are not always the best.

How many Megahertz is a good thing? Memory chips have a clock, i.e. cyclic rate and slow memory can limit everything across the board including the processor. Install memory that's the correct specification but rated too fast and the probably outcome is the motherboard will limit it to the maximum supported rate which means you wasted some money.  Other things more ominous could happen. Of paramount importance is that the chip has the correct specification for your board; read the specs for memory on your board. This is a very common mistake resulting in the majority of RMA's.

The formula for maximum chip density - A common error is to install chips with the wrong density.  If you use lower density (but compatible) memory you will fill the banks and never approach the motherboards rated memory capacity even though it will work. Conversely, if you use a memory chip that is too dense the machine will not recognize it.

Here is the simple and oft overlooked formula to determine maximum density for a memory chip on any given board. Look in the documentation and see what is the maximum supported memory; write it down. Now physically count the memory banks and divide into the maximum supported memory. Very simple to do; for example, if your board states maximum memory is 4GB and you count 2 banks, the densest memory chip you can insert is a 2GB chip. If the maximum memory is 4GB and you have 4 banks, the maximum density chip you can use is 1GB; if you insert a 2GB chip which is only half the rated capacity, (but too dense) it will not work. The numbers vary widely but the principle is sound.

Equip your system with lots of memory; it saves wear and tear on the hard drives and programs which can be loaded entirely into physical memory will run much faster. Thankfully, the days of page faults when swapping memory to disk are just about behind us with newer operating systems, but a shortage of memory will keep the hard drive juggling pages to and from the swap file and wear it out.

Got a snappy looking case in mind? I'm open here as long as the dimensions of everything fit well and there is adequate space for ventilation. Naturally, we have to be able to screw the motherboard down and have all the necessary ports & connectors visible on the back of the case.  Do you want USB ports on the front of the machine are do you get into the gymnast thing?  How about a Firewire port on the front if you have such devices?

Speaking of everything fitting, do the connectors for your power supply have enough wire to reach everything when it's mounted? Sometimes you can buy an extension adapter, but if that's not an option save some headaches & let's look at a different unit.

Is the power supplies main power connector the right one for your motherboard? Are there enough connectors of each type required for what's on the board and your peripherals? Don't forget that blazing fast processor you want needs more power as does the high performance fan to cool it.  All those other goodies such as great graphics adapters, gobs of memory, faster bus speeds, more drive storage and so forth all add to the power demand.

So THAT'S why that sucker was so cheap?  It only powers Pre-Cambrian motherboards that draw less watts than your light bulbs!

I'm fussy about power supplies! I can tell some really interesting stories about these; they are probably the most overworked and overlooked item in the system. The lowly power supply affects every single part of your system and the problems associated with an under-rated (or failing) power supply are sometimes really weird.

It's really a blessing if it just pops and quits; then you know what it is. One thing I will always check when building a system is the available voltage for each device with everything turned on; it's critical.

You can get a very good power supply for a very reasonable price; don't cut corners here. Many systems bought from retail stores have weak power supplies. Name your brand or see my recommendations.

It's all pretty simple really, but these details have to be considered so let's just communicate and build that really fun machine.