Taking our lab services on line - chapter 2
While it's technically possible to run a Silverwire
lab operation system on a computer already used for other projects, it's
better to put it on its own PC.
This is what Silverwire says is necessary:
- PC for operating the FotoWire service
- Pentium III machine or better
- Win2000 or XP operating system
- 256 Mb of RAM
- 20G hard disk formatted NTFS.
- The connection to the Internet needs to be fast
(ISDN or DSL are preferred).
Today good computers are relatively cheap I
bought a Dell 2350 desktop unit with a Pentium IV processor, 30 GB hard
drive, and 128mb of RAM. Before doing anything else I upgraded the memory,
buying an extra 512mb from Crucial Memory systems, which brought it to 640
mb. The computer cost about $420, the memory about $30.
The Dell Dimension
series computers are extremely easy to upgrade. I didn’t even need a
screwdriver to open the case. Installing the memory took less than a minute.
Silverwire insisted the drive be formatted as NTFS
(NT File System) rather than FAT (File Allocation
Table). NTFS drives can be larger than FAT drives. NTFS is also a lot
more efficient at using hard drive space, more reliable in terms of data
recovery, and provides better security features. So I had to take my
brand-new computer and reformat the hard disk. It took a couple of tries and
a few phone calls to Dell’s help line to get it done.
For a monitor I chose an LCD unit with touch screen
that I bought from Tiger Direct for $300. Why touch screen? We'll see later
in this series.
We hooked a DSL modem to a router and started
networking the system together.
Next - Networking
the lab
Our story so far:
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