Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (949 mails)

[adavis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Andrew L. Davis)]

On Sat, Mar 21, 1998 at 12:55:26PM +0000, Robert Drzyzgula wrote:
> 
> Not to bash anyone, but I don't feel like the original question has
> been answered, even though it was, to me, a pretty interesting one.
> 
> I've thought about it a little and have some ideas, but there were
> quite a few considerations left unspoken:
> 
> * What is the target market? Are these business systems or home
>    systems?
> * Servers or workstations?

business systems, servers 

> * What kinds of communications facilities would be required...
>    Modem? Ethernet? ISDN?

Ethernet, for most of the people I deal with.  I work for a wireless internet
provider; we provide speeds anywhere from ISDN to T1.  

> * How good a monitor (at $800, you can blow your whole budget on a
>    monitor, no sweat...) On a server, clearly you need only be able to
>    configure the system, so an el cheapo monchrome unit would do...
>    For a home/websurfing unit would TV output be sufficient?
> * Is this for gaming? WebSurfing? Is 3D Support required? High
>    resolution/performance?

Cheap, cheap, they only have servers

> * What would be more important... stability or performance?
> * Will tape backup be a neccesity for your target market?
> * Are you an integrator or just a reseller? Can you cobble these
>    things together yourselves or do you need COTS finished units
>    in a box?
> * What Memory/disk space requirements do you envision?

32 meg or maybe 64 meg Memory and about 6 gig HD.  For the same functionality
on a NT box you would need at least 128 meg for memory and a PII processor.

> * How do you rank all these things in priority? What would you give up
>    first to cut the price?
> 
> Now If I were going to try to put together a solid Linux Box to stamp
> out and sell at a eye-catching price, I'd probably do something like
> this:
> 
>    $ 85 DFI P5XV3 (ATX VP-3 MB, 512KB, not O/C-able but rock stable)
>    $100 Intel or AMD processor, whatever you can get at this price
>    $ 45 EIDE CD-ROM, Whatever you can get in overstock, 12X or higher
>    $ 40 Rockwell (non win-modem) 33.6 Modem (Acer?)
>    $ 50 One 32MB SDRAM DIMM, 10ns
>    $ 40 Jaton 67TV 2MB video card (explicit SuSE X support, TV output)
>    $140 Fujitsu MPA3032ATA 3.2GB Drive (great warranty)
>    $ 15 3.5" Floppy
>    $ 25 Generic Sound Card (which sound chips work well in Linux?)
>    $ 10 Basic Speakers
>    $ 25 IBM Win95 Keyboard
>    $ 13 Logitech OEM Mouse (PS/2)
>    $ 12 High-quality Ball-bearing HS & Fan, with tach for DFI board
>    $ 40 Basic ATX Chassis & Power Supply
>    $140 Basic 14" 1024x768 .28 Monitor
>    $ 50 SuSE Distribution & Manual
> 
> This gets it down to about $825, and I think that the result should be
> pretty functional. One might be able to push it under $800 with volume
> purchases of some of the parts. The IBM keyboard and Logitech mouse are
> possible targets for cutting back, but these parts do have a substantial
> impact on a customer's perception of quality.  This system also has a
> great deal of headroom for upgrades should the user outgrow the basic
> configuration.
> 
> Also in the perception category, one thing that I personally would do
> to make the system *seem* more substantial would be to spend a little
> extra on the chassis. It would add about $200 to the price (for a total
> price tag more like $1000) but I particularly like the products from
> California PC Products (<A HREF="http://www.calpc.com";><A HREF="http://www.calpc.com</A">http://www.calpc.com</A</A>>). They are reasonably
> expensive as chassis go (don't try to buy one or two... the prices
> only get tolerable in moderate quantities), but are made completely
> of heavy-weight steel and use top-grade power supplies. The mid-tower
> chassis outfitted with casters & fenders is wonderfully roomy to work in
> and easy to move around. If you are selling to business these would make
> an impressive product that would capture attention and scream "quality".
> 
> I know that this isn't what most hardware geeks (myself included) would
> put together for themselves, but we are talking (I thought) about
> putting out a stable product in moderate volumes that will give people
> a perception of quality and reliability, in part to build a mainstream
> image for Linux. I'd be interested to know how other people would
> modify this design to make it more suitable for mainstream buyers
> who are looking for a solution platform rather than a hot-rod.

everything else you mentioned would be perfect for home use.  The same 
configuration would work for business but with a bigger hard drive no sound,
speakers, mouse, a cheaper video card and maybe add some sort of backup system.
This machine would be doing mail, web hosting, file serving, acting as firewall
and connecting everybody to the internet at the same time.  All this for around
1500 dollars give or take some.  A similar NT product would cost 6000 dollars
and that is only for 25 people.  I guess my beef is that the consultants around
here think that this is the perfect solution, even better than anything that 
might be out there.


-- 
Andrew L. Davis					Network Operations
adavis@xxxxxxxxxx				ViperLink International
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