 Number 202 - May 1999 |
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Ken Fermoyle
Ken Fermoyle is a member of the TUGNET user group in La Crescenta, California, and provides this column for APCUG-member user groups. You can reach Ken by e-mail at kfermoyle@earthlink.net |
Why I Like "Rolling Upgrades" | |
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In the past I've written about upgrades that make sense. This time I
will explain my approach to computer upgrades and how I revamped the Fermoyle office
system over a 15-month period. First, I believe in lagging various distances behind the cutting edge. Let early adopters and corporate users pay big bucks to buy (and find bugs in) the latest and greatest. Prices will drop as production and competition increase. Second, I believe in what Roger Radcliffe, one of TUGNET's most knowledgeable gurus, aptly describes as "rolling upgrades." This means upgrading in increments, as needed, instead of wholesale makeovers or buying entirely new systems. Need more speed? Add RAM. Hard disk getting full? Install a second hard drive. The trick is to try to buy components that will be compatible with the next enhancements you expect to make. This requires reasearch and may not always be possible, but make it your goal. We started our 15-month upgrade with three computers in January 1998. Number 1 was my 14-month-old, 166-MHz Pentium (a Micron ClientPro) with 32 MB of RAM, a 28.8 Kbps modem, and a 2.1 GB IDE hard drive. Number 2 was a 133-MHz Pentium in a full tower case with 32 MB RAM, a 33.6 Kbps modem, and a 2.3 GB IDE drive. Number 3 was a 100-MHz Pentium in a mid-tower case with 32 MB RAM, a 14.4 Kbps modem, and a 1.2 GB IDE drive. Number 2 had previously gone though rolling upgrades from a hot 386 in 1989 to a 486, then to a 133-MHz Pentium. Number 3 started life as a 386 in 1991 and had been upgraded with a new motherboard in 1995. Numbers 1 and 2 were directly connected (coax cable) in a peer-to-peer network. All had CD-ROM drives and 32 MB of RAM. Our peripherals included two scanners (Relisys Taurus SCSI flatbed acquired late in '97 and an older Hewlett-Packard (HP) sheetfed, grayscale ScanJet 4.2 with a parallel port interface), two printers (an HP LaserJet III and an HP 855Cse inkjet), a SyQuest 135 MB removable cartridge drive, a Casio QV100 digital camera (a 1996 Christmas present), and a couple of sets of inexpensive speakers. Now we have all the above, plus one new computer, in a peer-to-peer network using a LinkSys 5-port hub and Category 5 UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cables. Number 1 got a 6.4 GB Seagate UDMA hard drive. That worked so well and was so easy to install that I later (when prices dropped 10-15 percent) added a similar drive to Number 2. Then came a Super Woofer speaker system and 56 Kbps fax/modem for Number 1, and about mid-summer last year I upped the RAM to 64 MB and slipped in a 200-MHz WinChip CPU. Then came a windfall in the form of several freelance assignments, including one for PC World. At the same time, Ken's Korner was growing rapidly and I needed more resources to do research, check products and technologies, and store and keep track of data. So I decided to accelerate an upgrade of all our systems, compressing it into six months instead of spread over the year originally planned. |
Number 2, the one my
wife Liz uses for graphics and financial work, got a major upgrade, including a new Socket
7 ATX motherboard, a 225-MHz WinChip, a 56 Kbps fax/modem, a 32X CD-ROM drive replacing
the 8X unit, and 64 MB RAM. The motherboard needed a new case, so we scrapped the full
tower in favor of a midtower with a new power supply. Next I added a totally new computer to our group as a combination server and workstation. This new computer has a 300-MHz Pentium II with a ball-bearing fan, a BX motherboard, 64 MB SDRAM, a 6.4 GB Samsung hard drive, an AGP (advanced graphics port), a Trident 4 MB graphics card, a 36X CD-ROM drive, a 1.44 MB floppy drive, and an ATX midtower case. I use a KVM (keyboard, video display, mouse) switch to control the server and my Number 1 (Micron) computer. We use the server mainly to store files, for backup and for Office 97 Professional Edition, which can be run via the network from any of the other machines. The spare Number 3 computer got some major upgrades, too. It now has a new motherboard, a 300-MHz AMD K6-2 CPU, 64 MB RAM, a 24X CD-ROM drive, a 56 Kbps fax/modem, the 2.3 GB IDE drive taken from the Number 2 computer (for a total of 3.5 GB), a new keyboard, and a new mouse. I added a suitcase handle to the top of the midtower case so I can take it to meetings to show PowerPoint presentations or demos. It retains both 3.5" and 5.25" floppy drives so I can copy files archived on older disks to newer media. I added a Quicknet PhoneJack card and digital video camera so we can use this computer as a Net Telephony/video conferencing workstation. (Watch for a future article on this subject.) Computers 1, 2 and 3 each have an attached printer: Number one has an HP LaserJet III, Number 2 has an HP 722C inkjet printer, and Number 3 has an HP 855Cse inkjet. Any of our four computers can print to any of the printers via the network. We have speaker systems for all three of these computers, plus we have two microphones and a headset that we can plug in as needed. The networked system works great for our needs. Though this system is fairly extensive and more elaborate than many home offices--perhaps on a par with small businesses, whether run from home or a small office--it is not cutting edge by current standards. There are no Pentium III CPUs, no gigantic 12 to 18 GB UDMA drives and no T1 or cable modem access to the Interest (though we're hoping for an ADSL commection later this year). Liz doesn't do 3D graphics, we don't yet do any video editing or manipulate huge spreadsheets, and we don't play performance-hungry games, so the system serves our needs more than adequately. What are future plans? I intend to upgrade Liz's Number 2 computer to a 300-MHz CPU, maximum for the motherboard, and will replace her CD-ROM drive with either a CD-R or DVD drive. The Number 3 computer will get a 15" Super VGA monitor (to replace the current 14" VGA model) and an 8.4 GB UDMA hard drive (to replace the two smaller IDE drives). My Number 1 Micron computer likely will get a new motherboard and CPU within the next six to eight months The wish list include a new higher-resolution digital still camera. Beyond that, who knows? It depends on the budget, our growing needs, and price trends. We'll keep you posted! |
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| Number 202 - May 1999 |    |
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