Hello Dee,
Thanks for your response.
My comments are inline below.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "o1bigtenor" <[email protected]>
To: "Steve Petrie, P.Eng." <[email protected]>; "GTALUG Talk"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 12:15 PM
Subject: Re: [GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP
PC;
On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 9:47 AM, Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk
<[email protected]> wrote:
Warm Greetings To GTALUG,
BACKGROUND -- BUILDING DEBIAN 8 PC TO REPLACE WIN XP PC
I'm working to replace an old Dell Windows XP SP3 PC with a new PC,
booting
Debian Linux 8 as the primary OS, with Win 7 set up to run under QEMU
/ KVM
vbirtualization under Debian. A multi-boot setup will allow booting
Windows
7 (OEM) on bare metal, if required for occasional use. I definitely
am NOT
going to use MS Windows as the primary OS in my new desktop PC !!
I have almost no Linux / Unix experience. Some years ago doing
application
programming on IBM AIX / Korn shell and now for personal and business
uses,
getting into Debian Linux (and DragonFlyBSD) on cloud-hosted QEMU /
KVM
virtualization servers. However I do have a strong IT background.
(I'm a
"retired" software engineer).
I haven't run the QEMU/KVM VM setup you are talking about but I have
run
Oracle's VirtualBox VM setup. Not an expert by any stretch but have
found some
holes and some good things in VirtualBox (called VBox sometimes).
Would suggest
that you look into it for an idea. I have a Win7 iteration with it
having no network
connection or one might call it in an electronic jail.
Interesting about VirtualBox -- I like the idea of no network connection
for the virtualized Win7
Might help block Microsoft from trying to do a sneaky "upgrade" of the
Win 7 to Win 10.
This outrageous Microsoft arrogance (sneaky "upgrades") is another
reason why I am looking with great relief, to moving to the world of
Linux.
snip
-----------------
-----------------
CPU Intel 4-Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Processor, 64-bit, 6
MB
cache, max 32 GB RAM, HD graphics;
CPU Cooler Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler, height w/fan
158mm,
clears RAM & PCIe, PWM control;
Motherboard ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Mainboard, PCIe:
2x
3.0x16, 1x 2.0x16, 2x 2.0x1, 1x mini,
Ultra M.2 Gen3 8Gb/s x4 (uses 4x PCIe 3.0 CPU
socket
lanes), extra large heat sinks;
Memory Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 8GB (2x4GB)
DDR3-1600
RAM, 1.35 volt, timings 8-8-8-24;
would suggest going up a notch to 12 or better 16 GB of RAM - - - with
running
VMs RAM is a useful commodity!!
Good advice. Will likely take it.
-----------------
Case Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower
Case,
3-speed fan control (max 3 fans),
bays: fan 9, drive: 2x5.25", 8x3.5", 2xSSD, CPU
cooler
height max 180mm, 2 dust filters;
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified
Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply;
-----------------
Solid State Drive Samsung SM951 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive,
AHCI PCIe
Gen3 8Gb/s x4, 256 MB cache,
P/N MZHPV128HDGM;
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue Internal Hard Drive
750GB
3.5" 7200RPM 6Gb/s SATA 64MB cache;
Would suggest going larger on this as it would only be a few dollars
to go to
1 TB and not that much more to go to 2 TB. The sweet spot for hard
drives
IIRC is right around 3 TB (minimum cost per unit storage per dollar)
Good advice and I will likely take it.
Optical Drive LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer, SATA, 2/3/4
layers
(128GB), 4MB data buffer;
-----------------
Video Monitor LG 22MB35DM-I 21.5" Monitor Full HD 1080p
1920x1080 IPS
LED Back-lit, DVI-D, D-Sub,
contrast ratios: (static 1,000:1), (dynamic
5M:1),
reader mode, flicker-safe;
Would suggest running 2 of these - - - you'd find yourself wondering
how you
had done without before! (I'm running 4 (24") and wish I had the money
to add
the 5th!)
I envy you for your two big video monitors :)
Maybe if I win the lottery ...
Keyboard Dell SK-8110 PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Interface, Black,
DP/N
07N242, 104 keys,
cable with purple 6 pin mini-DIN male (PS/2
STYLE)
connector;
Have you ever considered an ergonomic keyboard?
Love mine and it makes typing fast much easier on the hands!!
I admit the Dell keyboard is absolutely barebones. I like it for the
PS/2 interface, which my Linux research indicates is the most robust
choice for down-and-dirty boot-time issues.
However, I will take your advice and reconsider.
snip
Dialup Modem US Robotics USR5638 56K* V.92, internal dial-up
faxmodem
card,
(PCIe) PCI Express x1;
Not sure how well this will work in a *nix system - - - would need to
verify that
drivers are available!!!
Point well taken.
Please see my detailed response to Giles Orr.
snip
For simplicity, I have omitted mention of: a SCSI controller, and a
SCSI
tape drive, and speakers. All of which I will acquire later, after
the base
PC is working.
Why would you want the tape drive - - - use the blueray - - - you have
125 GB of
room - - - even the 25 GB discs are almost cheap - - - that's lots of
work product
space!
I realize I can use the BluRay drive for backup. And will do so at
first.
Whenever I mention tape drives to my friends, they roll their eyes and
lecture me on how magnetic tape for backup is obsolete. My early IT days
were spent on IBM mainframes working for big companies (e.g. insurance).
These big players still use magnetic tape for very good reasons. I
believe that optical disks are more prone to degradation than is mag
tape media. And a mag tape is reuseable many many times. And I don't
like the idea of adding to the world's plastic waste load.
Currently on my existing Dell WinXP PC, I use a Seagate SCSI DAT drive
and an Adaptec SCSI card.
A DAT (DDS-4) cartridge holds 12 GB uncompressed. These tape cartridges
are very inexpensive.
I have configured the WinXP disk drive with 8 partitions (C: 15 GB; D:
... J: 10 GB; Total: 85 GB). C: has about 11 GB used. Total freespace on
the drive is about 24.5 GB. So a full backup is about 60 GB. For
simplicity, each disk partition full backup goes on a separate tape.
My backup scheme has me taking two full backups twice a year (each time
we do our spring & fall clock change). Each full backup takes 8 tapes,
one tape for each disk partition.. One full backup stays on-site, the
other full backup goes off-stte. These tapes get reused. But the rule is
that I always have one previous full backup intact while the next full
backup is being written. I always have one complete backup intact ALL
THE TIME (plus the last five incremental backups). So, even while
running the next full backup, there is always an intact full backup
available.Call me paranoid if you like.
Between the twice-yearly full backups, I run a daily incremental backup
that cycles through five (5) incremental backup tapes. The latest
incremental tape goes off-site. Call mde paranoid if you like.
My philosophy: If a PC does not have two compete disk backups, one
on-site and one off-site, at all times, that PC does not have a real
backup.
SCSI: You are correct that SCSI is (like dial-up) a dying technology.
But I like SCSI for it's rock-solid reliability as a tape backup
interface.
The problem with tape backup for PCs is that no manufacturer makes DAT
drives anymore. And even VGA tape drives (like I would like to use on
the new Linux PC) are not manufactured amy more. Only LTO tape drives
are available and LTO drives and tapes are too expensive for me. And the
large size of LTO cartridges makes than inconvenient for off-site
storage in a small box..
I will rework my backup cost estimate (including media cost) before I
decide on tape versus BluRay.
Dee
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