Just a few thoughts on building yet another PC for Ramblin’ Dan’s Empire of computers. First, I don’t really NEED another computer. So why do I think about one? Just because I can I suppose. This means that it isn’t necessarily going to happen.
The thought came to mind because I could use some extra room in my office where the present Linux box resides. It is a large computer by today’s standard. I could use the extra space. But I don’t absolutely need it.
MAC-Mini
The one picture shows a little MAC-mini computer I bought way back in 2005. That’s the size I am considering. Intel makes one similar in size called the NUC. The other picture is the Linux box. Quite a bit bigger but runs very well and fast.
The big Linux box has a Terabyte drive in it, so it is useful for backup storage. I would probably lose that capacity in a smaller computer. Maybe, but also maybe not.
I would have to plan for another use for the old Linux box. I could place it on line somewhere as a network drive. Better yet, it would make a great web-server with Apache, MySQL and PHP installed on it. I could test run all my websites before going live.
The new PC could be a WIN10 system. I have to run the OS that runs the programs I need to use. I don’t really want another WIN10 system if I can avoid it.
My ham radio programs are mostly available in the Linux OS. The only one not available is the front end software for my FlexRadio SDR transceiver. I’ll probably be running that receiver off my Surface tablet using WIN10. That’s on my to-do list for testing.
Linux Sandbox
As I mentioned, the little Intel NUC computers are what I am looking at. There is a lot of good stuff in a small package. Except for reasonable cost Terabyte drives. I probably don’t NEED that big a drive. I have been using various large cloud storage systems and I have a two Terabyte NAS on my network that has plenty of space.
So, large drives in the single PC are not much of a requirement when cloud and network drives are available.
All my 3D printers need a computer from which they can be controlled and have the print software loaded. That is the main job for my present Linux box. I like running “live” from the computer using USB and not just letting the printers run stand-alone. However, stand-alone is the only way my Cetus FDM computer can operate. It is the exception.
If the mood strikes me to gain space on my desk by reducing the footprint of my present Linux box, I will already have a good plan on what it takes to do it.
Oh yeah; Another good reason is I just like to build up new computers that are different. Change is good for it own reasons. All the computers I own today (10) are completely adequate for the jobs they need to perform. Faster, bigger computers are no longer what I need. I need reliability more than anything else. They just need to keep working and doing their present functions. Maybe take up less space too.