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Development Hardware Platform ....?

by GermanRaven
7 replies
Hi! I am an experienced architect/developer, but my time has been spent mostly on mainframes (many languages) and PC apps (MS Visual Studio [VB], VBA, Java). None in web development. However, with a pending job loss, I am anxious to build out some domains I've acquired over the past couple years. Towards that end, I'd like to create my development environment to replace my 5-year old desktop (Intel i7, 256GB SSD and 4TB SATA) with something that will best serve the purpose. Note that I also have a Windows Server 2008 on another (newer) PC. This system has *lots* of disk storage on a RAID that is accessible to the desktop.

I would want to be able to do all the typical development, including images/logos, article creation, custom programming, etc. Assume a hardware budget of about $2K, not counting external keyboard, monitors, mice or SATA drives (I have a couple 4TB drives that I can use, if appropriate). I've built all of my desktop and server systems for the past twenty years.

01. Displays: I think I want at least dual-display.
a. Agree, disagree?
b. Should one or more display be touch-screen (ie, is there any advantage for development or for testing designs)?
c. Suggested screen size?
d. Minimum resolution?
e. Connection type?

02. Laptop or Desktop: I'm considering starting the build with a laptop, thereby offering transport-ability if I have to travel or want to work in another room?
a. Agree, disagree?
b. If laptop, would the laptop display itself be one of the dual-displays, or would it be possible to have two identical displays side-by-side driven from the laptop without using the native display?

03. Windows Version: Should I have the latest Windows version, or stick with tried-and-true Windows 7?

04. RAM: Minimum RAM required?

05. Data Drives: Is it important that the data drive (other than the boot which will surely be SSD) be on the system, or is it ok to have it on my server (or perhaps a NAS)?

06. Boot Drives: If the boot is SSD, do you recommend that I have two on a RAID mirror?

I appreciate the advice to get me started down this path!
#desktop #development #hardware #laptop #platform
  • Profile picture of the author robomedia
    I think you really need to get Cray XK7 that will boost your productivity at least by 4x ... ok just kidding .
    I would say anything modern will work. Just stick to equipment you like working with the most ... or get a Mac
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  • Profile picture of the author GermanRaven
    I was thinking of something more on the lines of IBM's Watson ...
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  • Profile picture of the author wayfarer
    1. Agree: dual screen is helpful for development environment, if it's in your budget it's a good way to keep things organized without being too cluttered on one screen. I don't use it often enough myself, but really I should.

    2. I would definitely go with a laptop, it's easy to dual-screen for a bigger environment, but at the same time can be taken to a coffee shop if you need to get out of the house. You won't have the fun of building it yourself though. Desktops are faster and cheaper, so that's one consideration, though to me it hardly matters these days.

    3. I can't really comment on Windows version, as I develop everything on a Mac! It's easy to bootstrap with Windows if need be. I also recommend Virtualbox if you need to run Linux inside its own VM (it's free).

    4. I recommend 16 GB of RAM, especially if you're going to be running VMs.

    5. I personally run everything on one drive, with VMs. I do have an external backup drive however.

    6. No idea, I've never gotten that fancy. I'm sure you'll figure this out yourself
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  • Profile picture of the author GermanRaven
    Thanks for the input! Both comments mentioned a Mac ... that's a foreign environment to me. If I were to leave Windows behind (for the most part), I'd probably prefer to go with a Unix environment.

    I guess if I go with a laptop, it would have 16GB RAM, with dual *external* display ports and a large SSD (512GB minimum). Any more storage needed would come from my server. The drawback would be slower CPU and slower graphics -- I don't know how much these would matter. The advantage is portability.

    I'm not even sure that there *are* laptops with dual-external displays, but I'll look into it. If I can't find any, then I will revert to a desktop.

    Anyone care to comment on whether it is any advantage (for development or testing) to have one or more of the monitors to be touch-screen?

    Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author robomedia
    Mac is Unix(ish) .It's just the best of both worlds as you have all UNIX tools and commercial apps like adobe suite as well. Regarding touchscreen, .. Well if your going to build kiosk apps then it might be useful, but if not then probably having iPad, iPhone, Android tablet and Android phone is going to be better testing environment imo . I really think you are overcomplicating the decision. Any brand new Mac pro will suffice for years in web development. Any modern windows platform as well. Im pretty sure that the equipment you are currently using is good enough. It's really not the equipment that matters...( Thats what she said
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  • Profile picture of the author GermanRaven
    Thanks, robo ... that makes sense regarding the touch screen ... cheaper displays that way as well. Yes, my current desktop (though single display at the moment) would probably suffice to get started, but it is over 5 years old and I don't put a lot of confidence in a system that old to hold up. I am at a point where I can invest in a new system, so I am taking advantage of that to build/buy one that I'll be happy with for another 5 years. Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author wayfarer
    As previously mentioned, Mac is UNIX, its kernel is BSD UNIX. This makes the terminal much easier to use, and most of the commands that will work on say a Linux server, will also work on the Mac. This makes thing such as SSH much more straightforward.
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