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Re: Trying to find a laptop to use as a server - difficult to find 802.11ac, SSD & 16Gb memory

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In message <7602db4a-0ef2-43ec-befd-4b25b8c940b7@googlegroups.com>
          Peter Brooks <peter.h.m.brooks@gmail.com> wrote:

> I need a machine to use as a pilot test machine for a new green-field set-up. I'll use the laptop as one of the main servers when the site starts - a laptop as a server makes sense, for a small <50 people site, as it's cheaper & smaller than most servers & has a battery.
>
> The specs I'm looking for are:
>
> 802.11ac - I need the speed & coverage area to share images (a big part of the work)
> 1000base-T LAN connection
> 16Gb main memory - I need multiple virtual machines for different software
> 1TB disc 7200RPM or greater or.. 1TB disc + 128GB internal SSD or.. 1TB disc + Thunderbolt for an external SSD
> Screen, keyboard etc don't matter, of course. I expect it to cost around £1500.
>
> I've been hunting all over the place, but this combination seems hard to find. I can find 1TB discs, but they're slow, at ~5000RPM, which will cause a peformance bottleneck.
>
> I could have an external router for the 802.11ac, but I'd rather use the machine as the main network server - if we had three laptops with 802.11ac strategically placed, we should be able to provide complete coverage of the space - one floor 50m x 40m.
>
> I could have less than 16Gb of main memory, but then a multiple virtual machine will be slow with all the swopping.
>
> I could have a USB 3.0 connection to external SSD, but that'd be half as fast, which seems pointless when you go to the trouble of having SSD.
>
> Any suggestions would be gratefully received!
>

I recently fixed a Toshiba X205 (dual) graphics card by liquid fluxing
and using a hot air gun for 50 - 60 secs on the masked graphics chips.

While working with this laptop I noticed that
The laptop can run headless without the graphic cards fitted.
The main cpu is a relatively cool device, the fan only starts at approx
45% cpu useage, and I had to view a utube to achieve that.

The graphics chips seem to be the hot spot, and the fans run
continuously.
From my observations, The X205 would be OK run continuously as a server
if it was headless and with the graphics cards removed.
Maybe there are laptops that have a power saving for graphics, but
in my experience, all modern graphics chips get hot even when doing
no real work, and there is going to be heat build-up and fans running
etc which would make it ultimately unreliable in comparison to a system
that can either option out the graphics, or if a graphics server is
required, a more accessible graphics cooling system used.

The X205 is my first laptop, so please listen to others on the matter.

Ron M.

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Trying to find a laptop to use as a server - difficult to find 802.11ac, SSD & 16Gb memory Peter Brooks <peter.h.m.brooks@gmail.com> - 2013-10-27 23:11 -0700
  Re: Trying to find a laptop to use as a server - difficult to find 802.11ac, SSD & 16Gb memory "~misfit~" <shaun.at.pukekohe@gmail.com> - 2013-10-31 13:32 +1300
  Re: Trying to find a laptop to use as a server - difficult to find 802.11ac, SSD & 16Gb memory Ron <beeb@woosh.co.nz> - 2013-11-14 11:00 +1300

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