His statement implies that only if one assumes that all comparisons are to oneself.
My guess is that he was comparing Apple's actual knowledge to what they could/should know, rather than comparing Apple's knowledge with his own.
So you're pointing out that you can't understand the troll's posts any better than the rest of the posts? For RATIONAL people, it was very clear what he was saying.
So you're pointing out that you can't understand the troll's posts any better than the rest of the posts? For RATIONAL people, it was very clear what he was saying.
Figures that you're confused.
I guess I need someone to tell me the definition of "troll."
Could someone please tell me what "troll" means now? I've been tagged a troll, myself, but don't yet know how to take it until someone gives me the definition of the term.
I used to understand it.
I have been online since before an ISP served my area. I was left with the regrettable choice of the EXPENSIVE AOL ("Artwork loading...").
Back in the day, the term "troll" needed no qualification.
Without the need to say so, trolls were "PC trolls."
They were chest-thumping Windows sectarians who would spend endless time in Mac-oriented forums trashing Macs as much as their users.
I never responded to trolls (before the term needed qualification), because they spent so much time and effort in Mac forums bleating inartful prose like, "MACS SUCK!"
I concluded that if they were devoting so much time and effort trolling Mac forums, they must be inherently insecure about their computing platform. "Methinks thou doth protest too much."
I surmise they were in a frantic state because in the backs of their minds, they knew Macs were superior -- if not in raw megahertz clock speed, then in ease-of-use and productivity.
So I never engaged them.
It was rare that a troll (as I used to understand the term) would offer any intelligent evidence for just why Windows PCs were superior to Macs; they simply resorted to boorish epithets and insults of Mac users.
Yet, so many Mac posters dove at the bait and made a futile effort to engage these trolls who offered no factual information that one could intelligently rebut.
If today I were such a troll -- I guess it now needs qualification, so a "PC troll" -- I might point to the fact that Windows PCs afford the use of dual, identical graphics cards whose power can be combined by software technologies like nVIDIA's SLI and ATi's Crossfire.
I have no choice but to concede that because of the PCIe ports in Mac Pros and the limited number of lanes of these PCIe ports, I cannot put two identical graphics cards inside my Mac Pro and avail myself of SLI or Crossfire. Further, Mac Pro power supplies cannot handle the power requirements necessary to operate two graphics cards simultaneously.
The above hypothetical statement is a far cry from, "MACS SUCK!"
Now in Mac forums, when one poster disagrees with another poster's point, which has the audacity to find fault with Apple in any way, or suggest that the company is imperfect, they are not challenged on the basis of their constructive criticism, they are merely called names -- like trolls.
There are posters poised to pounce the instant someone posts something barely resembling a criticism of Apple. There is a zero percent tolerance for any hint of criticism of Apple.
Well I'd like to ask such people, Are they currently using Apple's round "hockey puck" mouse?
Have they ever found a scintilla of fault in Apple's App Store approval process?
If an Apple-made software app (e.g. Safari) crashes, and Mac OS X's bug reporting pane comes up should you NOT click the "Report" button? If the bug-reporting pane asks you to describe anything that might have led up to the crash, should a good, loyal, "non-troll" Apple loyalist type: "No problems here! Everything's hunky-dory! Keep up the good work!" (Cut-and-paste if you like.)
Is this helping Apple?
Apple provides these software bug-reporting features for a reason -- millions of Mac users act as "field testers" helping Apple to identify bugs so they can fix them and improve their products.
It IS possible to be 100% loyal to Apple and its products AND offer constructive criticism at the same time. In fact, everyone knows what a "Yes Man" is and how yes men in the end do harm rather than good.
Remember the children's tale about the Emperor who had no clothes, who marched naked in a parade, but not ONE person dared to point it out to him? Did their inaction serve to enhance his dignity? Would they have served him better by pointing out his <ahem> "flaw"?
I am among the most longtime and loyal customers Apple has ever had. I also spare them no criticism when they do something I think shows them to be out-of-touch with customer wants and needs (or could put them at a competitive disadvantage).
Apple is not famous for their sensitivity to criticisms and calls for change from their loyal customer base. If they DO correct an issue at hand, it comes only after the outcry has reached a deafening din.
So, to avoid the name-calling, and avoid being blacklisted as a troll, should all those Mac loyalists who loudly complained about the early iMac's round, "hockey puck" mouse have kept their mouths shut instead?
Should they have continued to suffer with the round mouse while repeating the mantra, "Apple knows best...Apple knows best..."
It is an irrefutable fact that sometimes, muting one's criticism actually results in harm to a company and its products. So a 100% loyal Apple customer who offers criticism may actually be doing the company good, and possibly helping to a tiny degree to push its stock up to the $275/share range.
Apple can't assess customer wants, needs, complaints and bugs that Apple should know about so they can address them, unless they know about them! Unless their most loyal customers are willing to offer them constructive (and I underscore "constructive") criticism -- oh, and be willing to be tagged a troll in an Apple forum for doing so.
defender
Viva Mac!
P.S. Still today, to me, "troll" does not need qualification. To me a troll is an insecure Windows PC owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is.
I get a kick out of people who slag on the mini server over the lack of RAID 5 back up. I know of exactly one practice that has a RAID 5 set up. Almost everyone else has a *tape* back up DR system. That's what I had in my last system. It was quite revealing when we sent the tape back ups in and found that many were not even useable back ups of the data. My current set up is much more redundant than any set up I've ever had.
I'm not slagging it, all I have said is if you are willing to run your business on a Mac Mini then good luck, it may run fine, you may never have an issues with it, I just hope all the contingencies are in place in case something does happen.
Me, I'd rather buy an extra mini or simply run with the risk of a hardware failure than buy Ubuntu Support from Canonical. The RH guys are simply better at that than Canonical (and yeah, I have the T-shirt) and OSX a much more user friendly server OS for a small shop without a unix weenie.
That may very well be so, but you also have a couple of issues
1. Depending on your location the Mac Mini Server isn't that cheap
2. If you are a small shop, you either have to do all the support yourself, or you get someone in. If you do it yourself, what happens when you are sick or dead. If you get someone in, what is it going to be easier to get, Windows, Linux, or Mac knowledgable people? (and yes I have them in that order for a reason).
At the end of the day it really depends on how much you depend on your IT systems, if you can cope with losing your server for a week, then it doesn't really matter what you get.
I guess I need someone to tell me the definition of "troll."
Could someone please tell me what "troll" means now? I've been tagged a troll, myself, but don't yet know how to take it until someone gives me the definition of the term.
There is a simple definition on this site (others will vary), just remember if you either...
1. Disagree with anything (and I mean anything) Apple does, or
2. You disagree with anyone (and I mean anyone) on this site
There is a simple definition on this site (others will vary), just remember if your either...
1. Disagree with anything (and I mean anything) Apple does, or
2. You disagree with anyone (and I mean anyone) on this site
you will be classed as a troll.
Jfanning,
Thanks so much for your helpful definition! I thought that's what it was.
Apple is unerring and infallible and cannot benefit from the feedback and input of its loyal base.
Bringing a software or hardware bug to Apple's attention, or offering any sort of constructive criticism designed entirely to help Apple by bringing to their attention matters they may not be aware of and would readily want to address is sheer TREACHERY!
I certainly don't EVER want to be called a troll, so I'll change my behavior. Mao -- I mean Apple, is unerring and flawless, and clicking the "Report" button on the pane that appears after an app crashes is something I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN!
Apple is miles above bugs or product flaws. People who didn't buy a G4 Cube, Flower Power iMac or the lamp shade iMac were just too stupid: NOT-APPLE'S-FAULT.
Apple is my feudal lord and master, and I offer my fealty as a vassal and pay homage to my lord.
That may very well be so, but you also have a couple of issues
1. Depending on your location the Mac Mini Server isn't that cheap
Very true. I have no visibility into asian or european prices other than what is posted on AI. Yes, it's bad to have a US focus on the internet...on the other hand, it is Apple's home market.
Quote:
2. If you are a small shop, you either have to do all the support yourself, or you get someone in. If you do it yourself, what happens when you are sick or dead. If you get someone in, what is it going to be easier to get, Windows, Linux, or Mac knowledgable people? (and yes I have them in that order for a reason).
If I'm dead I no longer care the state of my servers.
The non-glib response is that there appears to be Apple business support companies around. Also, OSX server is Unix so any unix/linux weenie will be able to figure it out with the help of a couple books and the IT videos on iTunesU (may require ADC or even Premier ADC membership).
There wasn't an IT track this year at WWDC but there has been in the past and there was a lot of stuff in 2008.
I'm no IT guy but I bet I could figure most things out with my base Unix knowledge, Mac forums and a couple books like Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server For Dummies and Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.6: A Guide to Using and Supporting Mac OS X Server v10.6.
Interesting enough, the Apple Training Series is on Kindle...I hope they are on iBooks too.
Quote:
At the end of the day it really depends on how much you depend on your IT systems, if you can cope with losing your server for a week, then it doesn't really matter what you get.
If the receptionist (or whomever) has a mini the down time will be the time to restore from CCC/SD backup. That's why I suggest having the receptionist machine be a mini with a 500GB drive. Then when the replacement mini server arrives you restore onto the new server and swap then restore the workstation mini from backups.
Okay, maybe not the receptionist since you probably don't want that machine down either but essentially you want to replace one iMac somewhere in your setup with a Mini. That might just be the machine the dentist uses at home but this is simply not a show stopper with a little planning.
Mini server, mini for receptionist, ipads for nurses and doctor and mini with external drive at the doctor's home office that is swapped weekly for an identical drive at the office used for CCC/SD/TimeMachine. If you really want you can use CrashPlan for more $$$.
That gives you offsite DR for both hardware and software and 2 minis available for swaps.
My dentist uses a digital xray and looks at the images on a laptop. I figure the iPad is probably good enough for that.
So, has anyone actually bought one of these things yet? Can it be booted into 64 bit mode? To my knowledge, no version of the mini to date has been successfully booted into 64 bit mode but maybe this is the first.
I have one and yes it can boot in to K64. I also had a 2009 Mac Mini and it couldn't, so you are right this is the first K64 Mac Mini.
Did anyone notice the model name in System Profiler is not "Mac mini" but "Mac mini aluminum?" I wonder if they were originally going to market it under this name?
Did anyone notice the model name in System Profiler is not "Mac mini" but "Mac mini aluminum?" I wonder if they were originally going to market it under this name?
I doubt it. "Aluminum" is not part of a product brand name that would be especially inspirational (at least to me).
Plus, Jony Ive pronounces it "Alu-min-ium."
Maybe a precious metal like Platinum could have been used, or even Titanium.
But aluminum? I'm about to go unwrap a chicken leg in my refrigerator that is wrapped in alu-min-ium.
Apple doesn't really change their product names, but gives them designations intended to identify them if you were, say, searching for a Knowledge Base article pertaining to your specific Mac model.
So we've seen designations -- not product names -- like "Power Mac G4 AGP graphics."
"iMac slot-loading optical drive," "Power Mac mirrored drive doors," etc.
I buy every new model of Mac Pro every year. When the usual refresh date passed this year (March), I had no idea when the 2010 Mac Pro would come out, yet -- not just rumor sites -- but the more official C|Net was reporting its imminent release and that it would be a dual-chip hexacore Mac, making it a dodecahedron Mac Pro, and I was very anxious for its release.
But with Apple's attitude toward the Mac these days, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they discontinue the niche-oriented, low volume-selling Mac Pro and steer their pro customers to something that would be called the iMac Pro -- aimed at creative professionals -- but with all the expandability limits of an iMac. (Steve STILL has a bias against "open hardware" computers, and continues to fight against things like upgrade slots with the same fervor as he did in 1975 or so. Woz won out, and the Apple // had expansion slots. SJ's dream of an "appliance computer" is as alive in his mind as ever. If Macs have upgrade abilities, he doesn't approve of them, he "tolerates" them. I'm guessing that Tim Cook persuades him to finally say, "OoooohKaaaaaay.. to internal expandability. If true, thank God for Tim Cook!)
I hope Apple doesn't go this route, because I want my PCIe slots, ample hard drive bays, ample RAM module slots, perpetually swappable graphics cards (which, if OpenCL is actually adopted by a good number of developers, a major GPU card upgrade could almost amount to a processor upgrade. Sweeeeeet!)
I just hope that the article does not refer to a decision Intel made yesterday. I hope Intel's realization/decision occurred many months ago.
Because starting from zero, they'd have to redesign the chip for ten cores, test it, fab it, and put it into mass production before Apple could even think about using it in the next version of the Mac Pro.
That could take many months, which probably means next year.
P.S. Still today, to me, "troll" does not need qualification. To me a troll is an insecure Windows PC owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is.
That's close, but in the 21st century, you have to modify that to say "a troll is an insecure Windows PC OR ANDROID OR ZUNE OR MICROSOFT COURIER (oops) owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is."
That's close, but in the 21st century, you have to modify that to say "a troll is an insecure Windows PC OR ANDROID OR ZUNE OR MICROSOFT COURIER (oops) owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is."
Thanks, jragosta,
But that still doesn't explain why I"VE been branded a troll.
I have never owned a computer made buy a company other than Apple. As a precocious wee boy, I lobbied, tricked, pressured, rationalized, nagged and finally got my parents, who grew up during the depression (and you know all that that entails for the rest of such people's lives) to buy me an Apple //e which I promised them would have a direct causal relationship in lifting the poor grades I was getting on my report cards.
Every Apple computer I've owned had internal expandability, including card slots. I didn't initially buy the earlier Macs, but one came out that was not a tower (I forget the model name; IIcxi?), yet was designed to be opened and had slots to add cards, space to upgrade the hard drive, slots to add RAM, etc. Plus it had color!
Ever since, I insist on owning the most powerful model Mac Apple makes (even when my current Mac Pro is MORE THAN suiting my present needs). Irrationally and without reason, I will buy each year's newly released top-of-the-line Mac Pro.
I've paid for every version of Mac OS X Apple has sold (and Mac OS 9, 8, System 7, etc. before that).
I paid the whopping price for Final Cut Studio. I bought Aperture, and have paid the upgrade price for iLife several times.
I signed up for "iTools" the instant it was available, and paid the $99 each year after it became .Mac, then paid $99 for MobileMe every year and to this day. (With the extra iDisk space I paid for and the additional email addresses I paid for, that adds up to over $800! That puts some perspective on things! No wonder Apple's stock is around $275 a share!)
I also own AAPL shares -- but nothing to write home about.
Between products and software and services, I've transferred well over $100,000 of my cash to Apple's bank account.
My point is, as Apple loyalists go, I'm in the upper echelons -- definitely.
I'm a "Power User" and a frequent user of unintuitive keyboard shortcuts, etc., but when I sit down in front of a Windows PC, I find myself totally lost. I quickly descend from computer expert to vacuous ninny.
So if "troll" (a term I used to understand) includes such an Apple loyalist that I am, I would protest.
Because when a REAL troll appears on the scene, the epithet will have a cloudy meaning. Other posters won't know he's a REAL troll, because the term has been made so ambiguous.
"Troll" is being causally thrown around in Mac forums and is being regularly misapplied to Apple loyalists who happen to have certain grievances. That doesn't make them less loyal.
The non-glib response is that there appears to be Apple business support companies around. Also, OSX server is Unix so any unix/linux weenie will be able to figure it out with the help of a couple books and the IT videos on iTunesU (may require ADC or even Premier ADC membership).
There wasn't an IT track this year at WWDC but there has been in the past and there was a lot of stuff in 2008.
If they are an external person I hope you are not paying them for the time it takes them to learn how to fix your issue...
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
If the receptionist (or whomever) has a mini the down time will be the time to restore from CCC/SD backup. That's why I suggest having the receptionist machine be a mini with a 500GB drive. Then when the replacement mini server arrives you restore onto the new server and swap then restore the workstation mini from backups.
Okay, maybe not the receptionist since you probably don't want that machine down either but essentially you want to replace one iMac somewhere in your setup with a Mini. That might just be the machine the dentist uses at home but this is simply not a show stopper with a little planning.
You want them to bring in their home computer if they have an issue at work?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
Mini server, mini for receptionist, ipads for nurses and doctor and mini with external drive at the doctor's home office that is swapped weekly for an identical drive at the office used for CCC/SD/TimeMachine. If you really want you can use CrashPlan for more $$$.
That gives you offsite DR for both hardware and software and 2 minis available for swaps.
Wow, they can't afford some RAID 5 for their server but they can afford to be fitted out with that that "luxury" equipment, and the cost associated with having a number of spares sitting around, glad to see they have their priorities right...
CrashPlan?? Is that some US based thing?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
My dentist uses a digital xray and looks at the images on a laptop. I figure the iPad is probably good enough for that.
Again, they can afford to purchase a digitaling imaging system, but they can't afford to purchase additional drive arrays? How many of these x-rays can they store on the Mac Mini Servers 500GB drive?
My dentist doesn't have any computers in her surgery room.
The non-glib response is that there appears to be Apple business support companies around. Also, OSX server is Unix so any unix/linux weenie will be able to figure it out with the help of a couple books...
But that still doesn't explain why I"VE been branded a troll.
Actually, in spite of my sarcastic comment, a troll is defined as a person who frequents forums like this with the intention of stirring up trouble. They typically take extreme, often indefensible positions and then dance and dodge and avoid rational discussion, simply throwing out nonsequitors to keep people off their trail. That is the sense that I use 'troll'.
Of course, there are the true trolls who call anyone who corners them a 'troll' - it's part of their defense mechanism.
Actually, in spite of my sarcastic comment, a troll is defined as a person who frequents forums like this with the intention of stirring up trouble. They typically take extreme, often indefensible positions and then dance and dodge and avoid rational discussion, simply throwing out nonsequitors to keep people off their trail. That is the sense that I use 'troll'.
Of course, there are the true trolls who call anyone who corners them a 'troll' - it's part of their defense mechanism.
jragosta,
Funny, your expanded definition of troll describes exactly some of the (unnamed) people whose knee-jerk response is to call someone in here a troll !
For a looooong time, starting with even Gil Amelio (who must have been pretty lonely to reply to my emails), I've had a correspondence relationship with some key Apple people who give earnest, direct replies. (Never have I asked one of them, nor would I expect one, to provide me with non-public, proprietary information. I exercise great care not to spoil the relationship.)
But one time, I suggested a feature (or maybe a bug fix -- although a UI misbehavior isn't really a "bug" per se) because it was a source of interference when I was using my Mac. The Apple person replied that they needed a critical mass of people asking for the same thing, and they weren't going to make the change based on the request of one person.
Totally reasonable. And it also accounts somewhat for my actions in Mac forums.
So as someone who would not want to be responsible for one lost sale by Apple, I sometimes comment on Mac message boards in hopes that more people than just me may contact Apple requesting the same fix, change or added feature.
Plus, I have an (unimpressive) number of shares of AAPL and would want to do nothing to cause a fall in their price per share.
If someone agrees with a feature request I present in these forums, or agrees with a positive change in the UI or the behavior of an Apple app (or Mac OS X), and decides to use the feedback mechanism at apple.com, that's great.
But I'm hands off -- I never pressure anyone. If they happen to agree and make the effort to communicate the matter to Apple, Good Deal; if they don't agree with me, so be it.
You were speaking generally, and I don't think you were referring to me specifically, but if you were, I'd be curious to know of an example of a non sequitur in any of my writings.
And if "stirring up trouble" equates to dissuading someone from buying a Mac, I want no part of it and don't think I've ever done so. I've successfully passed through the phase in life where I was interested in stirring up trouble back when I broke my last street lamp.
No, my aims in participating in Mac forums are pretty uneventful. Rather than keep it a secret, I may try to draw to the attention of fellow Mac users an issue I feel Apple should be aware of, and if I'm lucky, more than just I will contact Apple about the issue. If they are unimpressed, I may go into further detail in an effort to be more convincing and hopefully inspire positive action (hopefully).
If that triggers whatever triggers someone being added to the iniquitous blacklist of trolls, I don't mind.
Sorry if my motives for participating in Mac forums are boring or lack drama, but they're nothing more than that.
If you DO want drama, I'll give it my best shot. Hope it is to your satisfaction:
Remember, if you want to consider yourself a loyal customer of Apple, Inc., when an important issue arises with an Apple product that if addressed by Apple's immeasurably capable software and hardware engineers (including many PhDs), IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, it is your duty to bring the issue to Apple's attention. They may not know about it, and might be very grateful that you told them about it. If it is a software bug that is fixed, the more stable software product will be a better reflection on the brand and its reputation for quality.
That's how Apple knows. Without our feedback, they don't know.
So bravely risk being indelibly tattooed on the forehead as a troll, and courageously call to Apple's attention bugs, UI quirks, features that would improve their products, which in turn would improve the reputation of the company and their products.
Yes, a couple of books based on what I've seen of SLS and the general needs of a small office. I'm not expecting to be able to do a fortune 500 enterprise deployment on a couple minis...
Yes, a couple of books based on what I've seen of SLS and the general needs of a small office. I'm not expecting to be able to do a fortune 500 enterprise deployment on a couple minis...
Yeah, I hear ya. Point taken.
It's just that I've had a different experience.
Knowing that Unix is the beating heart of Mac OS X (and an important person at Apple responded to a question I posed to him by assuring me that Mac OS X IS Unix, no matter how many countless times the technology press calls it "Unix-like, but not Unix." He or she wrote that the Unix layer of Mac OS X meets and often exceeds many, many standards that must be met for an OS to be called a "Unix" -- without qualification -- but I digress), and I realize that an even smaller heart beats at the heart of the heart of Mac OS X, I decided to shop for a book to familiarize myself with Unix.
I could find no books on the topic of Unix that were fewer than 900 pages. As opposed to being critical, I was VERY impressed with the authors (usually one per book) for having such vast and accurate knowledge they could parlay into a lucrative book.
I figured that if an author of a Unix book completed three pages a day (because some of the page layouts were rather complex and reflected the expenditure of time), he would complete a 900+ page Unix book in about a year. But astonishingly, they churned out these high-quality books in like three months!
I say "high-quality" because all such books I perused in the book store bore the highest quality. Dry passages of text were interspersed with diagrams or illustration or text boxes explaining something in more detail, or interesting information printed in the margins.
No, the pages didn't resemble the pages of the Bible at all.
Plus, you can't write a Unix book of any quality unless you possess knowledge of teaching methodology and how people learn.
The chapters showed careful organization so that the author wouldn't get ahead of himself (and leave the "learner" behind). That obviously took some time and effort.
Then there were incredibly comprehensive glossaries and 25-page indexes that went far above and beyond the call of duty for an index.
It's just that all of these books encompassed all that could possibly be said about Unix. And I'm not good at reading computer books unless I'm seated in front of a computer. Reading them in the abstract -- I'm lost. (That's why I love Adobe's "Classroom in a Book" series.)
I suspected that some books set out to be limited in scope, but the author constantly found himself saying, "Oops! I can't tell him about this until I first tell him about that."
Like trying to write a Calculus book for people who have never studied Algebra.
And that process is how these Unix tomes wound up so gargantuan.
If you can recommend me a "primer-like" Unix book I would appreciate it.
If they are an external person I hope you are not paying them for the time it takes them to learn how to fix your issue...
Having been a consultant there's a bit of OJT going on all the time. If you tell the client that you aren't an expert in something but they want you anyway for whatever reason then learning as you go is expected.
As I said, I don't believe that any competent unix admin would have any problems figuring out SLS for a small doctor's office.
You also seem to ignore that there are dedicated professional Apple IT consultants out there already. Apple has a web site that enables you find some in your local area.
You want them to bring in their home computer if they have an issue at work?
The receptionist machine is not a home computer. Neither is the doctor's computer despite the fact it's his/her home office.
Quote:
Wow, they can't afford some RAID 5 for their server but they can afford to be fitted out with that that "luxury" equipment, and the cost associated with having a number of spares sitting around, glad to see they have their priorities right...
Nobody I know would recommend RAID 5 for any semi-important array.
I wouldn't even use RAID 5 for my movie library because of the insane amount of time it would take to re-rip all the DVDs.
RAID 10 is pretty much the minimum requirement (maybe RAID 6). The reconstruction time for a RAID 5 array would cancel any cost savings over RAID 10 in a recovery event.
Given the requirements of a doctor's office RAID 1 of the primary system drives in the server and daily incremental backups of external storage drive(s) with one cold spare is lower complexity than a RAID 5 setup and just as reliable. Reconstruction of a single drive from backup to the cold spare is faster than reconstructing a RAID 5 array and easier to do.
I'd do it this way with HPs or Minis.
Other than using Apple gear instead of HP gear I'm not getting the luxury argument. We're looking at around $5-6K total for 3 minis, 3 iPads, 1 TC and some external drives. This is assuming that the client software is available for the iPads which isn't likely today but swapping these out for low end iMacs ups the price to around $7-8K not including software.
Wanna bet the medical office software licenses cost more than $7K?
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CrashPlan?? Is that some US based thing?
CrashPlan is automatic remote backup and restore software. For consumers it also can back up to their servers like Carbonite. We use CrashPlan Pro for our needs.
if I had a RAID 10 array I'd probably spring for CrashPlan Pro and do remote backup to a second array in the doctor's home. For a cheap setup I'd use two Synology arrays. As long as the ISP doesn't start throttling anyway.
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Again, they can afford to purchase a digitaling imaging system, but they can't afford to purchase additional drive arrays? How many of these x-rays can they store on the Mac Mini Servers 500GB drive?
My dentist doesn't have any computers in her surgery room.
You're pretty fixated on drive arrays and I'm not sure why. It isn't a panacea and just another tool in the tool box.
If medical imaging is a requirement then a RAID 10 or 6 array might be desired. It depends on how long it needs to be kept whether keeping the film or the digital copy is better.
Comments
His statement implies that only if one assumes that all comparisons are to oneself.
My guess is that he was comparing Apple's actual knowledge to what they could/should know, rather than comparing Apple's knowledge with his own.
So you're pointing out that you can't understand the troll's posts any better than the rest of the posts? For RATIONAL people, it was very clear what he was saying.
Figures that you're confused.
So you're pointing out that you can't understand the troll's posts any better than the rest of the posts? For RATIONAL people, it was very clear what he was saying.
Figures that you're confused.
I guess I need someone to tell me the definition of "troll."
Could someone please tell me what "troll" means now? I've been tagged a troll, myself, but don't yet know how to take it until someone gives me the definition of the term.
I used to understand it.
I have been online since before an ISP served my area. I was left with the regrettable choice of the EXPENSIVE AOL ("Artwork loading...").
Back in the day, the term "troll" needed no qualification.
Without the need to say so, trolls were "PC trolls."
They were chest-thumping Windows sectarians who would spend endless time in Mac-oriented forums trashing Macs as much as their users.
I never responded to trolls (before the term needed qualification), because they spent so much time and effort in Mac forums bleating inartful prose like, "MACS SUCK!"
I concluded that if they were devoting so much time and effort trolling Mac forums, they must be inherently insecure about their computing platform. "Methinks thou doth protest too much."
I surmise they were in a frantic state because in the backs of their minds, they knew Macs were superior -- if not in raw megahertz clock speed, then in ease-of-use and productivity.
So I never engaged them.
It was rare that a troll (as I used to understand the term) would offer any intelligent evidence for just why Windows PCs were superior to Macs; they simply resorted to boorish epithets and insults of Mac users.
Yet, so many Mac posters dove at the bait and made a futile effort to engage these trolls who offered no factual information that one could intelligently rebut.
If today I were such a troll -- I guess it now needs qualification, so a "PC troll" -- I might point to the fact that Windows PCs afford the use of dual, identical graphics cards whose power can be combined by software technologies like nVIDIA's SLI and ATi's Crossfire.
I have no choice but to concede that because of the PCIe ports in Mac Pros and the limited number of lanes of these PCIe ports, I cannot put two identical graphics cards inside my Mac Pro and avail myself of SLI or Crossfire. Further, Mac Pro power supplies cannot handle the power requirements necessary to operate two graphics cards simultaneously.
The above hypothetical statement is a far cry from, "MACS SUCK!"
Now in Mac forums, when one poster disagrees with another poster's point, which has the audacity to find fault with Apple in any way, or suggest that the company is imperfect, they are not challenged on the basis of their constructive criticism, they are merely called names -- like trolls.
There are posters poised to pounce the instant someone posts something barely resembling a criticism of Apple. There is a zero percent tolerance for any hint of criticism of Apple.
Well I'd like to ask such people, Are they currently using Apple's round "hockey puck" mouse?
Have they ever found a scintilla of fault in Apple's App Store approval process?
If an Apple-made software app (e.g. Safari) crashes, and Mac OS X's bug reporting pane comes up should you NOT click the "Report" button? If the bug-reporting pane asks you to describe anything that might have led up to the crash, should a good, loyal, "non-troll" Apple loyalist type: "No problems here! Everything's hunky-dory! Keep up the good work!" (Cut-and-paste if you like.)
Is this helping Apple?
Apple provides these software bug-reporting features for a reason -- millions of Mac users act as "field testers" helping Apple to identify bugs so they can fix them and improve their products.
It IS possible to be 100% loyal to Apple and its products AND offer constructive criticism at the same time. In fact, everyone knows what a "Yes Man" is and how yes men in the end do harm rather than good.
Remember the children's tale about the Emperor who had no clothes, who marched naked in a parade, but not ONE person dared to point it out to him? Did their inaction serve to enhance his dignity? Would they have served him better by pointing out his <ahem> "flaw"?
I am among the most longtime and loyal customers Apple has ever had. I also spare them no criticism when they do something I think shows them to be out-of-touch with customer wants and needs (or could put them at a competitive disadvantage).
Apple is not famous for their sensitivity to criticisms and calls for change from their loyal customer base. If they DO correct an issue at hand, it comes only after the outcry has reached a deafening din.
So, to avoid the name-calling, and avoid being blacklisted as a troll, should all those Mac loyalists who loudly complained about the early iMac's round, "hockey puck" mouse have kept their mouths shut instead?
Should they have continued to suffer with the round mouse while repeating the mantra, "Apple knows best...Apple knows best..."
It is an irrefutable fact that sometimes, muting one's criticism actually results in harm to a company and its products. So a 100% loyal Apple customer who offers criticism may actually be doing the company good, and possibly helping to a tiny degree to push its stock up to the $275/share range.
Apple can't assess customer wants, needs, complaints and bugs that Apple should know about so they can address them, unless they know about them! Unless their most loyal customers are willing to offer them constructive (and I underscore "constructive") criticism -- oh, and be willing to be tagged a troll in an Apple forum for doing so.
defender
Viva Mac!
P.S. Still today, to me, "troll" does not need qualification. To me a troll is an insecure Windows PC owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is.
I get a kick out of people who slag on the mini server over the lack of RAID 5 back up. I know of exactly one practice that has a RAID 5 set up. Almost everyone else has a *tape* back up DR system. That's what I had in my last system. It was quite revealing when we sent the tape back ups in and found that many were not even useable back ups of the data. My current set up is much more redundant than any set up I've ever had.
I'm not slagging it, all I have said is if you are willing to run your business on a Mac Mini then good luck, it may run fine, you may never have an issues with it, I just hope all the contingencies are in place in case something does happen.
$1,019 for a new Mini and next day shipping?
Me, I'd rather buy an extra mini or simply run with the risk of a hardware failure than buy Ubuntu Support from Canonical. The RH guys are simply better at that than Canonical (and yeah, I have the T-shirt) and OSX a much more user friendly server OS for a small shop without a unix weenie.
That may very well be so, but you also have a couple of issues
1. Depending on your location the Mac Mini Server isn't that cheap
2. If you are a small shop, you either have to do all the support yourself, or you get someone in. If you do it yourself, what happens when you are sick or dead. If you get someone in, what is it going to be easier to get, Windows, Linux, or Mac knowledgable people? (and yes I have them in that order for a reason).
At the end of the day it really depends on how much you depend on your IT systems, if you can cope with losing your server for a week, then it doesn't really matter what you get.
I guess I need someone to tell me the definition of "troll."
Could someone please tell me what "troll" means now? I've been tagged a troll, myself, but don't yet know how to take it until someone gives me the definition of the term.
There is a simple definition on this site (others will vary), just remember if you either...
1. Disagree with anything (and I mean anything) Apple does, or
2. You disagree with anyone (and I mean anyone) on this site
you will be classed as a troll.
There is a simple definition on this site (others will vary), just remember if your either...
1. Disagree with anything (and I mean anything) Apple does, or
2. You disagree with anyone (and I mean anyone) on this site
you will be classed as a troll.
Jfanning,
Thanks so much for your helpful definition! I thought that's what it was.
Apple is unerring and infallible and cannot benefit from the feedback and input of its loyal base.
Bringing a software or hardware bug to Apple's attention, or offering any sort of constructive criticism designed entirely to help Apple by bringing to their attention matters they may not be aware of and would readily want to address is sheer TREACHERY!
I certainly don't EVER want to be called a troll, so I'll change my behavior. Mao -- I mean Apple, is unerring and flawless, and clicking the "Report" button on the pane that appears after an app crashes is something I WILL NEVER DO AGAIN!
Apple is miles above bugs or product flaws. People who didn't buy a G4 Cube, Flower Power iMac or the lamp shade iMac were just too stupid: NOT-APPLE'S-FAULT.
Apple is my feudal lord and master, and I offer my fealty as a vassal and pay homage to my lord.
Viva Apple!
That may very well be so, but you also have a couple of issues
1. Depending on your location the Mac Mini Server isn't that cheap
Very true. I have no visibility into asian or european prices other than what is posted on AI. Yes, it's bad to have a US focus on the internet...on the other hand, it is Apple's home market.
2. If you are a small shop, you either have to do all the support yourself, or you get someone in. If you do it yourself, what happens when you are sick or dead. If you get someone in, what is it going to be easier to get, Windows, Linux, or Mac knowledgable people? (and yes I have them in that order for a reason).
If I'm dead I no longer care the state of my servers.
The non-glib response is that there appears to be Apple business support companies around. Also, OSX server is Unix so any unix/linux weenie will be able to figure it out with the help of a couple books and the IT videos on iTunesU (may require ADC or even Premier ADC membership).
There wasn't an IT track this year at WWDC but there has been in the past and there was a lot of stuff in 2008.
I'm no IT guy but I bet I could figure most things out with my base Unix knowledge, Mac forums and a couple books like Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server For Dummies and Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Server Essentials v10.6: A Guide to Using and Supporting Mac OS X Server v10.6.
Interesting enough, the Apple Training Series is on Kindle...I hope they are on iBooks too.
At the end of the day it really depends on how much you depend on your IT systems, if you can cope with losing your server for a week, then it doesn't really matter what you get.
If the receptionist (or whomever) has a mini the down time will be the time to restore from CCC/SD backup. That's why I suggest having the receptionist machine be a mini with a 500GB drive. Then when the replacement mini server arrives you restore onto the new server and swap then restore the workstation mini from backups.
Okay, maybe not the receptionist since you probably don't want that machine down either but essentially you want to replace one iMac somewhere in your setup with a Mini. That might just be the machine the dentist uses at home but this is simply not a show stopper with a little planning.
Mini server, mini for receptionist, ipads for nurses and doctor and mini with external drive at the doctor's home office that is swapped weekly for an identical drive at the office used for CCC/SD/TimeMachine. If you really want you can use CrashPlan for more $$$.
That gives you offsite DR for both hardware and software and 2 minis available for swaps.
My dentist uses a digital xray and looks at the images on a laptop. I figure the iPad is probably good enough for that.
So, has anyone actually bought one of these things yet? Can it be booted into 64 bit mode? To my knowledge, no version of the mini to date has been successfully booted into 64 bit mode but maybe this is the first.
I have one and yes it can boot in to K64. I also had a 2009 Mac Mini and it couldn't, so you are right this is the first K64 Mac Mini.
Did anyone notice the model name in System Profiler is not "Mac mini" but "Mac mini aluminum?" I wonder if they were originally going to market it under this name?
I doubt it. "Aluminum" is not part of a product brand name that would be especially inspirational (at least to me).
Plus, Jony Ive pronounces it "Alu-min-ium."
Maybe a precious metal like Platinum could have been used, or even Titanium.
But aluminum? I'm about to go unwrap a chicken leg in my refrigerator that is wrapped in alu-min-ium.
Apple doesn't really change their product names, but gives them designations intended to identify them if you were, say, searching for a Knowledge Base article pertaining to your specific Mac model.
So we've seen designations -- not product names -- like "Power Mac G4 AGP graphics."
"iMac slot-loading optical drive," "Power Mac mirrored drive doors," etc.
Just got some bad news:
http://www.electronista.com/articles...ack.ambitions/
I buy every new model of Mac Pro every year. When the usual refresh date passed this year (March), I had no idea when the 2010 Mac Pro would come out, yet -- not just rumor sites -- but the more official C|Net was reporting its imminent release and that it would be a dual-chip hexacore Mac, making it a dodecahedron Mac Pro, and I was very anxious for its release.
But with Apple's attitude toward the Mac these days, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they discontinue the niche-oriented, low volume-selling Mac Pro and steer their pro customers to something that would be called the iMac Pro -- aimed at creative professionals -- but with all the expandability limits of an iMac. (Steve STILL has a bias against "open hardware" computers, and continues to fight against things like upgrade slots with the same fervor as he did in 1975 or so. Woz won out, and the Apple // had expansion slots. SJ's dream of an "appliance computer" is as alive in his mind as ever. If Macs have upgrade abilities, he doesn't approve of them, he "tolerates" them. I'm guessing that Tim Cook persuades him to finally say, "OoooohKaaaaaay.. to internal expandability. If true, thank God for Tim Cook!)
I hope Apple doesn't go this route, because I want my PCIe slots, ample hard drive bays, ample RAM module slots, perpetually swappable graphics cards (which, if OpenCL is actually adopted by a good number of developers, a major GPU card upgrade could almost amount to a processor upgrade. Sweeeeeet!)
I just hope that the article does not refer to a decision Intel made yesterday. I hope Intel's realization/decision occurred many months ago.
Because starting from zero, they'd have to redesign the chip for ten cores, test it, fab it, and put it into mass production before Apple could even think about using it in the next version of the Mac Pro.
That could take many months, which probably means next year.
Sadly,
defender
P.S. Still today, to me, "troll" does not need qualification. To me a troll is an insecure Windows PC owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is.
That's close, but in the 21st century, you have to modify that to say "a troll is an insecure Windows PC OR ANDROID OR ZUNE OR MICROSOFT COURIER (oops) owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is."
That's close, but in the 21st century, you have to modify that to say "a troll is an insecure Windows PC OR ANDROID OR ZUNE OR MICROSOFT COURIER (oops) owner spending undue amounts of time and effort in Mac forums desperately trying to run down a platform that in the back of his mind he knows is superior. Sad as that is."
Thanks, jragosta,
But that still doesn't explain why I"VE been branded a troll.
I have never owned a computer made buy a company other than Apple. As a precocious wee boy, I lobbied, tricked, pressured, rationalized, nagged and finally got my parents, who grew up during the depression (and you know all that that entails for the rest of such people's lives) to buy me an Apple //e which I promised them would have a direct causal relationship in lifting the poor grades I was getting on my report cards.
Every Apple computer I've owned had internal expandability, including card slots. I didn't initially buy the earlier Macs, but one came out that was not a tower (I forget the model name; IIcxi?), yet was designed to be opened and had slots to add cards, space to upgrade the hard drive, slots to add RAM, etc. Plus it had color!
Ever since, I insist on owning the most powerful model Mac Apple makes (even when my current Mac Pro is MORE THAN suiting my present needs). Irrationally and without reason, I will buy each year's newly released top-of-the-line Mac Pro.
I've paid for every version of Mac OS X Apple has sold (and Mac OS 9, 8, System 7, etc. before that).
I paid the whopping price for Final Cut Studio. I bought Aperture, and have paid the upgrade price for iLife several times.
I signed up for "iTools" the instant it was available, and paid the $99 each year after it became .Mac, then paid $99 for MobileMe every year and to this day. (With the extra iDisk space I paid for and the additional email addresses I paid for, that adds up to over $800! That puts some perspective on things! No wonder Apple's stock is around $275 a share!)
I also own AAPL shares -- but nothing to write home about.
Between products and software and services, I've transferred well over $100,000 of my cash to Apple's bank account.
My point is, as Apple loyalists go, I'm in the upper echelons -- definitely.
I'm a "Power User" and a frequent user of unintuitive keyboard shortcuts, etc., but when I sit down in front of a Windows PC, I find myself totally lost. I quickly descend from computer expert to vacuous ninny.
So if "troll" (a term I used to understand) includes such an Apple loyalist that I am, I would protest.
Because when a REAL troll appears on the scene, the epithet will have a cloudy meaning. Other posters won't know he's a REAL troll, because the term has been made so ambiguous.
"Troll" is being causally thrown around in Mac forums and is being regularly misapplied to Apple loyalists who happen to have certain grievances. That doesn't make them less loyal.
defender
The non-glib response is that there appears to be Apple business support companies around. Also, OSX server is Unix so any unix/linux weenie will be able to figure it out with the help of a couple books and the IT videos on iTunesU (may require ADC or even Premier ADC membership).
There wasn't an IT track this year at WWDC but there has been in the past and there was a lot of stuff in 2008.
If they are an external person I hope you are not paying them for the time it takes them to learn how to fix your issue...
If the receptionist (or whomever) has a mini the down time will be the time to restore from CCC/SD backup. That's why I suggest having the receptionist machine be a mini with a 500GB drive. Then when the replacement mini server arrives you restore onto the new server and swap then restore the workstation mini from backups.
Okay, maybe not the receptionist since you probably don't want that machine down either but essentially you want to replace one iMac somewhere in your setup with a Mini. That might just be the machine the dentist uses at home but this is simply not a show stopper with a little planning.
You want them to bring in their home computer if they have an issue at work?
Mini server, mini for receptionist, ipads for nurses and doctor and mini with external drive at the doctor's home office that is swapped weekly for an identical drive at the office used for CCC/SD/TimeMachine. If you really want you can use CrashPlan for more $$$.
That gives you offsite DR for both hardware and software and 2 minis available for swaps.
Wow, they can't afford some RAID 5 for their server but they can afford to be fitted out with that that "luxury" equipment, and the cost associated with having a number of spares sitting around, glad to see they have their priorities right...
CrashPlan?? Is that some US based thing?
My dentist uses a digital xray and looks at the images on a laptop. I figure the iPad is probably good enough for that.
Again, they can afford to purchase a digitaling imaging system, but they can't afford to purchase additional drive arrays? How many of these x-rays can they store on the Mac Mini Servers 500GB drive?
My dentist doesn't have any computers in her surgery room.
The non-glib response is that there appears to be Apple business support companies around. Also, OSX server is Unix so any unix/linux weenie will be able to figure it out with the help of a couple books...
A couple books? Have you seen Unix/Linux books?
They make the Bible look like a pamphlet.
defender
Thanks, jragosta,
But that still doesn't explain why I"VE been branded a troll.
Actually, in spite of my sarcastic comment, a troll is defined as a person who frequents forums like this with the intention of stirring up trouble. They typically take extreme, often indefensible positions and then dance and dodge and avoid rational discussion, simply throwing out nonsequitors to keep people off their trail. That is the sense that I use 'troll'.
Of course, there are the true trolls who call anyone who corners them a 'troll' - it's part of their defense mechanism.
Actually, in spite of my sarcastic comment, a troll is defined as a person who frequents forums like this with the intention of stirring up trouble. They typically take extreme, often indefensible positions and then dance and dodge and avoid rational discussion, simply throwing out nonsequitors to keep people off their trail. That is the sense that I use 'troll'.
Of course, there are the true trolls who call anyone who corners them a 'troll' - it's part of their defense mechanism.
jragosta,
Funny, your expanded definition of troll describes exactly some of the (unnamed) people whose knee-jerk response is to call someone in here a troll !
For a looooong time, starting with even Gil Amelio (who must have been pretty lonely to reply to my emails), I've had a correspondence relationship with some key Apple people who give earnest, direct replies. (Never have I asked one of them, nor would I expect one, to provide me with non-public, proprietary information. I exercise great care not to spoil the relationship.)
But one time, I suggested a feature (or maybe a bug fix -- although a UI misbehavior isn't really a "bug" per se) because it was a source of interference when I was using my Mac. The Apple person replied that they needed a critical mass of people asking for the same thing, and they weren't going to make the change based on the request of one person.
Totally reasonable. And it also accounts somewhat for my actions in Mac forums.
So as someone who would not want to be responsible for one lost sale by Apple, I sometimes comment on Mac message boards in hopes that more people than just me may contact Apple requesting the same fix, change or added feature.
Plus, I have an (unimpressive) number of shares of AAPL and would want to do nothing to cause a fall in their price per share.
If someone agrees with a feature request I present in these forums, or agrees with a positive change in the UI or the behavior of an Apple app (or Mac OS X), and decides to use the feedback mechanism at apple.com, that's great.
But I'm hands off -- I never pressure anyone. If they happen to agree and make the effort to communicate the matter to Apple, Good Deal; if they don't agree with me, so be it.
You were speaking generally, and I don't think you were referring to me specifically, but if you were, I'd be curious to know of an example of a non sequitur in any of my writings.
And if "stirring up trouble" equates to dissuading someone from buying a Mac, I want no part of it and don't think I've ever done so. I've successfully passed through the phase in life where I was interested in stirring up trouble back when I broke my last street lamp.
No, my aims in participating in Mac forums are pretty uneventful. Rather than keep it a secret, I may try to draw to the attention of fellow Mac users an issue I feel Apple should be aware of, and if I'm lucky, more than just I will contact Apple about the issue. If they are unimpressed, I may go into further detail in an effort to be more convincing and hopefully inspire positive action (hopefully).
If that triggers whatever triggers someone being added to the iniquitous blacklist of trolls, I don't mind.
Sorry if my motives for participating in Mac forums are boring or lack drama, but they're nothing more than that.
If you DO want drama, I'll give it my best shot. Hope it is to your satisfaction:
Remember, if you want to consider yourself a loyal customer of Apple, Inc., when an important issue arises with an Apple product that if addressed by Apple's immeasurably capable software and hardware engineers (including many PhDs), IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, it is your duty to bring the issue to Apple's attention. They may not know about it, and might be very grateful that you told them about it. If it is a software bug that is fixed, the more stable software product will be a better reflection on the brand and its reputation for quality.
That's how Apple knows. Without our feedback, they don't know.
They provide this for a reason:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/
So bravely risk being indelibly tattooed on the forehead as a troll, and courageously call to Apple's attention bugs, UI quirks, features that would improve their products, which in turn would improve the reputation of the company and their products.
Now, CHARGE!
Viva Apple!
Viva Steven P. Jobs!
Viva Bertrand Serlet!
Viva Mac!
Viva AAPL!
How's that?
A couple books? Have you seen Unix/Linux books?
They make the Bible look like a pamphlet.
defender
Yes, a couple of books based on what I've seen of SLS and the general needs of a small office. I'm not expecting to be able to do a fortune 500 enterprise deployment on a couple minis...
Yes, a couple of books based on what I've seen of SLS and the general needs of a small office. I'm not expecting to be able to do a fortune 500 enterprise deployment on a couple minis...
Yeah, I hear ya. Point taken.
It's just that I've had a different experience.
Knowing that Unix is the beating heart of Mac OS X (and an important person at Apple responded to a question I posed to him by assuring me that Mac OS X IS Unix, no matter how many countless times the technology press calls it "Unix-like, but not Unix." He or she wrote that the Unix layer of Mac OS X meets and often exceeds many, many standards that must be met for an OS to be called a "Unix" -- without qualification -- but I digress), and I realize that an even smaller heart beats at the heart of the heart of Mac OS X, I decided to shop for a book to familiarize myself with Unix.
I could find no books on the topic of Unix that were fewer than 900 pages. As opposed to being critical, I was VERY impressed with the authors (usually one per book) for having such vast and accurate knowledge they could parlay into a lucrative book.
I figured that if an author of a Unix book completed three pages a day (because some of the page layouts were rather complex and reflected the expenditure of time), he would complete a 900+ page Unix book in about a year. But astonishingly, they churned out these high-quality books in like three months!
I say "high-quality" because all such books I perused in the book store bore the highest quality. Dry passages of text were interspersed with diagrams or illustration or text boxes explaining something in more detail, or interesting information printed in the margins.
No, the pages didn't resemble the pages of the Bible at all.
Plus, you can't write a Unix book of any quality unless you possess knowledge of teaching methodology and how people learn.
The chapters showed careful organization so that the author wouldn't get ahead of himself (and leave the "learner" behind). That obviously took some time and effort.
Then there were incredibly comprehensive glossaries and 25-page indexes that went far above and beyond the call of duty for an index.
It's just that all of these books encompassed all that could possibly be said about Unix. And I'm not good at reading computer books unless I'm seated in front of a computer. Reading them in the abstract -- I'm lost. (That's why I love Adobe's "Classroom in a Book" series.)
I suspected that some books set out to be limited in scope, but the author constantly found himself saying, "Oops! I can't tell him about this until I first tell him about that."
Like trying to write a Calculus book for people who have never studied Algebra.
And that process is how these Unix tomes wound up so gargantuan.
If you can recommend me a "primer-like" Unix book I would appreciate it.
Thanx,
defender
If they are an external person I hope you are not paying them for the time it takes them to learn how to fix your issue...
Having been a consultant there's a bit of OJT going on all the time. If you tell the client that you aren't an expert in something but they want you anyway for whatever reason then learning as you go is expected.
As I said, I don't believe that any competent unix admin would have any problems figuring out SLS for a small doctor's office.
You also seem to ignore that there are dedicated professional Apple IT consultants out there already. Apple has a web site that enables you find some in your local area.
http://consultants.apple.com/
You want them to bring in their home computer if they have an issue at work?
The receptionist machine is not a home computer. Neither is the doctor's computer despite the fact it's his/her home office.
Wow, they can't afford some RAID 5 for their server but they can afford to be fitted out with that that "luxury" equipment, and the cost associated with having a number of spares sitting around, glad to see they have their priorities right...
Nobody I know would recommend RAID 5 for any semi-important array.
I wouldn't even use RAID 5 for my movie library because of the insane amount of time it would take to re-rip all the DVDs.
RAID 10 is pretty much the minimum requirement (maybe RAID 6). The reconstruction time for a RAID 5 array would cancel any cost savings over RAID 10 in a recovery event.
Given the requirements of a doctor's office RAID 1 of the primary system drives in the server and daily incremental backups of external storage drive(s) with one cold spare is lower complexity than a RAID 5 setup and just as reliable. Reconstruction of a single drive from backup to the cold spare is faster than reconstructing a RAID 5 array and easier to do.
I'd do it this way with HPs or Minis.
Other than using Apple gear instead of HP gear I'm not getting the luxury argument. We're looking at around $5-6K total for 3 minis, 3 iPads, 1 TC and some external drives. This is assuming that the client software is available for the iPads which isn't likely today but swapping these out for low end iMacs ups the price to around $7-8K not including software.
Wanna bet the medical office software licenses cost more than $7K?
CrashPlan?? Is that some US based thing?
CrashPlan is automatic remote backup and restore software. For consumers it also can back up to their servers like Carbonite. We use CrashPlan Pro for our needs.
if I had a RAID 10 array I'd probably spring for CrashPlan Pro and do remote backup to a second array in the doctor's home. For a cheap setup I'd use two Synology arrays. As long as the ISP doesn't start throttling anyway.
Again, they can afford to purchase a digitaling imaging system, but they can't afford to purchase additional drive arrays? How many of these x-rays can they store on the Mac Mini Servers 500GB drive?
My dentist doesn't have any computers in her surgery room.
You're pretty fixated on drive arrays and I'm not sure why. It isn't a panacea and just another tool in the tool box.
If medical imaging is a requirement then a RAID 10 or 6 array might be desired. It depends on how long it needs to be kept whether keeping the film or the digital copy is better.