Shared workstation(server)

[comps]

Hi,

I am planning to build a workstation(server), which me and my girlfriend will share for our more demanding projects. Currently I have an old desktop, and she has a laptop, which we will use to connect to the shared workstation. I am starting a physics degree in the autumn and will use it mainly for computations and development as well as store my work and data on it, while she will be using it for photoshop.

This will be my very first newbuild and I am a complete newbie. While I have a general idea what sort of hardware I will need I am really looking for a very high level overview of how such a set up would work.

Some of the questions I'm asking myself are:

1 - How would that work and what are the different approches to getting a remote PC to do the job?
2 - Will I need a server OS for it or a desktop OS will do?
3 - How does one administer a shared PC(server)?
3 - I will need a Linux envirenment, while she prefers Windows. Does it matter which OS is installed on the shared PC? If her applications are not compatible with Linux, I guess we'll need to use virtualisation?
4 - Hardware - will I need graphics and/or monitor? What would be the optimal storage and backup solution.

Thanks in advance for any pointers. I hope to have things built and set up by the end of August.

 

[mvbighead]

If one of you needs Linux and the other needs Windows, you'll probably want to run something like this:

http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere-hypervisor/overview.html

And it's free, btw.

As for hardware, you should answer the sticky questions to give everyone a better idea of what to suggestion.

As a loose overview, if you bought an i5 2500, 8GB of RAM, and a few hard drives... you could setup a fairly nice virtual host that you could run a number of different VMs on, Linux or Windows.

 

[mfenn]

When you say "workstation (server)", that's kind of confusing and contradictory to me. Can you tell me at a very basic level how you plan to use the system? Do you both want to log into the system remotely, or do you want share the physical machine (hotseat-style)?

 

[Knavish]

While it is possible to run Photoshop in something like vmware, if you want to run it at full speed you will want to run it on the native OS (windows or OSX). Unless you both want to use the machine simultaneously, you could dual boot...

 

[comps]

Thanks for the replies,

My idea is to have a poweful PC, which we can share for our work by logging to it remotely and simultaneously from our laptops for example. It will be also used to store our work. That way we can avoid buying two seperate machines. Another advantage would be that we can place it somewhare convenient and save some precious space in our small apartment.

How would one set this up? I am unsure both in terms of OS (server or desktop) and hardware ( will I need graphics and monitor).

 

[mvbighead]

Thanks for the replies,

My idea is to have a poweful PC, which we can share for our work by logging to it remotely and simultaneously from our laptops for example. It will be also used to store our work. That way we can avoid buying two seperate machines. Another advantage would be that we can place it somewhare convenient and save some precious space in our small apartment.

How would one set this up? I am unsure both in terms of OS (server or desktop) and hardware ( will I need graphics and monitor).

Well, like Knavish was saying, it will depend on what software you intend to run. If you plan on running Photoshop like he suggested, virtualization probably isn't your best best as Photoshop leverages the GPU when processing certain things (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404898.html).

One thing you could do if the Photoshop or similar was an area of need, would be to run Windows 7 and add VMWare workstation to it to run a Linux VM if your Linux VM doesn't leverage anything but the CPU. Point being, virtualization is great for CPU based applications. But if you start demanding GPU processing power, well... you're SOL.

So, I suppose first things first, what kind of applications are you talking about running?

 

[comps]

I'll be using it mostly for study-related projects using tools like Python, Matlab, R, C++ and databases (e.g. MySQL, SQLite) so the short answer is computations I guess

 

[mvbighead]

Well, in that case, I would think a VM setup would not be a bad idea. Aim for processor speed, maximum number of spindles (or SSDs), and Memory. Make sure you have a Broadcom or Intel NIC for best support.

Something like this:

MB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-509-_-Product - 110

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-070-_-Product - 315
(Or a 2500k would likely do nicely as well)

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-417-_-Product - 85 (-15 MIR)

The above would be a good start. Then it depends on your storage needs. Likely using one disk per VM to ensure you have no I/O issues.

There are 5 SATA ports, and you'd only need a DVD ROM to load the Hypervisor, and then you'd be done with it. Perhaps an SSD or two for your VMs, and one shared bigger disk for storage?

FYI - I selected the Intel branded board as it is easier to find those with built in Intel NICs, which are more trouble free for ESXi. You coud drop the CPU down to save some case, but you haven't yet provided a budget to know what you're shooting for.

 

[Knavish]

I think building a single server for both your tasks may be possible, but it's a very bad idea! ...

1. If your GF needs the power of a modern computer (multi-core CPU, 8+GB ram, possible GPU acceleration) for her photoshop work, she will be extremely disappointed in photoshop over remote desktop running on a virtualized OS. If she's doing the level of photoshop work that I do (random photo retouching & cropping), then she can probably use her laptop.

2. I haven't tried it, but I don't think you'd even want to run photoshop via remote desktop even if it's running on a dedicated windows workstation. In my experience with various cad programs, GUI-heavy applications feel laggy when you're remotely accessing the computer. At the very least, a wired ethernet connection would be good -- are you willing to string ethernet cables through your apartment?

3. You're going to be a physics major, not computer science, so do you really want to be maintaining some virtualized server when you could be actually doing homework?

 

[mfenn]

I think building a single server for both your tasks may be possible, but it's a very bad idea! ...

1. If your GF needs the power of a modern computer (multi-core CPU, 8+GB ram, possible GPU acceleration) for her photoshop work, she will be extremely disappointed in photoshop over remote desktop running on a virtualized OS. If she's doing the level of photoshop work that I do (random photo retouching & cropping), then she can probably use her laptop.

2. I haven't tried it, but I don't think you'd even want to run photoshop via remote desktop even if it's running on a dedicated windows workstation. In my experience with various cad programs, GUI-heavy applications feel laggy when you're remotely accessing the computer. At the very least, a wired ethernet connection would be good -- are you willing to string ethernet cables through your apartment?

3. You're going to be a physics major, not computer science, so do you really want to be maintaining some virtualized server when you could be actually doing homework?

:thumbsup: Agree wholeheartedly.

OP, you're probably making this too complicated. Build a system for your girlfriend to do her Photoshoppery on. Development work should be fine on your current machine and any lengthy calculation that you need to do is likely better offloaded to your university's HPC resources anyway.

 

[mvbighead]

Not sure how I missed the photoshop bit in the OP's post... I agree, no virtualization is the way to go here.

Personally, IMO, the OP should setup a simple config for himself with the RAM/CPU/etc. that he needs. MicroATX case, cheap RAM, good proc, simple storage, and simply configure it with a Linux server OS. I would guess that wouldn't run much more than 400-500 as there would be little to no need for a quality video card.

For the GF, if she intends to photoshop... have her use her current lappy for now, or get a new one for her. No budget has been mentioned to this point, so I won't dig up specifics, but if he's looking to spend 1500 or so, he should be able to find a good laptop for about 1000, and crank out his processing system for a 500, IMO.

 

[comps]

Thank you all for your comments,

You are right when you say I make this too complex, the thing is I am very interested in computer science (it was a tough choice going for physics) and would like to learn about hardware, networking and OSs. I look at it as a project where I can start experimenting a little bit, I am sure we'll get our work done one way or another.

In general, what's the most common way of having your work done on a remote machine? I guess this question belongs to the basics section of the Networking forum and the thread should be moved.

 

[mvbighead]

Thank you all for your comments,

You are right when you say I make this too complex, the thing is I am very interested in computer science (it was a tough choice going for physics) and would like to learn about hardware, networking and OSs. I look at it as a project where I can start experimenting a little bit, I am sure we'll get our work done one way or another.

In general, what's the most common way of having your work done on a remote machine? I guess this question belongs to the basics section of the Networking forum and the thread should be moved.

Comps, can you please supply the budget you are looking to spend? If you can provide that, I would be willing to bet a number of individuals can give you an idea of what to try to configure. Two separate builds seems to be likely at this point, with one quite likely being a laptop. But if you could supply a budget, I am sure people can spec out some builds for you.

 

[comps]

My budget is around 12,000 NOK, which I think roughly translates to $1,500 in hardware prices in the US. I have two nice Eizo 23 inch monitors which I will use. In terms of storage, I thought it was a good idea to mirror two 2TB HDDs.

 

[mvbighead]

In terms of storage, mirroring the two 2TB drives is a fantastic idea, IMO. But I would not use those for storage for VMs as well. VMs would ideal have their own disks, or be a part of a RAID array with a high number of well performing spindles. In your case, it'd be easier to just use a few separate disks if at all possible.

Given your budget is 1500 bucks, you might find yourself a little tight getting something for each of you. What I would recommend is getting the two 2TB drives like you suggested. Use those in your server, and create a VM to run FreeNAS or something similar to create a file server that will be a shared resource. She can backup her work there, as well as you being able to do the same.

I have pieced together a system at newegg for about 700 that would do quite nicely, though given you aren't in the US, you're pricing will likely vary a bit.

Anyhoo, the specs are:

x6 Phenom 2.8GHz
MSI 760GM-P35 - 4 DIMM Slots, multiple PCIx1's, integrated GPU
8GB Mushkin DDR1333 ($70)
Antec Earthwatts 430watt
Intel Gigabit PCI Adapter (required for ESX, as the integrated NIC won't work, most likely)
Antec 300 Case
Samsung f4 320gb x 2
Samsung f4 2tb x 2

There might be some better boards out there to look for, but I was having trouble finding Intel/Broadcom NICs built in, so I search for 4 dimms, builtin video, and PCIx1 slots for the Intel add-on NIC.

The above came to 700, and you could build a RAID1 fileserver with FreeNAS or OpenFiler as a VM, and also build a Linux server VM to do your processing. The VM stuff gives you a good step in the right direction for testing and learning some network skills. It also makes the system flexible to do other tasks.

With that, it leave 800 to buy the girl a nice shiny laptop with a good built in GPU, Win7 OS, plenty of RAM, and a good harddrive. I would think you could find something fairly decent in that price range.

 

[mfenn]

Thank you all for your comments,

You are right when you say I make this too complex, the thing is I am very interested in computer science (it was a tough choice going for physics) and would like to learn about hardware, networking and OSs. I look at it as a project where I can start experimenting a little bit, I am sure we'll get our work done one way or another.

In general, what's the most common way of having your work done on a remote machine? I guess this question belongs to the basics section of the Networking forum and the thread should be moved.

Computer Science: We never let actually having a working system get in the way of having a system that we can play with.

:awe:

mfenn
M.S. Computer Science
B.S. Computer Science