Rolling Your Own Business Desktops?

mike asks: "I'm mulling the logic of my company building its own desktop computers. As the IT Manager (plus sysadmin, janitor...) of a struggling-yet-thankfully-still-alive dotcom, money is really tight. We have around sixty ~400MHz desktops which are increasingly showing their age. Acceptable P4 systems from the big guys run at least $1000. By recycling the OS (Win2k), case, cdrom, floppy, and K/V/M, I figure I can assemble a good AMD system for about $600. That's a 40% savings. Is it worth it? The cost difference could very well determine whether this project proceeds or gets put on the back-burner again."

"Some negatives about rolling my own:

• Management: I won't get the special business features offered by some manufacturers. Dell's OpenImage, for example, looks awfully nice. But how much does that really buy me in a company of 60 machines? I don't use such stuff now; am I missing out on nirvana?
• Time to build: Even though we'd leverage Ghost wherever possible, handmade systems nevertheless take time to build, load, & configure.
• Supporting different platforms: Because money is so tight, I can at best afford a capital replacement rate of 25%-33% (15-20 units) per year. That means I'm committing to the support of 3 or 4 different platforms. Having just one platform is great, but how many companies, even ones that actively strive for it, truly enjoy that luxury? I inherited two platforms (Micron & Gateway); support isn't that bad. With proper planning, I don't see why we can't support four.
• Hardware quality: How much can I trust a popular Athlon chipset in a business environment? I feel silly bringing this up because I have a few Athlon systems at home, each with a different chipset, and they've been nothing but rock solid. But I know the lack of a really good chipset has been a large contributor to why AMD's aren't more prevalent in the business world. (well, that and long term bullying by Intel).
• I don't get a proven, prepackaged system that works right out of the box.

Positives of rolling my own:

• Cost savings. Plain & simple.
• Increased horsepower per dollar spent.
• By choosing my own equipment (mobo especially), I suffer fewer OEM shortcuts.
• I have to admit that I'd enjoy the pure geek satisfaction of rolling out 'my' creation to the company.

So is it worth it, or am I setting myself up for disaster?"

For those that are curious, Ask Slashdot did an article on the AMD issue, here.

Comments

I think time is probably the critical factor...

[edashofy]

Don't forget having to run your own assembly and tech support shop as well. I can usually coerce somebody to come out from Dell and replace my broken (video card, motherboard, CD-ROM drive) with little effort here at work if the need arises and it's covered under warranty. At your shop, YOU are the warranty guy.

Also, factor in the labor costs (which will be substantial), count the amount of time it will take for you to assemble a machine, the cost of ESD straps and mats (you will be using ESD mats, right?), the time it will take to set up an assembly area, and the space that will take up, etc.

I used to build machines for other people (family members, etc.) Now I just tell them all to buy a Dell because the hassle on me to maintain them is WAAAAAY less. The only machine I build myself anymore is my personal box, because I spec out stuff that is too high-end for a manufacturer like Dell anyway.

Re:Microsoft allow it?

[nick this]

Nope.

If it was a full retail version of Win2K, it can be transferred. But nobody has full retail -- everyone has the OEM version. That's part of the lock-in of preloads.

OEM versions can't be moved from one machine to another. Also, Microsoft has strict rules about what constitutes an "upgrade". I don't have them here, but "upgrading everything around the W2K license" is not an upgrade, it requires the purchase of a new license.

Don't take my word for it, though, or anyone on slashdot. Check out http://www.microsoft.com/licensing, and see how Microsoft is making it so much easier for the consumer, by not having so many confusing programs designed to save the customer money.

By gouging the crap out of everyone, you now don't even have to go to the bother of trying to save money. You can just assume you are going to get poked, and sure enough, you are! Don't even *need* to read those agreements anymore. :)

Boy, that *is* easier. Thanks Bill!

Roll Your Own PCs in Bulk

[BigBlockMopar]

Time to build: Even though we'd leverage Ghost wherever possible, handmade systems nevertheless take time to build, load, & configure.

Yes. But make damned sure that you're building them as an assembly line. The principle is that building a second one will only take 50% more effort than building the first; the third will take only 33% more effort than the other two, etc. Whatever old Henry Ford's theorem was. It works.

Set aside a room where no one else will bother you. *GOOD STATIC CONTROL* is mandatory. Do all stages of assembly at once, that way you're not wasting time fumbling back and forth for screwdrivers. Get going at a good clip with quality cases, and you should be able to assemble 100 systems/day - but that assumes you have *everything* where you need it when you need it, there's good padded shelving, and you've got a grunt taking care of taking cases out of boxes for you. It also excludes software load.

Just make sure you get a warranty on all the parts since you will not have one on the entire machine

Absolutely. But, assuming a competent builder (ie. not blowing processors with bad jumper settings or blowing boards by not having them seated right), the parts themselves should be pretty reliable. If you're buying good stuff, the biggest source of problems will probably be static handling.

Keep in mind that a modern memory or processor chip has literally millions of CMOS transistors. CMOS transistors have an incredibly thin layer of glass between the gate input and the source-drain circuit. A voltage applied to the gate influences the flow of current through the source-drain circuit. Trick is, the layer of glass involved is so thin that you can punch a hole in it with 30V. Next trick is that static electricity generates kilovolts (thousands of volts) with sufficient current to blow holes in the gate layer, but be imperceptible to you.

All it takes is one transistor out of the millions inside a modern chip to be defective and the computer will crash apparently at random... you know, when Windows VMM writes a 0 to a memory address and gets it back as a 1 later on... BSoD. Kernel Panic. Choose your flavor.

Wrist straps, static baggies, conductive floors, grounded workstations are *crucial*. Dell, Compaq, Asus and Abit spend millions of $$ on these things, and for similar reliability, you should demand the same standards every step of the way for your home-rolled machines. Make sure your computer store hasn't "helped" you by opening the static baggies. Write that one into the contract with the computer store. And make sure that the hard disk drives are still in their packing "egg-crate" things. You really don't want a box with a stack of hard disk drives. (Western Digital had a great video on hard drive handling floating around the 'Net, you should view it if you're building en masse.)

Re:anti-static isn't over-hyped.

[Amizell]

I think that ESD definitely IS over hyped. This is an obvious scheme by the static wrist strap industry to take your hard earned cash away from you.

But seriously I have worked on many many systems over the years and I have never had a problem which could be credibly linked to hardware failure brought on by ESD. I think that lots of less-experienced techs and help desk people blame any problem that they can't figure out on ESD. Got a BSOD that you can't explain? Here's a convenient line that no one can really disprove and makes you look smart. "It must have been mishandled by some other ignorant tech years ago and is just now showing symptoms." Right. How could even tell the difference between an ESD problem and a problem caused by irregular AC line voltages or manufacturing defects?

those systems will die 2 years earlier down the line because of latent failures created when you worked on them

What the hell is a "latent failure"? As was stated above, ESD is measured in kV while CMOS tolerances are more like 30V. Either a transistor is blown or it isn't. I agree that ESD can damage transistors, and I also know that a computer may very well power up after suffering damage from this. However I think the notion that a system would power up and work normally for two years before going south is ludicrous. You seem to think that the static can somehow "weaken" the hardware without fully blowing it out.

My personal solution to the ESD problem is a compromise between the incredibly annoying wrist strap and "going commando" and risking relatively expensive hardware. I leave the power supply plugged into a grounded outlet while working on the machine. I know somebody's gonna flame me for this, but think about it. When the machine is plugged in the entire chassis is a path to ground which can bleed off excess voltage in the case of a static discharge. If you simply touch the chassis before you start working you will discharge any static electricity which is being carried by your body and you're good to go. Unless you are working on your computer while standing on a shag carpet in your socks while rubbing a balloon on your head then this is probably all you need to be safe. You could then unplug the AC line if you wanted, although I don't see any harm in leaving it plugged in during your entire operation. Outside of the power supply the voltages can be no more than 12V and low current so electric shock is really not an issue.

On a side note I think a much more common issue is the failure of the power supply itself, rather than motherboards and chips. In most machines I build the PS will burn out after a couple of years unless I spend a few extra dollars on a step-up model case like an Enlight.

Alright, flame away. :)
alex