Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

You show a management type a picture of a server and a picture of a
PC and they won't know the difference. Of course, the actual server
itself is built into an actual server enclosure.
An 'actual server enclosure'? WTF is 'an actual server enclosure'? We
have about twelve servers in our server room, three of which are
housed in perfectly standard PC tower cases. There's no way you can
tell what they are from looking at the case (other than reading the
badge!).

Generally when building a server I build it into what's known as an
"enterprise case". This usually has twin redundant PSUs, additional
ventilation, and hot-swappable SCSI drive caddies at the front.

So when configured with using RAID disks, in the event of a disk failure
you can swap out a disk without having to take the system down.

Of course if someone's on a tight budget then yes, I'll forego the
enterprise case and build it into a PC case, forego the SCSI and use
non-hotswap SATA RAID (yay RAIDframe kernel driver, no need for hardware
RAID) etc etc.

You've already proved you know even less about computer technology than
you do about audio, so I'd suggest you quit while you're not too far behind.

And I sure as heck didn't see any rack-mount cabinets in your 'server
room' picture on your hilarious website, which is what most people
might think of as an 'actual server enclosure'.

Actually there is a rack enclosure in there. Look carefully, it contains
the switches, patch bay and a few ISDN bits and a couple of fax modems
stuffed in for good measure.

Indeed what's there is overkill for what I use in the office, but it
works well as a testbed for development purposes. Having the web, mail,
PDC and media servers separate also means that I can make configuration
changes to one without taking the entire system down.

Yes, a single server would be able to run everything, but wouldn't give
me any redundancy. When I'm setting things up on a client's site I use a
single server, as they don't need (or want to pay for) this level of
redundancy.

Of course there are exceptions, indeed I've set up sites before now with
multiple redundant failover, so even if one server goes completely tits
up there's at least two redundant spares ready to take over.

A Java junkie who thinks he's an IT consultant!

Well, I never use Java. (Unless you mean the coffee, in which case
guilty as charged, the junkie bit anyway.) And as far as web development
goes, I avoid Javascript wherever possible, as it opens up a whole can
of worms with regards to compatibility.

All I'll say is this. Audio (and photography) are my hobbies and
interests. IT consultancy is how I make a living. And I live well, so I
must be doing something right. I must be, if I'm in a position to buy
Arcam kit, and silver speaker cable etc. Plus I don't know many people
my age that drive a 52-plate A4 Quattro... most 28-year-olds are driving
around in a Focus, Corsa, 1995 Astra, or worse, something Japanese,
cheap, and particularly nasty.

So I must be doing something right. Beats working as a postal clerk in a
bank, that's for sure...

--
Glenn Richards Tel: (01453) 845735
Squirrel Solutions http://www.squirrelsolutions.co.uk/

IT consultancy, hardware and software support, broadband installation