[Tfug] Server purchase (!)

[Claude Rubinson]

On Thu, Oct 12, 2006 at 08:41:53PM -0700, Bexley Hall wrote:
> 
> Ask yourself:  "What would I do if this
> machine/disk/etc. *died*?"
> 
> Would you p*ss and moan and just "deal with it"?
> Or, would you fall to your knees and cry out,
> "Why *me*?  Why?  Why?  Why???" in despair?  :>

Where does "I want to die" fall on your list?  Followed by going home,
curling up on the floor, and weeping until I just can't cry any more.
Followed by drinking into the night and passing out.  Followed by
spending the next few days in bed or on the couch watching t.v. and
certainly not returning to the office for a few days.

I'm really not exaggerating that much.

My notebook is my work; all of my data, research, analysis, and, most
importantly, my writings in progress.  And as important as it is--as
fragile as notebooks are--I do not consistently perform manual
backups.  And it certainly doesn't happen when I'm travelling.  That's
the whole purpose of buying a server; to have something that I can
stick on the network so that I can set up a cron job on my notebook
for an incremental backup everyday, wherever I may be.

You've convinced me that my original course of action was correct.  I
need to find a vendor who can build me a new machine in a "real"
server case, who offers a warranty and support in case anything goes
wrong.  You've also convinced me that I need to find some form of
external, offsite storage for semi-regular backups of the server (I'm
looking at external USB drives as tape drives are too expensive for my
budget but if anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them).

What's irritating me is that I've called and/or emailed a few
different vendors and the only time that I've gotten through to a
human being, it was a salesperson who couldn't help me.  He promised
me that someone would get back to me but nobody's called.  Doesn't
give me much faith in their service and support.

Claude