Hi - I'm not quite sure whether you are asking about decisions on a
central processing server or desktops...or both?
For central processing servers the generally best deal seems to be
linux blade-style systems - for example, each node is 8 or 16 cores,
and ideally would have 32-64GB RAM - and then buy as many nodes as you
need and can afford.
For file servers, probably linux-based is best. Definitely NOT Apple-
based for that.
For desktops, either iMacs or Linux PC desktops are fine, and have
potentially similar spec, though you can probably get the Linux boxes
cheaper. In FMRIB we use iMacs almost exclusively for desktops, even
though they are probably a little more expensive, because it is so
convenient to have Unix (FSL, matlab, etc.) and MS-Office tools all
runnable directly on your desktop.
Cheers, Steve.
On 12 Aug 2009, at 08:19, William Sohn wrote:
> Dear FSL users,
>
> I am looking to purchase new computers for my laboratory. The
> question main
> question I have is that are MAC's worth the money? I have the
> option of
> buying new top of the line macs, upgrading our lab server, or using
> a old PC
> cluster. From what I hear upgrading our lab server or buying new
> MACs are
> my best options which bring me too my next question.
>
> I looked over the time tables
> (http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/feeds/doc/timings.html) and it shows
> that the
> MAC pro laptops are faster then the desktops? I wanted to confirm
> this
> because it just seemed a little weird.
>
> If the difference between the mac laptop and a pc server is that
> small then I
> was thinking just to upgrade the pc server, however it seems like
> the mac pro
> desktop should perform a lot faster than the laptop. If the
> performance is
> that much better I was considering buying the macs.
>
> Another consideration is that most of the people in our lab are
> longtime PC
> users and are unfamilar with MACs so if we run into any technical
> difficulties it
> would be hard to fix.
>
> While I may be asking a biased audience (I was at the macfest united
> this
> summer in SF) i just wanted to get in as many second opinions as
> possible.
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> -William Sohn
>
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Stephen M. Smith, Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Associate Director, Oxford University FMRIB Centre
FMRIB, JR Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
+44 (0) 1865 222726 (fax 222717)
[log in to unmask] http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~steve
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