All posts by Brian Pool

Need a new school lab?

Ed Tech Teach, Staff Tech Reviews

<![CDATA[Frequently technology coordinators are faced with the option of adding or upgrading a new lab at school.  Usually we just look at our current setup and upgrade to newer hardware, OSs, and associated software.  This past year I was faced with the possibility of adding an additional lab in a very old (low tech) building.  When our building supervisor looked at it he immediately said we would need a new sub-panel and wiring to support 28 new PCs in the room.  His estimate for that was $7500.
Instead of going for the wiring and the traditional approach, I decided to look into greener options.  The nComputing L300 option immediately popped out in my Google searches for low power PCs.  I am not a fanboy of thin computing and was very skeptical about the statements concerning it’s performance.  I contacted several other Technology Coordinators and got their feedback and recommendations.  All of them gave the system high praise, once they got their labs configured correctly.
The problem with this approach, and probably any thin computing lab, is proper configuration.  Two schools both recommended a fully configured option from FireFly Computers.  Their entire business is built on one thing, building nComputing Labs really well, and it turns out that they do just that.
IMG_0040We purchased their Firefly 1200 rackmount server and put it in our server closet.  We did a 28 station lab in the existing classroom (with no additional electrical added.)  The Ethernet (it is an all Ethernet connection back to the server) all goes through Gb switches to a single Gb copper line to the server.  The setup could not have been more simple and the performance has been exactly as advertised.
I would recommend this path for any new lab.  The price per workstation is much lower than ANY PC and the energy savings are great.]]>

Intel DG33FBC Review – Home PC Use

Motherboard reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[This review is of the Intel DG33FBC motherboard.  This motherboard is for typical home use.  It is in not an option for high end (or gamer) use.  While it could make a low end gaming machine, it is not for this purpose that it is being reviewed.
This motherboard is made by Intel Corporation (Intel.) Intel is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.  Known primarily to engineers and technologists, its "Intel Inside" advertising campaign of the 1990s made it a household name.  (Intel Wikipedia)
Intel1
The DG33FBC was originally released in 2007 and uses older memory and CPUs than current motherboards.  It is a ATX formfactor motherboard measuring 11.60 inches by 9.60 inches and supports the following:

  • CPU:  LGA775 CPU socket set supporting the Core™2 Quad, Core™2 Duo, Dual-Core, Celeron processors.
  • Memory:  Four DDR2 banks supporting 667 and 800 Mhz (Max 8Gb RAM with Max 2Gb each slot)

In addition it has the following on-board components:

  • Intel Graphics 3100 onboard graphics with VGA port
  • 6-channel (5.1) audio subsystem using the Realtek* ALC888 audio codec
  • 12 USB 2.0 ports
  • Four Serial ATA interfaces
  • One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100/133 support
  • One diskette drive interface
  • One IEEE 1394a port
  • PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports
  • One serial port header
  • Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) 82566DC LAN

Expansion Slots on the Board

  • Three PCI Conventional bus connectors
  • Three PCI Express x1 bus add-in card connector
  • One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector

A TigerDirect Review initially lead me to the board as I was looking into older Home PC Motherboards.  The review from users supported this product as it has 4 stars with Newegg. Customers and the specifications were great for a lower end product.  While neither carries it currently several refurbishers have it for sale including this one which includes a Dual Core CPU.  A great deal for a low end system at $60.  I would not recommend this board for a gaming system, but for a home PC being used for most applications and internet browsing, a definite plus for the cost.
References:
Newegg.com. <http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121100>.
Intel® <http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/dsktpboards/dg33fb>.
TigerDirect.<http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3042178>.
Intel.<http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/historic-timeline.html>.
Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel>.]]>