Computer Equipment
I am using a Apple Mac Pro with two Intel core-duo processors running at 2.66 GHZ.
- 6 GB of RAM
- One 1 TB hard drive for software applications.
- One 1.5 TB hard drive for my growing iTunes library.
- Two 750 GB hard drives configured as a mirrored RAID data set. (each file is simultaneously copied to two separate hard disks in case one hard drive fails). These drives keep a backup of my website, master copies of my photos and videos.
- 5 TB's worth of hard drives in a DROBO enclosure to back up all my data files in a second location. I use OS X's Time Machine to back up to the DROBO.
- 23" cinema display widescreen LCD monitor (Which is an AWESOME Display!!!)
- DVD-RW Dual Layer Superdrive
This computer is extreme overkill when it comes to putting a website together. It is by far, the most powerful computer I have ever used. It can chew up high definition video without cracking a sweat... My other computers choke and puke when I try to crunch high definition video through it.
When I was considering the new Mac Pro at the Apple store, I was amazed as the thought that Apple put into these cases. There are almost no wires or ribbon cables inside. Everything is "hardwired" to the mother board through different slots. Additionally, this is the quietest computer I have ever had. It sits right next to me and I cannot hear the fans or the hard drives running at all. My laptop is noisier than this thing.
I recently added the DROBO to my Mac Pro hardware inventory. I populated the DROBO with 3 x 1.5 TB hard drives and recycled a 500 MB hard drive I removed from my Mac Pro. That gives me a total of 3.17 TB's of protected storage. Supposedly, any single hard drive can fail in the DROBO and you swap the hard drive out and the DROBO will restore all the files that were on the failed hard drive. Anyway, I think that my data is protected by two different systems (1. Mirrored RAID drives in my Mac Pro, and 2. the files on DROBO). Short of a house fire or flood, I shouldn't suffer from any data loss.
As I mentioned above, this computer is WAY OVERKILL for developing the website, but I am dabbling in a few other "hobby type" endeavors such as:
- Recreational photography using my new EOS 5D 12.8 Megapixel DSLR (See below)
- Scanning an entire lifetime of photos (my family and Tami's) and archiving them digitally (been working on that for 4 years and have some 18,000+ photos scanned in from original negatives).
- Taking all of our family videos, editing them, and archiving them digitally.
- I also upgraded the family camcorder to a High Definition camcorder. I am hoping to do more short video clips (flying and non-flying) type stuff.