Classifying Your Systems

Computers are not all alike. The machine that serves 10 million Web site hits per day has a very different configuration than the one you'd put on an employee's desktop. Different classes of computers require different hardware. Most Web servers, for example, have more memory and disk space than desktop workstations do, and they use SCSI disk controllers rather than IDE controllers for performance. Web servers also require redundant power supplies and mirrored boot disks to provide some high availability features—none of which are necessary in desktop workstations.

Hardware differences among computer types result in cost differences, as well. When you're planning an entire system of computers, these cost differences can ...

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