Evaluation of system and performance
Performance of systems
All the systems are extremely fast and I believe that they meet all the required needs. I am going to split up this part of the evaluation into four parts:
- Ryan Townsend's system
- Joshua Nightingale's system
- John Kern's system
- Recommended improvements
Ryan Townsend's system:
The system is very fast, and it allows Ryan to develop Java software effectively and efficiently. The Linux operating system is incredibly stable and reliable. One improvement that could be made in due course is to upgrade the processor. This would make compiling the Java in GCJ alot faster. During the group meeting we did discuss upgrades. Joshua said that he will be upgrading his processor as soon as AMD release their new socket 939 product line, and we all agreed that Ryan would inherit his old one (which itself is extremely powerful). I aimed overall to make a software development workstation that would be both powerful and easily upgradeable. I suggest to you and I personally feel that I have achieved this with Ryan's system.
Joshua Nightingale's system:
Joshua's system consists of currently the most powerful and best components available. He required all the latest and the most innovative hardware technology available. This is because he is currently testing the operating system: Fedora Core 4 by RedHat. I also suggest that I have met his requirements and have provided him with this kind of system in the most appropriate manner. Because I was able to build it myself, I was able to spend more on the actual components themselves. With the amount of power he now has behind him, he will be able to stretch Fedora Core 4 to its limits.
John Kern's system:
I have been able to build and configure this system very easily. It is also easily upgradeable which is a good characteristic of it. It uses the same technology as the other systems and therefore should be extremely reliable. John's dual core processor is also very powerful and is sufficient for his needs. One improvement that could be implemented in due time is to install the BETA version of Microsoft's new operating system: Vista®. With this he will be able to test and develop his Windows and his .NET development skills with the most latest technology. This will give him an edge of his competitors.
Realistic recommendations for improvements:
If the company expands and takes off, it may be a good idea to purchase a very high powered networked Linux box. This system will be used strictly for compiling. The developers would be given access to this box via the network and then use it's processing power to compile and examine their software and coding. This system would have multiple processors and a vast amount of RAM. Note though, that this option is only viable is the company expands and the software they are developing becomes more sophisticated.
My own performance
I believe that I have performed reasonably well through-out this project but they're is definately room for improvement. I have learnt a lot during its creation about myself and the way I work. I feel that I am very blessed because I am much more fortunate than many of my peers. Many of my classmates where unable to use dreamweaver to create the ePortfolio and use a digital camera to capture their own pictures. I was able to do this, but not as effectively as I would have liked--my photography skills are not very good! If I where to re-do this whole project I would have given the client a questionnaire after installing and configuring the systems to help assess the performance of each.
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