Hello Michael,
The keyword I read here is "installation", so the first three things on your list should be reliability, reliability and reliability. Nobody wants to see "This installation is out of order", and you don't want people seeing that right next to your name while you are 1000 miles away working on another project and uncontactable. Incidently - I saw a Nat West bank cashpoint yesterday with a "Win32 DLL missing" error - the thought of banking machines using Windows sends a shiver down my spine!
Closely connected to this is remote access, because this is your way into the system to reset or repair it when you are unable to be physically present.
Basically, the system should be designed like a server not a desktop. You will want an SSH shell, thttpd/boa type webserver to give you a page of easy to access stats, (uptime, CPU usage, memory etc). Stock Debian is probably the best all round OS for this application. The motherboard should be set up to reboot on shutdown (power into last state) so you can do a remote reset.
I think the best motherboards for installations are mini ITX 2.4GHz types. (Don't buy them from mini-itx.com if you ever want to see your purchase!) These can be practically silent with the fansink cooling, or if you want to go down to 1GHz (which can deliver a lot of audio) then you can go to a completely silent fanless system (perfect for small galleries). A wall mount case can be bolted to the underside of a desk as well as on a wall so your hardware doesn't go walkies when unattended.
Careful with cases, make sure there's enough slot room for any cards you want to add with mini ITX systems and make sure the PSU is rated high enough for the cards too (it probably is, even with the smallest wattage).
best regards, Andy
On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:31:10 +0100 Michael Iber music@chemie.fu-berlin.de wrote:
Hello list,
I have to build an audio computer running PD for an installation. Since I am not too familiar with actual hardware issues, I would like to ask, if there are any restrictions or aspects to kepp in mind concerning certain processor types, motherboards, graphic cards, HDs (SATA) ...
I will use a Hammerfall HDSP 9652 and the JAD-Distribution on a 32bit-architecture
Thanks a lot and a happy New Year, Michael
Michael Iber www.michael-iber.de mail@michael-iber.de
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