Better System for SIMS.NET

[CM786]

Hi guys,

Now I don't normally have anything to do with SIMS but....

The secretary at one of my schools had been struggling to get her year end procedure in SIMS.NET completed. She has contacted SIMS and they have basically said that the machine is not up to the task anymore.

SQL Server is at 100% constantly while the procedure is running and basically the machine konks out.

A Capita Techie remoted into the machine and said the PC is too slow!

It is a P4 1.8Ghz with 512Mb of Ram. I suggested a Ram upgrade to 1Gb, but apparently it still won't do.

She is panicking because she needs to complete her year-end procedure asap (she has been trying since last week!) so want's me to get her a new PC ASAP. Dell (Capita) will not deliver a machine in time, so I said I would get my local computer place to custom build me on with a 3 year warrenty where I can pick it up for her on Monday.

Based on a rough Capita Spec I have come up with:

Pentium 4 Dual Core 2 x 3Ghz,
2Gb DDR2 Ram (Corsair top quality Twinx,)
200Gb Seagate SATA2 HDD
Asus motherboard

OR

Athlon X2 4200+
Asus Motherboard,
2Gb DDR Ram (Corsair top quality Twinx,)
36Gb WD Rapter (OS Drive)
250Gb SATA2 HDD (Date)

Both come with the gigabit lan, firewire etc etc etc.

The Athlon system I know will be much faster then the Intel, but is the difference noticable in SIMS.NET? Can Sims take advantage of the Dual Cores?

The price difference between the systems is about £250 more for the AMD.

The shop said that they can use the new AM2 format for the Athlon system so it uses DDR2 800Mhz Ram, but I might just stick with PC3200 DDR, since the AM2 platform is very new and might have stability issues (but it seems that if the right Ram is used your fine)

Any ideas?

Thanks

[ChrisC]

AM2 is not hugely different technology in terms of other hardware, it just seems to make ddr2 work that bit better.....

You might aswell just go with 3200DDR at the mo, as you said.

Chris

[ChrisC]

here's some more:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=2741&p=1

[bossman]

Does the school in question not have an SLA MIS agreement with the local authority?
If so they should have sorted it by now. In my dealings with the Sims.net every school in County Durham has an SLA with Durham LEA. I myself have just the MIS SLA in place which is really a pittance per year. Well worth the money.

[CM786]

Just updating the thread

The school has no SLA MIS agreement with the local authority - -they just have to deal with Capita direct.

In the end the school went for the AMD based system and it flies! Also makes use of the AMD Cool'n Quiet technology so that it uses less power when the PC s not being used and can throttle back performance for less demanding tasks.

Just need a better back up solution.

Thanks to everyone that contributed!

[meastaugh1]

Just out interest, did Capita advise that the original server spec was inadequate? Their hardware recommendations on supportnet are 1.5GHz and 512mb RAM minimum/1GB recommended. The only time I've been told different by CES, is when an update has broken something, and are playing for time.

The reason I ask, is that I'm planning to move SIMS to a different server to provide better redundancy. 3P4/1GB RAM (although the RAM could probably do with an increase).

If Capita are going to change their minimum specs, I'd be interested to see them. cheers.

[GrumbleDook]

I would openly recommend that if you are running any server as a DB server then stick as much RAM in as you can ...

We will be moving to a new box next financial year and it will have at least 2 Gig ...

Then again, we are also looking at the new Quad Core kit coming from Dell soon to allow us to get Virtualisation going ... up to 16 Gig of RAM and 4 sockets ...

It may even be the server running things on the EduGeek stand at BETT ... all say "oooohhhhh"

[eduabncs]

And then all say 'Ahhhhhhhh'! :laughing5:

[john]

'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew' hehe its a Dell, so it don't please me i'm afraid.