NYCPHP Meetup

[Mitch Pirtle]

On 10/9/07, Anthony Ferrara <ircmaxell at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Now, I paid $700 for the server, and $50 per month.

Tip o' the hat to you for getting that machine for $700, I don't think
I can, with that configuration. But I haven't bought intel hardware
since 1998, so you can't consider me current in "PC shopping".

> So, after 1 year, it saves me $500.  After that, I
> save $1,200 per year by using my own hardware...
> That's not a small amount...

I got a dual Athlon for $217/mo, and each year I retire it and upgrade
to the next biggest thing - first dual Athlons, then dual Opterons,
will most likely be 64-bit Opterons this spring when I make the
switcheroo. And it costs me nothing, as I'm turning one server on
while decommissioning the old. No way I'm getting that kind of
hardware for $700/year.

For me, the difference is I'm not physically required to deal with
making the switch, or managing hardware upgrades or maintenance. With
commodity hardware this is a bigger effort than the expensive
commercial stuff of yesteryear...

Factor in the time you spend doing it yourself, and then try to assign
a value to your time - how important it would be if you could have
spent that time doing something else. As a small business owner, that
is a critical consideration as effort/time often outweigh cost. If it
saves you time, chances are it will also allow you to make more money.

Feel free to tell me where you shop though! I got a stinky old HP
(ubuntu) workstation at home that needs replacing :-)

-- Mitch