[microsound] OT: laptop for permanent sound installation - suggestions?

[Andrew C. Smith]

Hey, I'd suggest a Mac Mini, honestly. I had one installed for over a month, and it was turned off and the end of every night and turned back on in the morning. However, we had one running once for at least three months straight (running a Python script to record, analyze and play back sound) and that crashed maybe once. It was in a terrible building though, next to a really bright incandescent light and under a non-ventilated black box.

So, I'd say get a Mac mini on craigslist. I got one for $200 and it's great.

Andrew

On Nov 6, 2010, at 5:38 AM, Tobias Reber wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> thanks for the massive feedback and raising many very valuable concerns and issues.
> Also, thanks Dan for the ZBOX tip.
> 
> It seems I need to rephrase my intention a bit, though: the installation is for a private home/living room of friends of mine who a) don't have much money and b) don't pay me very much. We both share an interest in acoustically augmenting one's everyday surroundings. So this is a test situation with a very limited budget, with no pressure to function in public - trying out a cheap solution and seeing how it goes seems the logical way to go. The people living with it will also be able to easily switch it off /restart it at any point. We will regularly change or expand sound modules according to their experiences with it.
> 
> If at any point I will work on a public 24h-a-day permanent installation I will make sure to use the most solid server affordable.
> 
> Thanks again for all your input, and feel free to continue/mutate this discussion (as Salman did), I'm looking forward to learning much more. :)
> 
> Tobias
> 
> 
> Am 06.11.2010 um 01:46 schrieb Salman Bakht:
> 
>> (i'm not the original poster, but) do you have suggestions for
>> "server-grade solutions"? i've never even considered that and,
>> honestly, i wouldn't even know where to start looking. and how cheap
>> could that possibility be?
>> 
>> salman
>> 
>> On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 1:58 AM, Trond Lossius <trond.lossius at bek.no> wrote:
>>>> Just a little over a month ago I have witnessed a mac mini failure
>>>> (the night before the opening of the exhibition).  Video playback was
>>>> involved (does that qualify as "processing"?).  The new mac mini that
>>>> was purchased as a replacement did make it through the month, however.
>>>> 
>>>> I will restate my point again: consumer grade equipment (regardless of
>>>> manufacturer) carries a high risk of failure in the context of
>>>> permanent exhibition.  YMMV.
>>> 
>>> I agree. If you need to have an installation running for long periods of time, I would suggest looking towards server-grade solutions, as performance under strain for pro-longed periods of time, stability and redundancy is key to servers. I'm not sure that the minimac server qualifies as belonging to that league. Mirrored disks would probably be a good idea. I would also consider setting up remote administration and monitoring, and some kind of watchdog solution.
>>> 
>>> Cheers,
>>> Trond
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> ---
> 
> Tobias Reber
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> 
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> 
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