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Thread ID: 94999	2008-11-20 03:42:00	Notebook purchase for web and database dev	mschiefmaker (14340)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
721599	2008-11-20 03:42:00	Hi I need a new Notebook for work which will need to be able to run MYSQL databases, web development tools such as eclipse, dreamweaver, flash and Adobe Illustrator. As it a work machine it needs to be fast and reliable. I will need to be able to take it to client sites but it doesn't need to be super lite. I would prefer to get the option to get Vista installed then downgrade to XP. I have been looking at the Tosh Tecra M10 and the Satellite Pro P300 or ASUS F6V. Any thoughts on which of these (or others in their ranges) would be good for this kind of use? Thanks MM	mschiefmaker (14340)
721600	2008-11-20 05:22:00	What kind of database work are you wanting to do? Some of the common tasks I do with MySQL involve scripts that can take many minutes to run - if you are wanting to so anything similar, you'll want a CPU with good single-thread performance unless you can parallelise your queries. Make sure you have a decent amount of ram, particularly if your database is large. Nothing will cause performance to suck more than not having enough ram to fit all your indexes. You should also be aware that MySQL will perform better on Linux - the Windows filesystems aren't well suited for it. Glad you're looking at Toshiba - as a rule they build pretty solid, well-specced machines that don't break (although a few models have one or more fundamental design flaws).	Erayd (23)
721601	2008-11-20 05:41:00	+1 for lots of ram, minimum 2GB. Not just for your database development but for the tools you listed. Eclipse can suffer from poor performance due to low spec'd machines, which will drive you nuts. Dual core processors are pretty much default these days, and there are some startup parameters you can set for eclipse to take advantage of that (eg set it's GC strategy for parallel processing). I've got a Toshiba Tecra M5 (2+ years old now), which is quite adequate for my development needs, a good machine. Another setup to consider: instead of installing your databases, web/application servers directly onto your laptop, run them as VMs with something like VMware server, also either consider getting either a 2nd internal harddrive or a USB harddrive and run them from there. That way your development machine just contains development tools and you're free to mess around with the databases/web servers in a sandboxed environment. For this setup, extra memory and another disk are key.	dyewitness (9398)
721602	2008-11-20 06:03:00	Another setup to consider: instead of installing your databases, web/application servers directly onto your laptop, run them as VMs with something like VMware server, also either consider getting either a 2nd internal harddrive or a USB harddrive and run them from there. That's not a bad idea - but don't use VMWare Server, as it does full CPU emulation (which makes the performance really suck). Use some kind of hypervisor, preferably one that supports VT.	Erayd (23)
721603	2008-11-20 08:16:00	That's not a bad idea - but don't use VMWare Server, as it does full CPU emulation (which makes the performance really suck). Use some kind of hypervisor, preferably one that supports VT. I don't think VMware Server's performance sucks that much, plus it has the added benefit of an easy install/setup: just another application running on the laptop. As for the hypervisor version, can't comment, I've never set it up. Do the laptops the OP is considering support VT?	dyewitness (9398)
721604	2008-11-20 10:06:00	I don't think VMware Server's performance sucks that much, plus it has the added benefit of an easy install/setup: just another application running on the laptop.Trust me - when you run it side-by-side with something like Xen or ESX, or compared to a bare-metal solution, you'll definitely notice the difference. There is a *huge* gap in performance. If you're after easy but with good performance, virtualbox on Linux (with the kernel module) rules the roost in that regard. Note that this comment does *not* apply to the same on Windows due to the lack of support in the kernel. As for the hypervisor version, can't comment, I've never set it up. If you get the chance, have a play with Xen or VMWare ESX. Both of these are hypervisors. There's also the new Microsoft one (the one that comes with server 2008). Do the laptops the OP is considering support VT?Any half-decent intel CPU from the last couple of years supports it, and AMD also have their own equivalent. Even many of the low-end systems support it these days, so anything the OP is likely to get should certainly have it. Note that it may need enabling in the BIOS before you can use it though.	Erayd (23)
721605	2008-11-20 22:39:00	Thanks Erayd for the informed response, I've downloaded VMware's ESX, but don't have any spare hardware to run it on at the moment. And to the OP, sorry for highjacking your thread. Go for a Toshiba laptop :)	dyewitness (9398)
721606	2008-11-23 03:56:00	Thanks for all you replies . In summary so far it is: 1 . Go Toshiba with at least 2Gb RAM . 2 . A CPU with good single thread performance (at least one of the databases will be large and I expect the queries to take some time to run) 3 . Add an additional HD to set-up a sandbox environment using virtual machines with a hypervisor which supports VT such as Xen or ESX Any other thoughts? One more question Linux versus windows? I know MySQL runs better with Linux but would kind of like to stick with Microsoft? Are there many people out there doing that? Thanks MM	mschiefmaker (14340)
721607	2008-11-23 09:41:00	One more question Linux versus windows? I know MySQL runs better with Linux but would kind of like to stick with Microsoft? Are there many people out there doing that?Yes - there are many database devs who prefer to run Windows. It really comes down to personal preference - MySQL does run better on Linux filesystems, but on a dev machine it doesn't matter too much if you can't wring every last shred of speed out of it.	Erayd (23)
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