New Mac Pro :-)

It was time to invest in some new hardware. Dual core is all well and good but I was becoming increasing frustrated by a lack of Memory and CPU when attempting to run multiple VM’s, especially whilst querying large databases and running everyday applications at the same time. I decided to upgrade my main Workstation to something powerful enough to fulfill my needs for the next three years and that could be upgraded easily. I settled on one of the new Mac Pro’s with the following spec:

Two Quad Core Intel Xeon ‘Harpertown’ 2.8Ghz Processors
6 Gb RAM
500Gb 7200 SATA Primary Drive
1 Tb 7200 SATA Secondary Drive
30’‘ Apple Cinema LCD Monitor
16 x Dual Layer DVD Writer
Airport Extreme WiFi Card
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256Mb Graphics Card
Applecare Protection Plan

The immediate benefit of this specification is that I can run several Windows Virtual Machines at the same time without any performance or memory issues, this saves time and frustration as it allows me to do more simultaneously. Have a look at the screenshot, it shows a Windows XP VM (itself running an IP Camera Application) and a Windows 2003 Server VM with Oracle running at the same time as several native Mac applications including a Digital TV Application, iTunes, Mail, Firefox Etc. As you can see from the Activity Monitor and the Menu Meters at the top of the screen it manages all this without breaking a sweat.



I can see this configuration providing a significant productivity boost ☺

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don't give up." - Anne Lamott