Workstation Laptops
It is often the case that architects and designers, creatives, developers and IT administrators need a little more kick from the computers they use. Workstation computers are an effective way to offer a stable and efficient platform for you and your staff to work on.
There are benefits and drawbacks to workstations which are primarily: cost, devices being possible single-point of failures in the event one is damaged or breaks, and finally re-usability given they use custom hardware.
Workstation laptops are quite effective because while they weigh more than a standard laptop, they are also much more powerful. Often a workstation laptop will include a graphics card to accommodate CGI or production of video content.
Laptop models such as the XPS and Precision are often the preferred choice for designers who use a Windows operating system. It is, however, more common for specialists to use *nix or Unix-like systems such as Apple’s MacBooks. These devices all have quirks which need to be accounted for.
Tower Workstations
Tower workstations are often much cheaper than laptops because a laptop requires more energy and time to assemble. This in turn means that for people who do not need a more mobile device the tower is preferred.
Cost-efficiency is not the only consideration for tower workstations; they often have more physical space within the chassis in order to provide more throughput for users. Tower workstations will often have much larger parts in them and better cooling to allow you to work on them for an extended time.
Tower workstations will often weigh about 20KG whereas workstation laptop will weigh about 5KG, this illustrates the economy and power of a tower when compared to the more mobile laptops which cost significantly more.
Workstation Computers for Servers
There are many different kinds of devices with which you can operate a server on, and our partner Dell Technologies service all requirements for all businesses. As the world’s largest technology company and a principal partner for small business in the UK Dell’s variety of choice is immense.
Here we will explore Workstation Computers specifically designed to run server workloads on, these are often most helpful for Small Office / Home Office environments. It is good-practice to physically separate these devices from the rest of the office and this is easily done with a Rack Mount that is designed for Tower Servers (they can even be on wheels).
Hayachi Services often recommend Red Hat Enterprise Linux server to our customers, primarily because the Linux operating system is a lightweight and more stable one to run your most critical workloads on – as 90% of Fortune500 companies do. You can purchase Tower Servers pre-loaded with Red Hat Enterprise Linux server for convenience as well.
Tower servers often have the capability to facilitate intensive operations such as running a Unity Build Server for design and CGI purposes, and can often run multiple servers on the hardware through virtualisation.
Tower servers are often heavier than workstations namely because they are much more specialised for particular needs, especially if the server is intended to be used for even more intensive design work such as a Build server.
Workstations aren’t for everyone, in fact we would often recommend a considered and thorough evaluation of the exact capability required because it is also possible to benefit from certain workloads through hosting-providers.
Workstations are nonetheless much-loved and have a very particular purpose, for which they excel at. In the event you do not require such specialised devices we would recommend looking at our piece on Agile Working and Tablet Computers.
