280AppendixA • Typical Hardware Requirements for a Linux Development Workstation
Again, disk size may have to be increased if large volumes of data are being used in the
testing of the application.
These estimates for simply generic in nature and would be a good starting place for new
equipment purchases. It is entirely possible for productive development to take place on older,
used equipment in the sub 300 MHz range. It depends entirely upon the application being devel-
oped and the time available to accomplish the task.
However, with the cost of equipment constantly falling, it is often well worth the invest-
ment in newer equipment in order to reduce the compile time of the application.
A.6Distributed Development—Remote Access
This example supposes that multiple developers will be accessing a remote server and develop-
ing on that platform. The source code will reside on the server and the server will be used to
compile the programs.
In this instance, the requirements for the workstations will be modest compared to the pre-
vious example, but the need for central server is added. This server will need to be far more pow-
erful than the previously specified workstation.
The server should be as fast as the budget and circumstances permit, and the number of
simultaneous developers using the platform should be considered. You will almost certainly
want a server with several processors.
It will require more disk space, preferably with RAID enabled and the most utilized file
systems spread out over several physical disks. A complete backup strategy should be in place
and tested on a regular basis in order to ensure that the data is secure and can be restored in the
event that any problems should arise.
This server will require a large amount of memory as well. Several gigabytes is not unrea-
sonable for a small number of developers. Several developers trying to compile at once can
quickly drain the system’s resources.
If the remote access strategy includes using a secure shell (ssh) to connect to the server,
additional processing power will be required due to the encryption overhead.
On the other hand, the actual workstation in this example would be comparatively modest.
Most workstations capable of handling word processing and e-mail tasks should be up to han-
dling this type of load with little difficulty. All of the storage, access and intensive processor use
will take place on the server.
A.7Distributed Development—Source Code Repository
This last example is a combination of the other two designs, and has probably supported more
Open Source developers than any other model. In this design, a relatively small-scale server is
used as a software repository and individual workstations similar to the one in the first example
are used to provide the actual processing power.
The main requirement for the server is a large disk storage space and a modest amount of
memory. CVS, the source code control application used in this book, as well as others, can use