Better computer for brownfield situation
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The AD is a mess, so here's a dedicated thread to a very specific situation, I might make a few of these.
Current scenario:
9 Windows PC
1 Fedora server - running pharmacy software and nothing else.Single shared account on all 9 computers for daily use
Files randomly stored on all 9 PCs
O365 for email
PCs all have automatic updates enabled - but most PCs are very far behind in updates (don't know why)
Non windows software is not automatically updated, and severely out of dateGoals:
Files available to only those with permissions from any computer (even non office computers)
accountability of who is accessing files
Anyone can use any computer in the office
Windows updates applying consistantly
non windows updates applied regularly -
I want to say the goals include something to the effect - ensure HIPAA compliancy by some means of ensuring that patient data is logged under the person's name who is actually doing it, and not left to the last person who logged in.
Centralized knowledge of windows updates/non windows updates
centralized knowledge of AV statusAm I missing any typical goals?
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Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
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@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
Absolutely. Dell makes a nice USB-C dock that charges the laptop and has HDMI + 2 DP for video.
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
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@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
Why are they hosting a server with 9 employees?
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
Why are they hosting a server with 9 employees?
They investigated multiple pharmacy solutions (local/cloud) and all the rest were significantly more expensive than the one with a locally hosted instance.
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
Why are they hosting a server with 9 employees?
Because that is how their LoB software comes.
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@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
Why are they hosting a server with 9 employees?
They investigated multiple pharmacy solutions (local/cloud) and all the rest were significantly more expensive than the one with a locally hosted instance.
Including the costs of hardware?
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@JaredBusch said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
Why are they hosting a server with 9 employees?
They investigated multiple pharmacy solutions (local/cloud) and all the rest were significantly more expensive than the one with a locally hosted instance.
Including the costs of hardware?
And support
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And licensing
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
Even in large environments. I haven't used a desktop for years. There's just no need except for dedicated stations or kiosks. With the tech now adays, there's no need to keep devices on-prem to have 100% oversight of them, that can happen from anywhere now.
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@JaredBusch said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
LOL - dedicated... their old server was installed into a workstation space - and users used it as a desktop machine as well as a server. Historically they have bought as little hardware as possible - granted, they shouldn't be just spending willy nilly, but dedicated devices doesn't seem to be something they understand.
First thing I asked does the server have any problems? answer - yes... then start by stopping using it as a workstation. They said - OK... they ordered a replacement PC and we moved the server 2 weeks later.
Why are they hosting a server with 9 employees?
They investigated multiple pharmacy solutions (local/cloud) and all the rest were significantly more expensive than the one with a locally hosted instance.
Including the costs of hardware?
So they tell me.
this new server cost them $5K (got it in Dec) they are telling me that Cloud hosted is way more expensive - I have to assume something like over 5 years - but they gave me no details.
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@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
And licensing
What licensing? the server is Fedora.
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@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
The AD is a mess, so here's a dedicated thread to a very specific situation, I might make a few of these.
Current scenario:
9 Windows PC
1 Fedora server - running pharmacy software and nothing else.This is the ENTIRE environment? 10 total machines, 1:9?
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@Obsolesce said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@IRJ said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
Moving everything to OneDrive would essentially meet all your goals
Yes and no - today, there is no logging in and out of the computers. Everyone just uses the same logon.
Going to OD would require people to log in and out of OD at a minimum likely several times a day. Frankly that's so much frustration that I would think giving everyone a laptop would be better - here's your one device, take it with you.
But that doesn't work for the two POS terminals (which are included in the 9) where they do treat those terminals just like normal windows machines and run other things besides POS on them. So I would assume this would likely lead to needing more computers, so the POS can be dedicated POS systems.
Yes POS should be dedicated of course.
Yeah I think everyone having a laptop would be the most reasonable for small environment
Even in large environments. I haven't used a desktop for years. There's just no need except for dedicated stations or kiosks. With the tech now adays, there's no need to keep devices on-prem to have 100% oversight of them, that can happen from anywhere now.
of course that's true - but damn, even a 15" display is tiny! I love my desktop with 2 24" displays and a full sized keyboard.
I recently setup a Manager and her assistant with a 15" laptop - USB C dock, 2 22" monitors/keyboard and mouse - they use the desktop mode 95% of the time or more.
This setup cost nearly $2000, a desktop would have cost more like $1400, possibly less.
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@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
of course that's true - but damn, even a 15" display is tiny! I love my desktop with 2 24" displays and a full sized keyboard.
You don't need a desktop to use monitors.... I always have dual big monitors where I work.
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@scottalanmiller said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
@Dashrender said in Better computer for brownfield situation:
The AD is a mess, so here's a dedicated thread to a very specific situation, I might make a few of these.
Current scenario:
9 Windows PC
1 Fedora server - running pharmacy software and nothing else.This is the ENTIRE environment? 10 total machines, 1:9?
yep. Now everyone has phones, they all have teams on those phones, the two owners have a laptop at home, but they don't come into the office... though are used for remote access.
Edit - I didn't mention printers - that's also on the network, but I'm pretty sure that's all.
