6 ms·

Garry Newman's Portable Workstation: A Hard Drive

14 points by thetabyte 14y ago

AdamGibbins 14y ago
Lenovo do multiple ThinkPads that have docks that support 3 monitors. Example: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t520 http://shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t520 and http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-72873 http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.pag... Lack of SSD surprises me, one would think Gary Newman (creator of Garry's Mod) had need.
- eli 14y ago
  And if you're so inclined, you can pick them up at a nice discount from Lenovo's Outlet site -- as long as you don't mind refurbs and other returns: http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?series=143 http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?series=143
- bonzoesc 14y ago
  > Lack of SSD surprises me, one would think Gary Newman (creator of Garry's Mod) had need. I don't know if a quality SSD would play well with the size of modern games.
  - rprime 14y ago
    Most mid-high level gamers use SSDs already, myself included, yes you cannot store TBs of games but why do that when you have Steam.
    - bonzoesc 14y ago
      Because a huge hard drive is presumably cheaper than the Garry Newman time spent deciding to remove games instead of working on fun projects. It's the same reason I simply archive every email instead of deciding what to keep and what to trash.
bonzoesc 14y ago
Doesn't the frequently changing hardware play hell with Windows activation and other DRM systems that track serial numbers and MAC addresses?
- georgemcbay 14y ago
  I am not an expert on Windows Activation, but I think that this depends upon what kind of license you have. I know Technet/MSDN install keys allow you to use the same key on up to X different machine "fingerprints" depending upon what type of subscription you have, so in this case I think he'd be OK. It should just look like 2 of X activations on different machines. If you tried doing the same with an off-the-shelf Windows 7 upgrade install or an OEM install, I'm pretty sure you'd run into problems, though, unless the two machines were identical from the point of view of Windows Activation.
  - gouranga 14y ago
    No it's absolutely fine. Once activated, it's pretty much 100% ok if you move it around. It used to be an issue in Vista days but no longer - they have relaxed most requirements.
  - TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    I think it's mostly OEM editions that are restrictive. "Standard" licenses give you more freedom.
losethos 14y ago
I can put all my LoseThos files on a bootable CD-ROM. It takes 5 minutes at most. For $0.25 every day you could transfer and as a bonus have a backup history you need anyway.
joezydeco 14y ago
I'd like to know more about the hardware. Does Garry have identical computers on both sides of his commute? It's my decades-long experience with Windows that the moment you swap an existing boot drive into a new/different PC, Windows completely shits the bed with driver mismatches and incompatible versions.
- tluyben2 14y ago
  I'm curious about this as well; Windows shouldn't handle that well. Linux doesn't either but you can pretty much script it to handle it, not sure if that's possible with Windows?
  - joezydeco 14y ago
    I do remember now that Windows has a way to set up multiple "configurations" that you can choose at boot, but I don't recall if that will let you hop from PC to PC.
- warpspeed 14y ago
  Let's not forget that most licenses will freak out and stop working when they see new hardware. That's the Microsoft Genuine Software Advantage™
  - frou_dh 14y ago
    After I installed the new NVIDIA graphics driver yesterday to play Tribes Ascend, Microsoft-Security-Essentials informed me that it had ceased running because my Windows was not genuine. A second reboot seemed to placate it.
- koyote 14y ago
  I used to do the same thing he describes. I had a core2duo in one PC and an i7 in the other. Both powered by Nvidia graphics and on 64bit OS'es. Both Linux (arch) and Windows 7 worked without a complaint when swapping hard disk between the two. I do remember that back in the days you'd get an instant blue screen as soon as you change anything important hardware related on your rig. The only risk factor I can see is that the hard drive might get damaged during transport.
icebraining 14y ago
in the end I thought the whole system was flawed because I’d be transferring stuff from the office via my home internet connection. I don't get what he means by this...?
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  He's running an Active Directory server on his home network, so it would be using his slow home internet connection to upload data.
  - icebraining 14y ago
    Oh, right, I didn't consider that AD would only upload stuff when he logs in. I don't quite get why doesn't he use something that syncs before he reaches the office, though. Setting up the machine to power-on automatically a couple hours earlier and syncing using Dropbox, Unison, etc is not that hard.
ja27 14y ago
When I was doing a lot of Windows development and upgrading laptops a lot, I reached the point that I just imaged a laptop to a VMWare image. I could copy that image back and forth anywhere I needed to work - home desktop, work laptop, work ESX server, etc.
goggles99 14y ago
To those wondering about hardware differences - Just run your OS in VM. With modern processors you won't be able to tell the difference performance wise. Also, it's easy to make a backup of the image when you are wrapping up at work/home. This way, if you lose the drive or it fails - you will have a backup of your most recent work. I have seen people doing this for at least the last 10 years (I am surprised it is news). I agree with what some others have posted about using an SSD with eSata or USB3. This really is a great way to go. I wold recommend also throwing some kind of encryption in the mix (either encrypt the hard drive or use BitLocker or something comparable withing the OS since you will no doubt be carrying sensitive data or intellectual property around.

14 points by thetabyte 14y ago

Lenovo do multiple ThinkPads that have docks that support 3 monitors. Example: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t520 http://shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t520 and http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-72873 http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.pag... Lack of SSD surprises me, one would think Gary Newman (creator of Garry's Mod) had need.

eli 14y ago
And if you're so inclined, you can pick them up at a nice discount from Lenovo's Outlet site -- as long as you don't mind refurbs and other returns: http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?series=143 http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html?series=143
bonzoesc 14y ago
> Lack of SSD surprises me, one would think Gary Newman (creator of Garry's Mod) had need. I don't know if a quality SSD would play well with the size of modern games.
- rprime 14y ago
  Most mid-high level gamers use SSDs already, myself included, yes you cannot store TBs of games but why do that when you have Steam.
  - bonzoesc 14y ago
    Because a huge hard drive is presumably cheaper than the Garry Newman time spent deciding to remove games instead of working on fun projects. It's the same reason I simply archive every email instead of deciding what to keep and what to trash.

bonzoesc 14y ago

Doesn't the frequently changing hardware play hell with Windows activation and other DRM systems that track serial numbers and MAC addresses?

georgemcbay 14y ago
I am not an expert on Windows Activation, but I think that this depends upon what kind of license you have. I know Technet/MSDN install keys allow you to use the same key on up to X different machine "fingerprints" depending upon what type of subscription you have, so in this case I think he'd be OK. It should just look like 2 of X activations on different machines. If you tried doing the same with an off-the-shelf Windows 7 upgrade install or an OEM install, I'm pretty sure you'd run into problems, though, unless the two machines were identical from the point of view of Windows Activation.
- gouranga 14y ago
  No it's absolutely fine. Once activated, it's pretty much 100% ok if you move it around. It used to be an issue in Vista days but no longer - they have relaxed most requirements.
- TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
  I think it's mostly OEM editions that are restrictive. "Standard" licenses give you more freedom.

losethos 14y ago

I can put all my LoseThos files on a bootable CD-ROM. It takes 5 minutes at most. For $0.25 every day you could transfer and as a bonus have a backup history you need anyway.

joezydeco 14y ago

I'd like to know more about the hardware. Does Garry have identical computers on both sides of his commute? It's my decades-long experience with Windows that the moment you swap an existing boot drive into a new/different PC, Windows completely shits the bed with driver mismatches and incompatible versions.

tluyben2 14y ago
I'm curious about this as well; Windows shouldn't handle that well. Linux doesn't either but you can pretty much script it to handle it, not sure if that's possible with Windows?
- joezydeco 14y ago
  I do remember now that Windows has a way to set up multiple "configurations" that you can choose at boot, but I don't recall if that will let you hop from PC to PC.
warpspeed 14y ago
Let's not forget that most licenses will freak out and stop working when they see new hardware. That's the Microsoft Genuine Software Advantage™
- frou_dh 14y ago
  After I installed the new NVIDIA graphics driver yesterday to play Tribes Ascend, Microsoft-Security-Essentials informed me that it had ceased running because my Windows was not genuine. A second reboot seemed to placate it.
koyote 14y ago
I used to do the same thing he describes. I had a core2duo in one PC and an i7 in the other. Both powered by Nvidia graphics and on 64bit OS'es. Both Linux (arch) and Windows 7 worked without a complaint when swapping hard disk between the two. I do remember that back in the days you'd get an instant blue screen as soon as you change anything important hardware related on your rig. The only risk factor I can see is that the hard drive might get damaged during transport.

icebraining 14y ago

in the end I thought the whole system was flawed because I’d be transferring stuff from the office via my home internet connection. I don't get what he means by this...?

TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
He's running an Active Directory server on his home network, so it would be using his slow home internet connection to upload data.
- icebraining 14y ago
  Oh, right, I didn't consider that AD would only upload stuff when he logs in. I don't quite get why doesn't he use something that syncs before he reaches the office, though. Setting up the machine to power-on automatically a couple hours earlier and syncing using Dropbox, Unison, etc is not that hard.

ja27 14y ago

When I was doing a lot of Windows development and upgrading laptops a lot, I reached the point that I just imaged a laptop to a VMWare image. I could copy that image back and forth anywhere I needed to work - home desktop, work laptop, work ESX server, etc.

goggles99 14y ago

To those wondering about hardware differences - Just run your OS in VM. With modern processors you won't be able to tell the difference performance wise. Also, it's easy to make a backup of the image when you are wrapping up at work/home. This way, if you lose the drive or it fails - you will have a backup of your most recent work. I have seen people doing this for at least the last 10 years (I am surprised it is news). I agree with what some others have posted about using an SSD with eSata or USB3. This really is a great way to go. I wold recommend also throwing some kind of encryption in the mix (either encrypt the hard drive or use BitLocker or something comparable withing the OS since you will no doubt be carrying sensitive data or intellectual property around.