Computer for Web Development?

[billybobsky]

Nothing too complex. I want to be able to simulate potential changes to a site built on joomla which as far as I can tell requires a computer with an x86 processor... I am debating between three possibilities, a mac mini (however, i don't have a monitor nor keyboard, and I think it is underpowered), the iMac, or a homebuilt pc...

Thoughts?

[rollercoaster375]

Joomla's just PHP. It'll run on anything.

[billybobsky]

Yeah...I understand that but i need to simulate the ENTIRE site locally...

The two recommended local host servers both require x86 processor architectures... (notably, xampp will run on osx (intel))...

[spikeh]

Just go with a homebuilt PC. It'll be cheaper, and you can always upgrade it if you need to.

[Moogs]

Well I don't know what kind of machine you currently run, but if you're going to put money down and you don't have a Macintel yet, I'd go that route and do your PC work in Boot Camp or parallels.

[turtle]

Well I don't know what kind of machine you currently run, but if you're going to put money down and you don't have a Macintel yet, I'd go that route and do your PC work in Boot Camp or parallels.

I'll second this.

My Mini is a first gen PPC so I can't speak from experience, but I don't see why a Mini won't do everything you need. The next point would be of what screen size you need. Since you don't have a monitor and keyboard now you'll have to get one for a PC or Mini. If you're not set on keeping only Mac OS in your home then it would be cheaper to build a PC and load up XP on it. If you would rather the machine last longer, then to put a good system together running Vista will be a little more.

You could get an iMac which would have everything contained and then not have to deal with the acquisition of keyboard, monitor and mouse. With the education discount (I think I remember hearing your a grad student) you would save a few pennies going that route and have a pretty good machine.

If cost is the main factor: Homebuilt PC with XP
Future use: Mini/iMac and BootCamp/Parallels

[Wyatt]

I would go for an iMac or mini and just do the work in OS X. I use MAMP (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/unix_open_source/mamp.html) to run an Apache server with MySQL and PHP (which Joomla will run on) locally on my MacBook. I use it for testing every Web application I use and develop, and it's an extremely useful setup. You can open the PHP error log from MAMP in Console, and you can use whatever editor you want for the code (I use SubEthaEdit).

[Brad]

If this is serious commercial work, you should run the same operating system and all libraries that are installed on the server. Where I work, all the developers are using machines that have exactly the exact same versions (for that matter, the very same compiled binaries) of RHEL and various extras that run in our production servers. Granted, our development boxes don't have their own NAS or as much RAM as the production servers, but they are as close as is reasonably possible.

Of course, if this is just a personal project, running it under Mac OS X on your home computer is probably just fine (assuming the actual server isn't running Mac OS X).

[Schnauzer]

Just go with a homebuilt PC. It'll be cheaper, and you can always upgrade it if you need to.
agreed

[billybobsky]

Thanks fcgriz... This may have saved me some money...

[Wyatt]

Thanks fcgriz... This may have saved me some money...
No problem. MAMP is wonderful (and universal). If you've got a decent Mac with enough RAM, you won't even need to buy a new machine.

[specter]

Well I don't know what kind of machine you currently run, but if you're going to put money down and you don't have a Macintel yet, I'd go that route and do your PC work in Boot Camp or parallels.
I think that using Parallels (http://www.parallels.com) or Boot Camp for these purposes will be the easiest solution. IMHO there's no need to bother buying a PC. I think that Parallels will cope with that fine. Or at least Boot Camp.

[Wyatt]

I think that using Parallels (http://www.parallels.com) or Boot Camp for these purposes will be the easiest solution. IMHO there's no need to bother buying a PC. I think that Parallels will cope with that fine. Or at least Boot Camp.
Actually, the "easiest" solution is what I posted. It doesn't require an x86 architecture at all, so he doesn't have to buy a new computer of any kind. He can just use his current PPC machine. MAMP allows him to run a virtual server of sorts on his local machine, no matter if he has a PPC or Intel Mac. It includes modules for PHP and MySQL and is completely self-contained.

[Wyatt]

Actually, the "easiest" solution is what I posted. It doesn't require an x86 architecture at all, so he doesn't have to buy a new computer of any kind. He can just use his current PPC machine. MAMP allows him to run a virtual server of sorts on his local machine, no matter if he has a PPC or Intel Mac. It includes modules for PHP and MySQL and is completely self-contained.
On that note, it appears the developers have released MAMP Pro (http://www.living-e.de/en/products/MAMP-PRO/index.php) today. It adds an e-mail server and allows for multiple configurations (for example, you can test one application in PHP 4 while testing another in a PHP 5 environment on the same machine). billybobsky, I don't know if this is anything you might be interested in, but I thought I should mention it since we've been talking about it a little.

[specter]

Actually, the "easiest" solution is what I posted.
No objections:) It is.

[Gargoyle]

Install an ubuntu LAMP server using parallels. You can go from nothing to a fully working webserver in 10 mins (I timed myself last time I did it!) :D