I work with rather smaller datasets generally, though if one of my colleagues gets a grant to do a lot of real time data gathering that could change.
If it helps convince said new faculty member, I will share my experience from last year.
I switched to OS/X last year. There were a few minor hiccups and a soft learing curve but it has been great since then: 99% of the time I don't even notice it. I have Parallels to run WinXP so I still have access to SAS, etc. I run Stata natively. It is very nice, though I wish could group all the windows together. (Mac native SPSS---ugh---is a slow and lazy dog.) Productivity apps like MS Word for Mac are icky and I prefer to run LaTeX on the Windows side so I can keep using WinEDT.
-----Original Message-----
From: "Paula Lackie" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Sent: 7/7/2008 1:07 AM
Subject: st: building a "dream" stata desktop sestup - what's your advise?
I'm setting up an incoming faculty member with what I hope to be a "dream machine." I'm looking for your expert opinions regarding what you'd like to have given the following parameters:
- .25-3Gig routine data file sizes
- a small IT department with limited experience with stata and a strong desire for a standard desktop operating system on hardware they are familiar with (eg: MacPro & Dell optiplex minitower 755.)
- a one-time $10,000 USD setup budget
Obviously we're going to need a 64 bit OS and my incoming faculty person is Vista-averse. I'm inclined toward encouraging the MacPro hardware: quad-core processor (expandable to another quad-core & up to 32gig of ram, internal raid-array drives... it seems perfect for this application.)
My problems are twofold on the MacOS front - first, when will stata actually have the 64 bit Mac version? and second, my new faculty member is also Mac-OS averse.
Does anyone have experience to share with running large data files through the 32bit Stata on a MacPro quad-core? How does it compare with a 2 yr old dual-core 64 bit XP system with .. say, 8 gig of ram? Any guesses?
My sense of XP is that it's a dying OS and I'd hate to use his one-time startup funds on a relatively-soon-to-be-unsupported OS. And then there's the problem (from the point of view of my IT dept) of supporting 64bit XP. (Though it theoretically would run fine on the MacPro hardware - not in emulation mode - but booting directly into XP.)
Thank you for your time and opinions!
Paula
_________________________________________________________________
Paula Lackie - Carleton College - Northfield, MN USA
Academic Technologist
http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/at/
[email protected] | 507.222.5607 | http://go.carleton.edu/e6
__________________________________________________________________
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