System Building as an Art Form

There are times where we put our own desktop systems together.

Our system builders are actually very meticulous about their system building. They provide a system that is put together keeping in mind the air flow characteristics of the case.

It was my first employer out here in Alberta that really taught me about what can only be termed "finesse" when putting a system together. That was Larry MacDonald, and he now owns a company called Executech Computer Services based in Edmonton. He is perhaps the most influential person in shaping my own business sense next to my Dad.

Over the years, after building who knows how many systems and servers, there has been a realization to some degree that what we do can be considered an art form.

How is that?

When we build systems and servers, there is a lot of thought that goes into the process. We take the time to make sure everything will fit together properly, not interfere with the airflow characteristics of the chassis, and the aesthetics within the case.

Minuet and DQ35JOE Preliminary Stages

As we progress through the system build, we will end up with a system that will not look like it has been slapped together without any consideration at all.

Completed Minuet Q6600 with RAID 1

We make use of a lot of plastic ties to make sure the wiring is neatly tied out of the way of any needed air flow.

Art can be seen in so many things that we do. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as the old cliché goes, and indeed, a well built system is a beautiful sight.

If it wasn't so, then perhaps the System Modding community would not exist. There are a lot of people who put some serious time into their system setups leaving no stone unturned when it comes to form and function. And it shows. :)

And, a bit of a plug for us: The above system, and around five others like it are going to be in a classroom we are setting up in the shop.

We have already been running one-on-one training sessions for clients on a couple of the systems that are currently built, but one of our goals is to provide hands-on training to the I.T. community specifically on Small Business Server environments.

How that pans out is still up in the air, but one thing is for certain: We have a passion to share the knowledge we have garnered over the years here. Besides this blog which is one avenue to share that knowledge, the classroom is, in our opinion, the next step.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us, and me especially, with words of encouragement, constructive criticism, and constructive correction.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.