From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from lists.gentoo.org (pigeon.gentoo.org [208.92.234.80]) by finch.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A03D81381F3 for ; Mon, 29 Jul 2013 20:22:49 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pigeon.gentoo.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with SMTP id 95F3FE0A76; Mon, 29 Jul 2013 20:22:42 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-qe0-f44.google.com (mail-qe0-f44.google.com [209.85.128.44]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pigeon.gentoo.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 97BFCE0804 for ; Mon, 29 Jul 2013 20:22:41 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-qe0-f44.google.com with SMTP id 6so2624147qeb.31 for ; Mon, 29 Jul 2013 13:22:40 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=date:from:to:subject:message-id:mime-version:content-type :content-disposition:user-agent; bh=J0rSI0bmmcsswa2SPFvIvScaRX0tSPlf1UuzcLTFhtE=; b=gtZPHOD4sL1sKD/68eREoNIQSxoBciY75Nc0hfqIev5GLED1qoZCZ9Zbka5VUhdW+J Yt8JmnJ6H34YvVgwIjF9xwOXM4rbOg9jSD3g1Pu750q54KEp+taExF5tKbtirdXfcMIP z+LQq9dbvWIq4g+i+x/HBrJXXJkUT8Km3oHiZpWcda8dBdT7mUm5HJoUXSpJuU1E9yCm v5u1jWaqyUK3CnCoBTaSeoZFAHm4XksE3LpC1l9L1Tx3adC/lspRno4qAZ434023ZjJy lfC/rHBXNyR4tDiW2raHotTQN+upbMEAZoDeeyhel/ldPZuRS3e6EF/cN27GPCbhq/x5 +ymQ== X-Received: by 10.224.14.134 with SMTP id g6mr42439540qaa.52.1375129360636; Mon, 29 Jul 2013 13:22:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: from smtp.gmail.com:587 (c-98-216-247-110.hsd1.ma.comcast.net. [98.216.247.110]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPSA id lk8sm17074497qeb.3.2013.07.29.13.22.38 for (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Mon, 29 Jul 2013 13:22:40 -0700 (PDT) Received: by smtp.gmail.com:587 (sSMTP sendmail emulation); Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:22:38 -0400 Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 16:22:38 -0400 From: Randy Westlund To: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Subject: [gentoo-user] SQL Server Advice for Small Business Message-ID: <20130729202238.GA23113@artifex> Precedence: bulk List-Post: List-Help: List-Unsubscribe: List-Subscribe: List-Id: Gentoo Linux mail X-BeenThere: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org Reply-to: gentoo-user@lists.gentoo.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) X-Archives-Salt: ef387333-0ffa-4b17-9b8d-8cf5e2168eca X-Archives-Hash: 537d5f49064e0e688288c78d79cb5c8c Hey guys, I'm planning to set up an SQL server for my dad's small canvas awning business, and I've never done this before. Most of my sysadmin-type skills are self-taught. I could use some advice. My dad needs infrastructure to allow ~ 15 of his employees to schedule appointments, track order status, and analyze random things about job status and customer base. I intend to set up a PostgreSQL server and write simple graphical front ends for the employees. I'll do most of the advanced customer base analysis for him. Eventually, I want to be generating heat maps of cashflow from cities and telling him where most of his materials are being used, etc. Operating system: I feel more comfortable on gentoo than anywhere else, so I'd like to put gentoo on the server. How often should I update packages? How often should I update the kernel? Any general management advice? I'm not really familiar with all the RAID options. Which should I be using? Should it be implemented in hardware or software? I'm also planning on using samba to give everyone a shared directory, but that should be easy. Hardware: What kind of hardware should I be looking at? One of Dell's PowerEdge models? How much of the hardware will need to be enterprise grade? I believe the hard drives will be the most important, right? I installed one of NASA's servers in Antarctica once, but someone else spec'd the hardware ($6k PowerEdge) and put ubuntu on it. Table structure: I'm diving into database design and normalization rules now. I'll need to store binary files (pictures of job site, scanned documents), and am currently planning on base64 encoding them (or something similar) and storing them in the database to keep it ACID compliant. Any other random advice or good resources would be much appreciated. Randy