On the theory that the empeg-bbs crowd is a perfect sounding board for all manner of technical questions... here goes:

I'm specing out a shared lab space for the systems graduate students here at Rice. We're in the process of demolishing the wall between two former student offices to create a larger work space. There are various goals for this space:

- create community (bring students together to work in the lab, etc.)
- have state-of-the-art machines (suitable for performing experiments)
- help attract new students (when they see the cool toys)

To that end, the general idea floating around my head is to buy a stack of Dell machines with 20" flat panel displays and gig-ethernet connections. Then toss a bunch of Xerox PARC-esque modern beanbag chairs, made with nice cloth and styrofoam, as opposed to vinyl and beans. And, to wrap it up, a video projector, and maybe some speakers.

One decision I find I need to make is between tiny desktop machines like the Dell Optiplex SX260 (built largely with laptop parts) and fancy "workstation" machines like the Dell Precision Workstation 350n minitower. The SX260, with a 3GHz P4 (but apparently no hyperthreading), 512MB RAM, 40GB disk, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, and the 20" flat panel is only $2350 (fyi: the 20" flat panel is only $869 more than the no-monitor option). The 350n workstation with a similar configuration is $2850; it allows for hyper-threading and has (arguably) faster RAMBUS memory with ECC, plus you can get bigger/faster hard drives, video cards, etc.

The trade-off here is between performance and size (and some extra dollars, but that's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things). On one hand, I want smaller and quieter machines to make for a more inviting environment. On the other hand, I want raw power, since there are people around here who will use it. For quietness, I've just been blown away by Dell's acoustic engineering, although I'm open to other suggestions.

A second orthogonal issue is what we want these machines to run. My natural tendency is to go with Linux on the bare metal, then VMware Workstation with WinXP, so people can do PowerPoint or whatnot. I've chatted with the local sysadms, and they're reasonably happy with a setup like that. Another way of structuring it would be with WinXP on the bottom, then Linux above it. It's uglier to administrate, but it may be better if people want to run snazzy games (which I may or may not want to encourage...).

So... please jump in with your opinions on what makes for a good computer lab. If you were going to spend several years of your life in a room full of machines, what features would you want to make that space more livable?