Recommended Setup and Computer Store for Small Business (Three Computers) (SE Vic)

Shiny Mew on 05/10/2023 - 11:12
Last edited 05/10/2023 - 13:11

Hi all

My dad's small business (south-east Melbourne) is in great need of a computer (hardware and software) upgrade - the three desktops he is using are approx 15 years old, running on 4GB of RAM, USB 2.0, and on Win 7…

He and his two employees mostly use the computers for emails, QuickBooks, viewing engineering drawings on PDFs (CAD is not used by his business but one of the computers may have a need for it in future), and web browsing. His biggest time drain is backing up QuickBooks to a portable HDD at the end of each day (presumably this process would speed up significantly with new desktops).

I've heard that he may be best off with one desktop and two 'thin client' devices, all connected by one server, running (at a minimum) an i7 processor and 512gb SSD. Given how long it has been since I looked into upgrading computer hardware, rather than just sourcing and trying to assemble all the components myself, am I best off just consulting a business like Centrecom or Scorpion to do this for him? Are they still the go-tos in and around the Dandenong area or are there other stores (or online companies) that I should approach for this upgrade?

Edit: budget is up to $1500 per computer.

Thanks!

Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 05/10/2023 - 11:25

    What is the budget?

    • Shiny Mew on 05/10/2023 - 13:11

      Good question. Have added to my post.

  • freefall101 on 05/10/2023 - 11:34
    +2

    Scorptec is a good option. IMO thin clients are rarely better/cheaper than just buying laptops or cheap refurb mini desktops though.

    I’d look into automating the quickbooks backup instead of trying for faster drives too. Just schedule quickbooks to do a backup at midnight or something https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/back-up-da…

  • Ryanek on 05/10/2023 - 11:35

    Dell laptops and Synology NAS.

  • apple2016 on 05/10/2023 - 11:47
    +2

    avoid thin clients. you should be able to get decent laptops. figure out the spec and try getting quotes.

  • Switchblade88 on 05/10/2023 - 11:50
    +4

    Don't bother with thin clients. Not the right use case.

    For a cheap and cheerful upgrade, the refurb ex-lease PCs commonly on here like the SFF (small form factor) Optiplex 9020's and HP Prodesks would be an ideal option:
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/792238
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/795944

    Add a couple of nice big monitors and you're set.

    Automated backups are a must - either cloud (Dropbox/Google/Drive/OneDrive etc) and/or local; although repeatedly cycling a portable HDD is a recipe for inevitable early failure, so make sure there is alternative backups.

    • Shiny Mew on 12/10/2023 - 20:49

      Thanks, does the particular model of refurbished OptiPlex matter a great deal? Would this for example work well?

      https://www.australiancomputertraders.com.au/dell-optiplex-7…

      • Switchblade88 on 12/10/2023 - 20:58

        does the particular model of refurbished OptiPlex matter a great deal?

        Not particularly - obviously the later models are better for longevity, but they naturally cost more. That model linked would seem ideal for almost any officework you've described.

  • jugsy on 05/10/2023 - 12:01

    Do not do unpaid IT for a business, even if it's your family. If you decide you're going to be responsible for this, (please don't), draw up a contract. If they do not want to spend any money on IT, buy them off-the-shelf laptops and wish them luck.

  • MrHyde on 05/10/2023 - 12:42
    +1

    For such a small usecase, I would go with laptops for each and set up an automated online backup system.

    Do look at a proper backup system; not an online sync solution. Just copying or syncing with Google/Drive/OneDrive, etc is not a backup. They may be ok to restore a full system failure; but not ok if just restoring a corrupt file. If the local file gets corrupted locally, the synced file will also become corrupt. What you need is an online backup system that stores version or point in time copies of the files - so when something goes wrong; you can go back to a particular date in the past to recover. Many times it can be a few days before something wrong with a file is noticed and then you need to go back to a week old file, for example.

  • FoxJump on 05/10/2023 - 15:24
    +1

    i prefer USFF over laptops.
    esp when used in a non-portable environment. Otherwise you're paying for a battery that you dont need, and a tiny tiny fan on a dusty desk that will clog up in 3years.

  • Indomietable on 06/10/2023 - 10:22

    If you are willing to go down the route of refurbs and a $4500 budget, I would go with a "Workstation" level PC.

    Generally, a workstation-level desktop is really well-built and supported by its vendor for a long time.
    Most workstations are also configured for engineering CAD works, i.e. the graphic cards in them are generally supported by most CAD software and have sufficient memory.

    Example 1 Example2

    I would then spend the rest on something that people can touch , see, and make improvement on their daily life

    You should have $1000 - $1500 left if you go with the above plan and you should spend this for Backup / Storage.
    This budget allows you to get a NAS device where you can create shared central storage for important data ( ie put the QuickBooks storage )

    The backup strategy :

    • Configure hourly snapshot
    • Configure backup of the shared drive to the cloud
    • Configure nightly backup of the shared drive to the external disk. Ask your dad to swap the external disk and keep 1 at home every week.
    • On every PC, Configure weekly Windows backup to separate share
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