iDevGames

The Back Story

As Editor-in-Chief of iDevGames, my objective is to promote and evangelize game development for the Macintosh platform. Since 1998, iDevGames has grown from a small band of visitors to one of the largest sites devoted to Macintosh development. In fact, our uDevGames 2002 programming contest was such a success we had the privilege of being ‘Slashdotted’ when Slashdot.org reported on our support for Open Source code through the uDevGames Contest. Had we been serving the page on a virtual server, our host most likely would have quickly pulled the plug. Instead, our dedicated server, which was generously purchased through the support of our community, could sustain¹ the demands of the Slashdot horde. iDevGames moved from a virtual server to a dedicated server in 2001. For those of you that are not familiar with those terms, let me simplify by saying that on our dedicated server, the only site that is hosted is iDevGames. This is as opposed to a virtual server, which would contain iDevGames and many other sites, as many as 200 or more, all on one machine. Upgrading to a dedicated server is a big step for a small site in terms of larger hosting fees and management requirements. For the latter, the situation is becoming better as prices for dedicated servers have been falling for some time. In fact, the price may pleasantly surprise you if you are currently on a virtual server. That said, dedicated servers aren’t for everyone and my second point in upgrading should not be dismissed lightly. Proper management of a server is a must, and, outside the price, the most compelling reason to stay on a virtual server plan.

The Forbidden Fruit

Not long ago Apple set out to make a serious challenge to the traditional server solutions offered by the many PC vendors through their Xserve line. Apple had offered servers in the past, however, the Xserve models are Apple’s first real attempt to go toe-to-toe and provide a true alternative to networking needs beyond the publishing market, which Apple has always performed strongly in. With an OS that is based on standard and mature technologies, the Xserve’s advanced features made it the “apple of my eye.” Of course being the only site devoted completely to Macintosh game development, we could think of no better endorsement of the platform than having the ability to place the “Powered by Mac OS X Server” web badge on our front page. Our friends over at Inside Mac Games provided a great testament to the benefits of the Xserve when they switched over in 2002. Alas, an Xserve powered iDevGames site is still years away, as the costs of co-hosting combined with the initial costs of the Xserve are far beyond our budget and current needs. Back to reality and present day needs, our dedicated server is a simple Linux server running on an AMD Duron box. Surprisingly enough, this machine has proved to be a great value in providing content and in supporting our active forum of over 400 developers. As mentioned earlier, this little server did us proud when our traffic went sky-high due to the mentioning of uDevGames on Slashdot.org.

Dedicated to the Server

Hosting companies that offer dedicated servers offer various levels of support, ranging from managed to self-managed machines. While managed servers are wise for newbies and customers with little time or patience to learn what SSH is, the prices tend to reflect the extra hand-holding and support that is provided. In the case of our hosting company, they offer self-managed machines at great prices—unfortunately some of their customers expect ‘managed’ support at ‘self-managed’ prices. Operating a self-managed dedicated server requires knowledge in system administration, security, applications, and much more. With Mac OS X, Mac users have been getting exposed to many of these areas, such as running the Apache server. No doubt, a good many of you are serving web pages, files, and more from your desktop Macs running Mac OS X. I mentioned our own in-house guru webmaster, Griggs. He keeps a close eye on our server and does the standard system admin duties that are required to keep iDevGames running smoothly. However, even Griggs must sleep and perform his day job so the need for another set of eyes to watch the server has been very great since we took the step into the world of dedicated servers. Aside from monitoring the server, the need to maintain the latest security patches and software updates is crucial to our success. So with that in mind, I decided to start learning the various ins and outs of system administration. Since Mac OS X is based on Unix, and my current desktop machine was running Apache, PHP, MySQL and other applications, it seemed the logical solution would be to crack open the excellent book ‘Mac OS X Unleashed’ by John and William C. Ray. This textbook has enough pages to make almost any Mac user into a power user and system administrator. As I studied chapter after chapter a small voice in my head grew louder and louder, “If you build it…” Simple, but what should I build? And more important, what would be the benefit in building it? The answer finally came to me one morning when I looked at a flyer from a local computer store that specialized in DIY PC systems. The it that the voice was pushing me to build was a Linux box. Why, though, when I already had a Mac perfectly capable of teaching me what I needed to know? Or did I?

A Fool’s Errand

In reality, I could indeed learn most of what I needed to know from my desktop machine running Mac OS X. However three reasons came to mind that pushed me into this fool idea of trying to build my own machine. Foremost was the need to get away from the server. This point is hard to put into words but I needed to have a box that sat in the corner of my computer room, without a keyboard, or display, that I could envision as a dedicated machine thousands of miles away from my terminal client. In short, I need to build my confidence that I can effectively operate a machine that I cannot see. The second reason for building a Linux box was to create an exact copy of iDevGames’ server environment. From the hard drive, to the CPU, to the version of Linux and everything else. Now, I could safely use my clone as a development machine without fear of bringing down the entire iDevGames site. My Linux box won’t just be a development machine, but should also allow me to learn about security as I play both hacker and system administer. It should also serve as a good test bed for trying new packages before installing them on iDevGames’ server. The third reason for building the Linux box stemmed not from logic but from the simple thrill of exploring something I know nothing about—the PC world.

Choices, Choices, and Yet More Choices

My mind was now set on building a Linux machine. I had my three reasons, and just as importantly I had my wife’s OK after promising to install Windows on an extra hard drive so she could play the various “The Sims” expansion packs, which may never be localized to Japanese Mac versions. I thus began to visit several local stores that sold PC parts to educate myself. After every trip, I felt myself more and more confused. Which CPU, motherboard, graphic card, etc., should I get? Since I live in a small Japanese city of only 300,000 or so people, the chances of finding a Linux guru who spoke English were slim. So I spent several weeks reading articles on the Internet. Of the sites and articles I encountered, less than half had information that was clear and concise and that someone without knowledge of such things as chipsets, sockets, and BIOS could understand. The endless choices and combinations seem like a double-edged sword in some ways. If you have the time and knowledge to read countless reviews, you can quickly narrow your choice to a few components (e.g. graphic cards). However, Mac users have such limited choices in graphic cards. Sure, we have PCI and AGP slots, but you can count the number of Mac-ready cards on one hand. (I’m excluding cards which you can flash the BIOS.) It seems the PC and Mac world truly represent different extremes. Which side is better obviously comes down to the individual. My guess is that there are many Mac users who are like me in that we enjoy the stability that being a Mac owner brings, but we wouldn’t mind a few more choices, not to mention a break on the price for a product that in many ways seems identical to its PC counterpart!

The Art of PC Parts Buying

When you first start to shop for parts, you will feel in awe of the choices, as I mentioned above. I’m going to explain how I turned fruitless trips to the store into more productive time. I should first mention that the process I used may not be the best for every Mac user, and it will no doubt rely on how you can shop and with whom. In my case, living in Japan, the low cost of parts imported from America via the Internet would be offset by the shipping and duty taxes, so I was forced to buy local. I could have taken a trip to one of the two ‘meccas’ of electronics shopping in Japan, Akihabara in Tokyo or Den-Den Town in Osaka, but any savings in parts would be offset by traveling costs—very high in Japan! Shopping with a friend who knows Linux could help, but as I mentioned, this was not an option for me. I did have an idea of some brands that were a bit more Linux friendly. In fact, visiting the stores was useful as I could pick up a box, flip it around, and look for the Linux mascot, or in some cases check out the user manual. Since most of the parts are made in Taiwan and China, I was happy to see multilingual manuals. Sometimes the manuals were in Japanese only but with a brief visit to the website I could quickly download an English PDF manual. There are countless guides for buying and building PCs on the Internet, so I won’t go through each step in detail. However, I will outline my own process with some added commentary from the eyes of a Mac user. The first step was to examine the specs of iDevGames’ server; I needed a Duron, a 40GB hard drive and 512MB of RAM, and Red Hat 7.2. In looking at the hardware specs I listed, I expected the total system cost to be well within my budget of 60,000 yen, or about $500 USD.

The Operating System

I visited many sites with Linux distributions, and the choices again were mind-boggling. After asking questions, reading articles and reviews, as well as reading posts in various forums, I came back to my original mission: create a machine as similar to the iDevGames’ server as possible. We are running Red Hat 7.2, so I headed over to Red Hat’s site.

At the time of this article, the latest version is 8.0, but I chose version 7.2. My first test as a system admin will be to remotely upgrade 7.2 to 7.3. on my new box and then to do so on iDevGames’ server. Creating the Red Hat Installation CDs is a simple matter once you know where to look, what to get, and how to burn them to ISO format. Red Hat’s site contains plenty of documentation about these questions, but you won’t find much on burning the CDs on a Mac. My advice is to use Roxio’s Toast. I should mention that if you plan to study Linux, many books often come with the distribution to save you time.

Selecting Between AMD and Intel

I use to think that debates between Mac and PC users were extreme. Now, I know that within the PC camp there is a civil war, with each side claiming victories in various battles. I found it difficult to get unbiased opinions and often found articles that had comparisons of chips that were discontinued. This confusion almost made me throw in the towel and go with running Virtual PC or a modern PPC Linux distribution. In the end, three factors moved me to getting the AMD. Foremost was my desire to stick to my plan to clone iDevGames’ server, and the second reason, and no doubt one of the strongest cases that loyal AMD users give, was price. Since my machine wouldn’t be required to work 24/7, I felt comfortable in the savings and put aside any worries of overheating I had heard about. The third reason for choosing AMD was the old saying, “The enemy of my Enemy is my friend.”

As a Mac user, I can only hope that some type of relationship is built between AMD, IBM, Apple, and even Motorola at some point in the future, to combat Intel. Although I went the AMD route, I did deviate in the choice of CPU as I picked an Athlon over the Duron. The difference in price was marginal, and using the machine as a network-rendering machine for my 3D work at some point made it clear that the Duron simply wouldn’t do. The CPU I purchased was the Athlon XP 1700+ and it used the latest designs, which I’m told reduce heat. First, I was drawn to the pre-packaged AMD Athlon boxes that included a fan, because I was a tad afraid to buy a CPU in a simple plastic bag. However, every store I visited was sold out and so I was forced to learn about CPU coolers to go along with the XP 1700+ I bought. Any CPU will generate some level of heat during operation but you really come to appreciate the PowerPC line’s design when you look at some of those CPU coolers for AMD and Intel chips. They look as though they should be installed into rockets!

Motherboard

I had wasted a lot of time during my early shopping trips due to the fact that I was looking at ALL the various motherboards and writing down specs. The key here is choosing your CPU first! For many of you that seems obvious, but for newbies like me, that advice could have saved a lot of time. Once my CPU was determined, I could ignore half of the motherboards on display. Choosing the motherboard involved some homework on the Internet. In some cases, I could find the exact model reviewed, however, some models were off by a few letters from the reviewed models. Don’t assume they are the same model, and just made for another market. Often, the absent letters signify missing features such as RAID, audio, etc. Like the AMD vs. Intel debate, I often found PC users strongly defending various motherboard brands. My research showed me which companies had a consistent track record, and which makers were to be avoided. It is also very wise to visit the website of the motherboard maker and check their support section for manuals, BIOS updates, and FAQs. I admit that in shopping for the motherboard I was in a bit over my head. There were many terms that, as a Mac user, I had never come across. In the end, I looked for a motherboard that had the latest chipsets, but not so new that it didn’t have a chance to go through the PC world and raise red flags. The board I picked was made by GigaByte and was attractive in terms of price, board layout, features and matching my needs.

Case

Choosing a case for my Linux box should have been a simple ordeal. After all, it was to be placed in the corner of the room hidden from view and the eyes of any visiting Mac friends. Yet, as I stood in front of rows upon rows of empty cases with their innards showing, the Mac user in me wondered if all PC case designers had graduated from the same Soviet school of design. Even on the most expensive cases, it seemed that they all lacked character. There were many cases that made a weak attempt at style with cheap chrome buttons, as well as some with a bit of color to break away from the beige look. Actually, in my attempt to avoid the tacky cases that seemed the norm, I settled on a very basic beige box. However, what it lacked in Apple quality and layout it made up for in its ample room for storage devices. Purchasing a PC case, and then a day later opening my PowerMac G4 to remove a spare drive really brought home to me why exactly we Apple users must spend a bit more on our machines—the small details.

Storage Devices

Of all the devices I needed to acquire for my new machine, I felt most qualified in the selection of storage devices. No doubt because Mac users have come to embrace the low cost, high capacity benefit of IDE-based drives. My desktop PowerMac G4 had the original 10GB drive, as well as an IBM 60GB and Maxtor 40GB drive that I had added a year earlier. To save money, I decided to remove the 40GB and 10GB drives and place them in the machine I was building. The 40GB would meet my Linux needs, while the 10GB could hold Windows and the few games and applications that my wife was interested in. This approach kept me within my budget. However, two days later I found myself yearning for more storage in my Macintosh for a DV project. So back to the store I went to pick up a 80GB IBM drive for my Macintosh to compliment the remaining 60GB drive. As is often the case with males and their toys, I lingered around the hard drive display far too long, and talked myself into a third drive for my Linux machine—a 60GB model. As you may have guessed, my binge hard drive shopping drove me over my set budget of 60,000 yen. However, it was only by 11,000 yen, and I was able to sleep well at night knowing my Mac wouldn’t feel neglected with its shiny new 80GB drive. The decision of CD was made in haste due to the fact I was now over my budget and looking to save a little yen on the remaining components. Since my Mac’s writer could fill all my burning needs, I didn’t regret cutting corners here. I had Mac user written all over me as the sales clerk reminded me not to forget to pick up a floppy drive.

Video Graphic Card

My motherboard had many features on-board, such as sound, USB 2.0, and LAN, so additional cards weren’t required. This left my dwindling funds for a graphic card. I was convinced that since the machine would act as a server, with a monitor only occasionally connected, an under $30 card would be fine. But then I started to think of my wife using the machine under Windows, and I looked more closely at my options. I alluded to the fact that PC users have a tremendous number of choices in graphics cards earlier. Although I was familiar with the chipsets from ATI and nVidia, I was clueless as to the card makers, who all seemed to be Taiwan-based. More surprising was the graphic power that could be had for so little. Recently, I have started to think about updating my stock Rage 128 to take advantage of the Quartz Extreme. It seems as though the only affordable solution for my machine would be an ATI 9000 PRO at $169 MSRP. Yet here I was, in an aisle full of cards with equal if not better graphic power for less than $60. The lesson I learned here is that the forces that be want us to buy the latest Mac in order to improve graphic performance—not a new graphic card.

I had read that nVidia’s cards were more Linux friendly, although that may only concern Linux users who run some GUI. Not wanting to take a gamble, I focused only on cards based on nVidia’s chipset. Much to my surprise, the price difference between a GeForce2 and GeForce4 made it a no brainer, so I purchased a GeForce4 with 64MB DDR. Although my motherboard was capable of utilizing x8 AGP cards, I decided that going over an AGP x4 model would be overkill for my needs.

RAM

Memory can have the biggest impact on a server’s performance, and a general rule of thumb is the more the better. iDevGames’ server has only 512MB of RAM, and although I wanted to bring my development machine to a respectable 1GB or RAM, my wallet, and the line of thought that said to stick to the game plan, made me settle on a PC2100 512MB module. I had originally planned to use some of my Mac’s smaller memory modules to save money, however after being educated on PC memory, I learned that my Mac’s SDRAM would be useless in the project. Although I learned quite a bit about the latest memory technologies, I admit that there is still I a lot I don’t understand.

Building the Box

When I told my wife and Japanese friends that I would build the computer myself, they looked at me in awe. Perhaps two decades ago that would indeed have been a feat, with all those early computer kits. However in this modern age, it’s almost as easy as programming your VCR. I say ‘almost’ because some steps reminded me that I was very much a newbie and one slip would prove that it was indeed a fool’s errand.

Most of the components I purchased had Japanese manuals, so I downloaded English manuals. These were obviously translated from Chinese and contained some errors as well as phrases more head scratching then a Chinese proverb. So I searched the Internet for articles on building PCs and printed out some general guides. One site I strongly recommend is ExtremeTech as they cover many topics and contain good reviews.

The first step was clearing a work desk and insuring that my body was properly grounded. Removing the motherboard from its wrapping, I was glad I had chosen the GigaByte board, as it seemed well made, with parts clearly labeled, and even featured little touches like rounded corners. The AMD CPU was carefully removed from its packaging and placed in its socket on the board. A simple lever locked it in place, and I breathed a sigh of relief as step one was complete. Without a doubt, the next step was the most difficult part of the entire process—attaching the “mega-super-duper-extra” gigantic CPU cooler to the Athlon. My guide said to place some thermal grease over the CPU and install the heat sink-fan to the socket latches. Although the instructions were one sentence long, the whole process took me over an hour! Most likely it was due to the fact that this was my first time and I was afraid excessive force would break the CPU die and motherboard. In a nutshell, the heat sink (and the connected fan) has a “v shaped” bar that has latches at each end. You connect one side to the CPU’s socket latch and then force the other side under the opposite latch until it too catches. This will keep the cooler in place while providing contact between the heat sink and the CPU. Sounds simple, but the whole process was very nerve racking, and I was certain that I was destroying the CPU and motherboard with my terrible technique. In addition, if installed improperly, a CPU without proper cooling would reach the temperature inside a nuclear reactor and meltdown would occur.

Once step two was behind me, my confidence level rose tremendously, and I proceeded to install the RAM. Nothing special there, so it was on to the next step, which required mounting the motherboard inside the case. Actually, my guide mentioned case preparation but there wasn’t much to do except for marking were to place the spacers to secure the motherboard. I did have a bit of trouble understanding the plate that covered the I/O ports. The plate was made from a cheap aluminum and really drove home the difference between a medium priced case and one of higher quality. The case I had chosen, while ATX compatible, was a tad on the small side, so during the installation of the motherboard I found my fingers having a bit of a rough time. Again, another argument to spend a bit more and buy a large well-made case.

With motherboard in place, installation of the graphic card was a breeze. It did, however, give me pause as it dawned on me that I lost a PCI slot with the nVidia’s chipset fan hovering over it. Still, with four more PCI slots, I shouldn’t run into trouble if I ever feel the need to add a Firewire, RAID or 1GB LAN card. (In hindsight, it might have been wiser to purchase a motherboard with Firewire, 1GB LAN, and RAID on-board.)

The next major step was to install the various storage devices. This process went without incident; however, I noticed that the IDE cables were starting to clutter up the inside. As a newbie, I had purchased regular flat cables and so I had to do a lot of pushing of cables to insure that airflow would be good. (Note to self: Buy higher quality cables that take up less space.) CD-ROM and floppy drive installation also went smoothly. The box was starting to look like a real “PC” at this point, with installed components.

At this point I took a break to install the 80GB hard drive into my desktop Mac. A simple pull of the circle lever and the side of the machine smoothly came down to expose the inside. This was a good chance to compare the inside of a Macintosh and PC. It’s true that a “brand name” PC made by a company such as Sony would surely look better than what I had “slapped” together; still, to look at the inner design of my Mac was to marvel at Apple’s engineering. I’ve read far too many PC vs. Mac arguments and complaints about higher Mac costs by both camps, but not until you have a PC and Mac opened side by side can you truly understand why us Mac users are paying a premium for being Apple users. Unfortunately, I think most reviews of computers really fail to look beyond specs on a data sheet or the eye-candy we see on the screen.

Returning to my Linux machine, I was at the final stages of completing the job. The last remaining step was to connect the front LEDs, speakers, and switches to the motherboard. The case’s manual was very vague, and the motherboard’s manual was also not helpful. I finally thought I had it mastered and did one last check of all connections along with components. It was now time to see whether it would live or if my adventure would come to a sudden puff of smoke. Monitor connected, I crossed my fingers and powered up. Thoughts of the battle I had with the CPU cooler gave me feelings of doom and gloom, but the twenty odd fans (actually it has four) came on and soon I was greeted by the BIOS screen! I took a moment to reflect on the whole ordeal, from stumbling my way through buying the parts to the sometimes nerve-racking steps of connecting it all together. But, it was working, and I had built it. A Mac user had built a PC! I suppose for many Mac users who might have migrated from the Linux and Windows worlds, my story is trivial and something they have experienced. However, for me, it was like visiting a foreign country. I was able to learn many new things, like a new culture, while appreciating what makes my own culture, or in this case Mac, so unique, and wonderful.

Final Thoughts

I’ve just climbed my first peak, and now I see that there are many more to go, such as the installation of Linux. However, each time I climb a new mountain, I will be extra happy to come back to base camp—my Macintosh.

¹ Thanks to our webmaster, Griggs Domler, who created the excellent PHP/MySQL custom backbone system that runs iDevGames.

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