Recently someone left me a Dell PowerEdge 700 Server. I'm thinking of using it as a desktop. I've since installed Linux on it and it seems to be running fine. I will be using it among other things, to edit graphics and videos. Are there any major drawbacks to using a server (hardware) exclusively as a desktop?

Thanks,
Wayne

One word answer - NO!

Yes, you can use it as a desktop. The video card will limit the resolution you can use. To get audio, you just need to buy a sound card and your server will be set for a desktop use.

You are wrong. The server that linuxian listed can be used as a desktop.

Yes, I added a soundcard that I had lying around and it works fine. Next, I'll add a few more USB ports. Now, about the graphics card, can I upgrade it? It's OK now but the scrolling speed could be a bit faster. Also, I'd like to kick up the resolution a bit.

Thats too bad, a good server being turned into a poor desktop. My guess is sn68 could not handle the thought of it.

jer

It'll make for a good quality desktop.

The only thing that would make me give an answer like sn68 is if the server was still in production use and you wanted to use it as a desktop as well

no, he's not, he was answering the question about "are there any drawbacks?"

A good server? poweredges are pretty crappy in my experience.

Sorry about this triple post, due to bad proxy couldn't make out if I was able to post or not

ditto! can someone delete these posts?

Ahhh! What I meant was that "There are NO major drawbacks " if a server is used as a desktop
funny how things if not stated in proper prespective will get misinterpreted

if you want to use it for graphics and video editing i would suggest updating the graphicscard, but it's certainly not impossible, just not recommended.

Why is upgrading the graphics card not recommended?

There is no problem running server hardware as a desktop.
The only major drawbacks I see are with power consumption, heat and noise.

I have to agree with this statement. I'm a senior network engineer for an IT company that supports a large number of clients from different industries. We are both a Dell and HP reseller as well. We support both of those, among lots of other server hardware, and without a doubt the Dell PowerEgde series are by far the ones that have the most problems, hardware-wise. For every one HP HDD I've replaced, I've probably replaced 6 or 7 Dell HDDs in the PowerEdge series, not to mention Dell tape drives, motherboards, etc. Most of my co-workers have shared similar experiences, although every now and then I run into someone who's had nothing but great luck with the PowerEdge series.

The point I was trying to make is:

A server is designed from the ground up to be a server. Hot swap capability, power supplies are designed to be in continuous operation, and other features that don't usually come in to play for a desktop system. It seems wasteful to me not to use the hardware as it was intended.

In the real world, use what you have as you need to, if you have server hardware and have no need for a server, then turn it into a desktop. It's a good thing that its not a high end server, that would be a terrible waste.

jer