Whether it is just a home PC, or something a little more intricate and complex, building your own computer system is an experience which can be both exhilarating and exhausting. If you want to get it right, then there are many different aspects you need to try and consider all in one go. Even forgetting just one part might mean that the whole project is doomed to failure, so it is important to bear this in mind from the outset. However, as long as you are a keen technophile, and you are able to keep a number of things in your head at once, you should find that you have no problem with any of this process. Let’s take a look at some of the major important steps in building your own computer system.
Design your Computer System
Plan It Out
As with many projects of this kind, the last thing you want to do is jump straight in head first. It might be exciting to do it that way, but it is unlikely that you will end up with what you are aiming for, at least not any time soon. If you want to build a computer system, and you want it to turn out as well as possible, then you need to plan it out as fully as you can first and foremost. Planning this kind of project can actually be quite a challenge in itself. There is a lot to consider, and forgetting even a small detail can easily cause the whole thing to need re-planning. This is why you need to give yourself plenty of time in planning it out so that you can know exactly what you expect to do.
Go For Source
During this process, there will be a huge number of items that you will need to acquire in order to build the system. If you have never done anything of this kind before, you might in fact be quite surprised at how many separate items you need to get your hands on. This can take some time, but an important thing to bear in mind here is that you should always try to go for source instances of each piece of equipment. This is because doing so is likely to be both cheaper and more reliable – and you will be able to feel as though it is much more your own creation, compared to if you buy larger ready-made modules. For software it helps to follow the same convention, by for example getting hold of the 61850 source code rather than manually integrating IEC.
The Importance Of Testing
No matter how knowledgeable you are, or how much time and effort you have put in, you can never be quite sure that you have created your system in exactly the right way. This is where the value of testing comes in. Testing is a vital part of any such procedure, and it is something that you should do the moment you think you have completed building the system. When you are testing, make sure to do so thoroughly; there are certain failures which only become apparent with rigorous testing. You may as well discover those failures early on, so you can go about fixing them as soon as possible.