Here are some tips I got on setting up a computational lab:
- MacPros are a good investment for high-powered computing, without the fuss of setting up/maintaining Linux boxes. In addition to being available for computationally intensive jobs, you can also free up a couple cores for use as a web server, for backing up data, and even for someone to be physically working directly on the computer. For benchmarking, one useful site (a matrix multiplication benchmark) is here. Even after they aren’t top of the line anymore, several years down the line, they seem to have a longer lifespan than a PC desktop; they can be rededicated to serve as a basic desktop. Make sure to buy at an appropriate time in Apple’s upgrade cycle.
- A lab is more than about computational power! You always need people. It will never be the case that everything can be automated, and there may be intensive manual labeling tasks to be done, which requires the help of many people. It can be important to have a dedicated space for people working on computers, so that people working on similar tasks can ask each other questions and you questions.
- For general computing, there are pluses and minuses for whether to have people working on desktops or laptops. Desktops are obviously more durable since they are subject to less mechanical stress, and also less likely to be stolen, and for computationally intensive work (like people transcribing videos stored on a high-powered machine), it may be impossible to work with laptops hooked up through a network connection. However, they get outdated pretty quickly. Laptops are obviously portable, and thus necessary for off-site work. In addition, if you rely on students mostly having their own machines, then you don’t have to worry about upgrading every few years, since it naturally happens with each new generation of students.
- It’s important to have space available for casual meetings, like a place with some table and seating space and a chalkboard. Such a place should be generally open, rather than constantly booked, so that people know they have a space to go to to discuss things. This is important for maintaining a creative, collaborative atmosphere.
- It is good to have people working on different things interspersed throughout a building to help spur a collaborative atmosphere, rather than little groups stuck in their own little corners of the building.
- Rather than paying people to work, consider getting volunteers for research assistantships. You can offer them their own piece of a larger project, so they really take ownership of it and can have a coherent piece of work to present/publish. This helps distribute ownership of the project and helps the students feel invested in their work. If you want to keep the students on, then you can pay them, after you see them in action.
Notes from learning 