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Shop ‘til you drop [2016-07-11]

That fantastic batch of donated laptops from Polycom has been an exciting distraction from the 2016 preparations.  We still have work to do to complete the operating system upgrade to 16.04 for the September 2016 Cebu projects, but Neal is already in shopping mode for 2017 server parts for Tanzania and the Philippines.

This is one of Neal’s favorite things to do, and he is really good at it!  From evaluating specs to selecting high-reliability parts to shopping for deals, he finds exactly what we need and then puts it all together into servers for the schools.  Reneal has already purchased the beginnings of five servers for 2017, and we will be looking for candidates for those systems.

For this round of purchases, Neal spent a lot of time checking out a new CPU option for the servers, along with the motherboard and memory.  Our “warehouse” here is already filling up even though it is only July – but good deals don’t wait, so it’s worth the little extra hassle of inventory stacking up to get those prices.

On a related topic, we are getting regular reports of boxes arriving at the schools in Cebu for the September installations!  We are really excited that things are going to be prepositioned and ready for our arrival.  With these very long shipping timelines (usually at least two months), it’s a big help to get the logistics cycle underway early.  We are already planning for when to get the Polycom laptops underway for the 2017 projects, and the first boxes will likely go out as soon as we get back from Cebu in early November.  That means we’ll be packing the 2017 boxes in August so they are ready to go.  From my perspective, 2017 is just around the corner even though it’s only July!

Although donations of hardware are vital, server parts and shipping costs require cash.  Reneal will also be buying UPSs, cabling, power strips, and other items in Cebu for five school installations.  Reneal IEO welcomes monetary donations to help with these expenses!  We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit, so all donations are tax deductible.