Sounds like you're the right man for the job then! I'm a software engineer by trade. Been a few years since I've thought about building anything like this, but I'll try and put together a schema that I think might work, from my perspective. I think the bottom line is the bones of the thing need to be sensible allowing entities to relate to other entities, while offering enough flexibility for end users to fill in the inevitable blanks and edge cases that aren't catered for normally by extending what's provided.

Easy enough to write in a few sentances. Somewhat harder to implement of course!

Maybe ChatGPT can do it, haha!

But in all seriouseness my plan is to have all the standard stuff setup out of the box as separate entities e.g CPUs, GPUs, HDDs, Motherboards etc. Then you can link all the parts together to build a PC.

Then you can attach benchmark results to that PC.

You can see the basics here http://pcb.vogonswiki.com although I'm in the process of migrating to an updated framework which will handle a lot of things way better.

But there is a bit of work and to start with it will be limited in the first (new) version.

I'm not actually sure how best to handle the inventory side of things, I doubt anyone wants to manage items as Batch/Serials, so I think quantity to start with is more than enough.

SAP would have a single database with Items and they would each have properties attached to them, but SAP is a beast and very complex, so I want a system built that works out of the box. So I will probably have separate table for each item type.

I really like what you've done with PCB, it serves its purpose very nicely. It's a promising way to share builds and performance and hopefully become a reference tool - I know once I've built a retro system I'm curious to know if the performance I'm getting is comparable with similar builds.

But I'm less convinced it will fit the bill for a proper inventory tracking system. Well, for me at least. As shown by many just in this thread, as an upgrade to a spreadsheet it's pretty slick. That will be perfect for many. For those of us that want more granularity I think we'll need something that has the flexibility that you've touched on with SAP.

E.g.

Property <-> AssetType -> Asset -> System

Where a Property is something like Name or Model or Socket (along with its data type, default values/options, validation, etc.), AssetType is something like CPU referencing a number of Property records, Asset is something like "Pentium II 400" referencing an AssetType record, and System is something like "Retro rig 1" referencing many Asset records. Of course you would hang more entities off those - Benchmark, Manufacturer, Location, etc. - but that could give the bones of a schema IMO. Nothing to stop a system from using that and providing a whole raft of default data to cover what's already in PCB.

Thanks for the feedback, yes I agree for the more user specific items customisable objects would be useful.

Finding the right balance between easy of use and features is always difficult.

I'll hopefully get some time over Christmas to work further on it and once it is closer to being ready I will get some further feedback.

Thanks again!

I've found a few databases of intel CPUs, I was hoping to do an auto lookup on s-spec but it looks like recent intel CPUs don't have s-spec anymore 🙁

mwdmeyer wrote on 2023-11-29, 11:50:

I've found a few databases of intel CPUs, I was hoping to do an auto lookup on s-spec but it looks like recent intel CPUs don't have s-spec anymore 🙁

I don't think CPU-World has an API but if they did, that would be ideal. It would still be possible to retrieve/search data without an API but they do expressly forbid that, which is fair enough. Maybe worth asking though.

I don't like Snipe-it for only one reason, it showed me exactly how much I have spent for my retro collection. Otherwise it's good, obviously it's not targeted for our use case, it does more of what we need.

paradigital wrote on 2023-11-26, 19:10:

I throw all mine into a self-hosted Snipe-It asset system. I can then check out parts to builds.
I can also upload files to the database, so drivers for each card or motherboard can be right there on the page.
I also have software added like operating systems and applications.

I personally use a spreadsheet, but do miss being able to add in mages in a way that is consistent and cosmetically good...

paradigital wrote on 2023-11-26, 19:10:

I throw all mine into a self-hosted Snipe-It asset system. I can then check out parts to builds. […]
Show full quote

I throw all mine into a self-hosted Snipe-It asset system. I can then check out parts to builds.

IMG_2848.jpeg

I can also upload files to the database, so drivers for each card or motherboard can be right there on the page.

I also have software added like operating systems and applications.

I just had a quick look at the demo version and have to ask... How easy is it to edit the photos/images for an asset ?
It doesn't seem too straight forward when I click on edit asset, there's only an option to upload an image.

I also just use a google spreadsheet.
I find it helps here as well when talking about costs, part numbers, etc.

weedeewee wrote on 2023-12-02, 20:58:

paradigital wrote on 2023-11-26, 19:10:

I throw all mine into a self-hosted Snipe-It asset system. I can then check out parts to builds. […]
Show full quote

I throw all mine into a self-hosted Snipe-It asset system. I can then check out parts to builds.

IMG_2848.jpeg

I can also upload files to the database, so drivers for each card or motherboard can be right there on the page.

I also have software added like operating systems and applications.

I just had a quick look at the demo version and have to ask... How easy is it to edit the photos/images for an asset ?
It doesn't seem too straight forward when I click on edit asset, there's only an option to upload an image.

You can add an image for an asset or a model when you edit them as you describe. If you want to add more images you can attach them as files and they show in a list in a fairly decent format (example attached).

I've put a bit more time into getting setup with Snipe-IT now and just learning to compromise on a few things. E.g. using a CPU family as a model for some CPUs, attaching more images as files, etc. I think I can make it work. Overall I'm pretty pleased with it. The total spend however... well it's only money right?

Shadzilla wrote on 2023-12-03, 09:43:

The total spend however... well it's only money right?

Are you listing the new price, the price you paid for it, the price adjusted for inflation.... ? it's all relative.
If it makes you feel happier you could also add the price the junkyard would give you for it should you one day decide it's all just scrap. Though maybe that will just make you depressed.

edit: Also thanks for the clarification on the images. That was helpful.

Have been meaning to do this with my old machines for awhile. And include copy of it in my will, while stressing the fact that this stuff is worth some money so hopefully it doesn't go to the dump.

I do have a big multi-workbook spreadsheet containing all of the electronic components I have. ICs, resistors, caps, all that stuff.

I am just on the road of setting up a mediawiki for documentation of my collection.
Most advantages against a spreadsheet are that I can add pictures, drivers and documents to any item.
Further I can add my own tutorials for setting up the boxes.
Another big advantage ist that I can link between the items, so any component of a system can direct to another detailed page like mainboard, CPU, graphics card, disks, memory type, case or power supply.

Unfortunately I just found out Centos 7 running on my home server is to become out of support next june and freshly downloaded Rockylinux kernel panicked at boot.
I will post pictures of the user interface after its done , earliest after christmas holidays.
Plan is to merge some of the pages with vogonswiki as well, so you can all benefit from my work.

eisapc wrote on 2023-12-04, 12:04:

I am just on the road of setting up a mediawiki for documentation of my collection. Most advantages against a spreadsheet are th […]
Show full quote

I am just on the road of setting up a mediawiki for documentation of my collection.
Most advantages against a spreadsheet are that I can add pictures, drivers and documents to any item.
Further I can add my own tutorials for setting up the boxes.
Another big advantage ist that I can link between the items, so any component of a system can direct to another detailed page like mainboard, CPU, graphics card, disks, memory type, case or power supply.

Unfortunately I just found out Centos 7 running on my home server is to become out of support next june and freshly downloaded Rockylinux kernel panicked at boot.
I will post pictures of the user interface after its done , earliest after christmas holidays.
Plan is to merge some of the pages with vogonswiki as well, so you can all benefit from my work.

I work at a major hosting company for gov't/military clients. We just migrated all out Redhat and Centos servers to Oracle Linux. It's honestly the best option out there for Redhat RPM binary compatibility. Although, I understand people being wary of Oracle. But I can tell you that in the field it works great and is very easy to transform a Centos install into Oracle Linux.

IMHO Debian is the best option (where possible/supported) for server based platforms. We run a lot of SuSE Enterprise for SAP but I much prefer Debian.

mwdmeyer wrote on 2023-12-05, 07:25:

IMHO Debian is the best option (where possible/supported) for server based platforms. We run a lot of SuSE Enterprise for SAP but I much prefer Debian.

Debian has been my distro of choice for personal use since like 2003. That being said, you'll never find Debian in Gov't/Military/or Fortune 500 datacenters. There must be an entity behind it that can guarantee a level of service. Like Oracle or Canonical.

Reason for the RHEL compatibility is the hp server its running on.
Driver support for some features was or is lacking on Debian based distros.
Last night I gave Rockylinux a try, but I am a bit disapointed by the usability.
For Desktop use I prefer Ubuntu or Mint, so switching from Debian universe to RHEL wold is sometimes a bit difficult.