How I Work

One of my computers at home is dedicated to productivity work (i.e. research, development, etc). Generally when I describe the computer to people, they gape in awe or exclaim how crazy I must be. Allow me to provide a brief synopsis for your Googling pleasure.

My main productivity machine started out as a pretty basic system. It’s a Pentium D 3GHz Dual-Core with 1GB DDR2 SDRAM and a piddly little 120GB HDD (Most storage occurs on the same server you’re currently browsing on). However, that is where the boring part ends.

It has three video cards, each of which has dual heads and two screens connected. A simple mental calculation reveals this provides six screens for my multi-monitor (”MultiMon”) enjoyment. All of them are LCDs.

To the far left is my basic system monitoring information. I keep my Taskbar on the far left side, consuming about 200px of screen space. This allows me to read the full text of every open window, in what is effectively a list view. This screen is also home to my permanently-open Task Manager and Trillian (IM) windows.

The second screen contains TCPView, an application that allows me to keep tabs on all open connections in, out, and listening; updated once per second. Think of it like typing netstat 1 at a command prompt but with a more refined interface and more information. When my uStream video is streaming, this screen also hosts my video server window.

The third and fourth monitors are used for 1-4 web browser windows I generally need for research and previewing my current work.

The fifth monitor is my primary, a 16×10 widescreen 21″. It generally houses two web browsers, a full-screen video, or Visual Studio’s main window (while the side windows hang out to the fourth and sixth screens).

The sixth screen (far right) is generally home to all open Remote Desktop windows. As this webserver, my file server, and my SQL server are all on the same box, this window gets used alot.

When I’m working from home, I have to use a proprietary VPN client instead of the one built into Windows. However, this VPN client takes over my network adapter and prevents me form accessing the rest of my home network. This was solved by putting my work applications (VPN, IM, E-mail) in a Virtual PC. Then I transfer the files back and forth through FTP.

The six screens on my productivity machine are arranged in a semi-circle, centered directly in front of me. This provides me with approximately the same eye-to-screen distance to each screen; Optimal for spreading my tasks out across the massive eight-foot interface.

Directly to my left, just left of the first monitor, I keep my PocketPC (Cell phone running Windows Mobile), snack stash, green laser, and the keyboard and mouse to a secondary system.

To the left of that area, sometimes visible behind me on the live video stream, is a seldom-used TV.

To the left of that is the old CRT on my secondary system. I generally keep it pinging three destinations: My router, Google, and another point on my home network. This allows me to troubleshoot network outages quickly when issues occur - I created this measure when Comcast bought Adelphia and screwed up my connection in the process.

Note I also created a post regarding Optimizing your Multiple Monitor Configuration.