If you're CPU bound, use sa-compile. It made a P4 regularly hitting 1.0 load drop down to 0.6

http://wiki.apache.org/spamassassin/FasterPerformance

There are cheap SAS drives and expensive SATA drives, eg

1) Seagate 1TB SAS, 7200rpm -USD217, that's USD217/TB (http://www.provantage.com/seagate-st31000640ss~4SEGB03W.htm)
2) WD Raptor 300GB SATA, 10krpm-USD240, that's USD800/TB (http://www.provantage.com/western-digital-wd3000glfsrtl~7WNDG2LT.htm)

Hence, it's not merely the interface that determines the price.

As of Office07 OEM, system builders do NOT need to provide support (which they needed to for Office03 and earlier). Microsoft handles tech support for Office07. Side note: system builders also do not provide media since OEM licensing is medialess (Medialess License Kit/MLK in MS parlance). You want the CD, order it from Microsoft.

Microsoft's own Exchange servers have Postfix on their spam filtering boxen front-end. Not exactly eating their own dog food, when they have their own Forefront Security for Exchange.

This is the Postfix program at host mailxxx-xxx-R.bigfish.com.
I'm sorry to have to inform you that your message could not be delivered to one or more recipients. It's attached below.

For further assistance, please send mail to

If you do so, please include this problem report. You can delete your own text from the attached returned message.

The Postfix program

: host xxxxx-xxxx-mail5.customer.frontbridge.com[131.107.115.214] said: 550 5.7.1
$whois frontbridge.com,

Domain Name: FRONTBRIDGE.COM Registrar of Record: Corporate Domains, Inc. Administrative Contact: Microsoft Corporation Domain Administrator One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 US domains@microsoft.com +1.4258828080 Fax: +1.4259367329

$whois bigfish.com ,
Domain Name: BIGFISH.COM Registrar of Record: Corporate Domains, Inc. Administrative Contact: Microsoft Corporation Domain Administrator One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052 US domains@microsoft.com +1.4258828080 Fax: +1.4259367329

I hope by 'required hardware' you mean PCs, since the 'non-peripheral component' clause have been removed since '06. From MS's OEM Licensing page (login required),
Q. What are the different ways that my customers can get legal licenses for Windows desktop operating systems? What about software applications such as Office?
A. There are only two ways customers can get Windows desktop operating systems on a new PC:
- OEM/system builder software preinstalled on a PC - Retail product (full packaged product) Please note that full versions of Windows operating systems are NOT available through any Microsoft volume license program.


Q. I see products like Win XP Pro â" COA only â" advertised for sale. Is this legal?
A. Offers to distribute incomplete OEM System Builder software packages are not legal. Under no circumstances are System Builders or any other vendors authorized to distribute single OEM System Builder software components such as stand-alone certificates of authenticity (COAs). Please note that the Certificate of Authenticity included with each OEM System Builder software package authenticates only the software components with which it is legally distributed. As mentioned, any offer to distribute an incomplete Microsoft software package (i.e. COA only) is not authorized, and any individual who was to obtain incomplete Microsoft software components would not be authorized to use the associated software or redistribute the components. For OEM System Builder Windows desktop operating system product, the complete software package must include the COA, hologram CD, and manual(s).

Point taken, however I was coming in from the angle that rewritable media is inherently unsafe for backups since it can be erased. It's conceivable that a user attempting to restore files onto his infected pc, could unknowingly have a trojan erase the RW.

Emasculate?

Any media that can be re-written (DVDRW/DVDRAM) would be questionable for archival purposes. Methinks it's safer to use DVDR for integrity, paired up with a high-level ecc scheme such as par2.

It's write-once media. For backups, that's a plus. You don't need to worry much about an infected PC destroying the data you're trying to restore.

Way back then, there was a way to make PATA HDDs read-only by cutting a wire and inserting a switch on the cable. This won't work for a 6-wire SATA cable though, even if you were so inclined, though there are some commercial alternatives.

These are the same bunch of wankers that:

1) hardcoded stratum1 time servers into their consumer routers,
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/07/130209
2) opined that "we do not consider the GPL as legally binding"
http://gpl-violations.org/news/20060922-dlink-judgement_frankfurt.html

If you want cheap, go Linksys or LevelOne