Adding GPS functionality to a desktop PC

J

Josephson_Junction

Weaksauce
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Oct 21, 2012
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Alright, in a nutshell I work at a relatively new, small medical billing business as the primary IT person. We're moving into a larger building along with additional staff in the next two months, and I'm tasked with setting up infrastructure.

With that bit of exposition out of the way, the motherboard that will be used in the six new PCs to be built is Intel's DQ77MK, which has an mPCIe slot onboard. This opens up the option of putting in an unlocked mobile broadband card from a manufacturer such as Option or U-Blox that supports GPS (or even a GPS-only card like the U-Blox B39 PCI-5). For the record, the cellular provider we're using is Verizon.

Assuming that the card is successfully connected to the provider and has GPS enabled, would we be able to track its location in real time with the minimum requirement that the system is on? If that's the case, what software do you believe would be best for doing so? Plus, would there be a method for setting up the software to poll for the GPS signal, and then send an alert when the signal appears?

For those asking why, this was a decision from the top. Additionally, it seems that software solutions require an active internet connection as opposed to the system simply being turned on. For those asking if this is overkill, it almost certainly is.

Cheers.
 
How exactly precises does this need to be? Last I heard indoor GPS isn't terribly accurate, GPS satalite signal is way too weak to penetrate and cell GPS is going to be affected by attentuation and reflections and such. It's fine for "what house/building is the call from" but won't tell you what room they're in.
 
-Dragon- said:
How exactly precises does this need to be? Last I heard indoor GPS isn't terribly accurate, GPS satalite signal is way too weak to penetrate and cell GPS is going to be affected by attentuation and reflections and such. It's fine for "what house/building is the call from" but won't tell you what room they're in.
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Being able to know just what building it's in is appropriate.
 
There are far better tools for tracking equipment indoors then GPS. Google 'inventory tracking' for options. Using cellular to track stolen computers is going to be expensive- It would probably be cheaper to insure them and let them walk.
Is theft or security the primary concern? RFID tags on the computers, readers in doorways (a la walmart) would cut down on theft, and could even track equipment moved inside the building.
 
RocketTech said:
There are far better tools for tracking equipment indoors then GPS. Google 'inventory tracking' for options. Using cellular to track stolen computers is going to be expensive- It would probably be cheaper to insure them and let them walk.
Is theft or security the primary concern? RFID tags on the computers, readers in doorways (a la walmart) would cut down on theft, and could even track equipment moved inside the building.
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The main concern is indeed theft/security. What kind of RFID setup did you have in mind that would be cheaper than on-demand GPS tracking?
 
I don't have any specifics in mind, but but something like a tool-room inventory system would work- basically every item has an rfid tag and is picked-up as it crosses the threshold. you could put detectors in doorframes of work areas and/or exits.
The only way I can think cellular would be cheaper is if you only have a couple computers- I'm figuring $30/month/device to track the equipment.
Cameras may be a viable alternative. If the concern is data, centralized backups and encrypted drives fixes that issue. Terminal/Thin Clients can help as well; the Thin Clients aren't very appealing. Enforcing no personal itmes (bags, purses, containers) on the production floor should be a matter of course for data entry- most places make using pen and paper a termination event. At any rate, some form of physical security/inspection should be in place for sensitive data entry/manipulation.
At a guess, this seems to be a case of managers not letting professionals do their work. If they won't listen to you, try and CYA by getting a vendor in there.
I don't have a grasp of what you want to accomplish, so I can't help alot
 
Just slap some 256bit whole disk encryption on the drives.

Let em walk, claim the insurance. tracking is too expensive unless you are safe guarding some nuclear fuel rods or something stored in the dvd drive bay lol
 
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