Suggestions on hardware and software and pos system for an auto parts store

Here are three more functions that you MAY decide you need for each POS station.

1. Should the credit/debit card processing machine be interfaced to the computer? This requires certain functions in the POS software to forward the dollar amounts to the credit card machine and wait for an OK or not from it to finalize the sale, plus PARTIAL record of the card number for transaction ID purposes. For details of how that works and what credit card machine is suitable, you need specs from the POS software maker.

2. Do you want to use bar code readers to read labels on each part, or do you plan to do all the number entries manually? Again, specs for what readers you can use will come from the POS makers.

3. What about the labels on your parts? Will they all come with manufacturer's barcode labels already on them, or do you need to be able to print your own and stick them on some parts? A barcode label printer is not the same as a sales slip printer. Not needed for BOTH POS stations, of course. Or, will you use hand-written labels?

Here's a small hint about the cash drawers. On the system we have (I imagine not all are this way), the cash drawer unit has a small solenoid and spring catch system that is fed a simple voltage pulse signal from the PRINTER to click it open. The POS software sends a signal (actually, tho old ASCII code for "BEL") to the PRINTER as part of its sales slip output, and the printer sends the voltage pulse out to the cash drawer on a dedicated little cord. So the cash drawer is not actually connected to any computer port at all.

We run a POS system in a small retail clothing store. One feature in the relatively simple computer system (single POS) is that the storage system in it is a RAID1 array of two HDD's. This is an ideal application for RAID1, which keeps TWO copies of the data on separate disks. If ever one HDD fails, the system sends out a message and changes to a second mode. It ignores the faulty HDD and just keeps on running using only the good HDD. So there is NO interruption in your ability to process sales etc. during the business day. AFTER the day ends and the system is not in use, you can address the problem by "breaking" the array, shutting down to remove and replace the failed unit, then rebuilding the array on start-up using management tools in the RAID system. This is NOT a backup system to guard against data loss or corruption, but it IS a way to keep running even if one HDD fails.

I chose to do this using the RAID system "built in" on the mobo. Now, the problem with RAID is that there is NO standard way to do any of it. So, if your MOBO fails and has to be replaced, it may not be possible for the new mobo to read and use the data on the two RAID1 drives from your old system. BUT I found a good way around that. The makers of SOME mobo drive controller and BIOS chips that include RAID functions offer a guarantee that any future RAID systems they make and offer to mobo makers will always use the same RAID system, so they will always be able to read and use HDD's written with an earlier version of their chips and RAID software. So, in choosing the mobo for our POS system, I chose one that used chips that came with that assurance from a large chip maker I was sure will stay in business. And it worked! Some years later the mobo failed - not the RAID system, but the capacitors in its Voltage Regulator stage. So I replaced it with a new mobo able to use my CPU and RAM, AND with the same company's HDD controller chips and RAID system in BIOS. I connected it all up - made sure that I kept the two HDD units identified as #1 and #2 and plugged them into similar SATA ports - and turned on the RAID functions on start-up. The new system recognized the old drives and just went to work and used them with NO problem at all. So IF you opt to use a RAID1 array, remember this when choosing the computer's mobo and it built-in RAID systems.