I'm new to the forum, so I appreciate any help you can give me. I have been at an academic institution that manages its own UNIX computing grid for running SAS. I use a Mac as my personal computer and connect remotely using an ssh terminal to conduct my analysis and store/manage my files.

I'm moving to an institution that does not manage its own grid. The problem is that a Mac laptop is just not going to cut it in terms of computing power. I'm considering setting up my own UNIX machine similar to what I use at my current institution, and continuing to use a MAC laptop. Then I could continue to do what I would now.

How difficult would this be? I know basic UNIX commands, but I'm by no means an expert on UNIX. Would you have any suggestions on how much machine I need? I deal with data sets that often have several million observations. I have an initial setup budget of $4,000, but I could probably come up with a bit more (maybe another $1,000) if necessary (that includes both the laptop, UNIX machine and software). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.