Aspects of focus for web servers

[legocitytruck]

When making a strategy and choosing components for building a web server, what aspects and hardware should one focus on? Obviously, a highly rated reliable power supply is a must. What other hardware or hardware features should be paid close attention too?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Get a dual CPU board and use quad core CPUs in them. Then max out the RAM. Course you'll need allot of HDD space. But that depends on the intended use of the server.

 

[JDMnAR1]

That should really be dictated by what kind of web sites you will be hosting. If you just have a bunch of relatively static HTML pages, obviously the horsepower requirements aren't the same as if you are hosting Amazon.com.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: JDMnAR1
That should really be dictated by what kind of web sites you will be hosting. If you just have a bunch of relatively static HTML pages, obviously the horsepower requirements aren't the same as if you are hosting Amazon.com.

This would be my question too...You can host a lot of small websites on a good box, but a heavy traffic/database server needs a lot of power itself.

 

[Colt45]

Redundancy is pretty crucial if you want high availability.

I'd just buy an old IBM x series or something... with redundant hotswap PSUs, hotswappable SCSI RAID with hot spares, etc...

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Colt45
Redundancy is pretty crucial if you want high availability.

I'd just buy an old IBM x series or something... with redundant hotswap PSUs, hotswappable SCSI RAID with hot spares, etc...

yeah, you can get a pretty cheap one off ebay...dual core 3.06 xeons w/ 4gigs of ram 73.6g x 2 HD's for redundancy...10k RPM I think they are for fast I/O.

 

[legocitytruck]

How does a Dual Core Xeon compare to a Core 2 duo of similar speed rating? What operating system must be run on this server?

 

[somethingsketchy]

Originally posted by: legocitytruck
How does a Dual Core Xeon compare to a Core 2 duo of similar speed rating? What operating system must be run on this server?

Xeon processors are server based CPUs which means they can handle different instruction sets that Core 2 Duo processors do not have. While Xeons may not have higher amount of cache, when paired with other Xeon processors they work very well. Which is why you tend to see servers or server blades with dual or quad socketed Xeon processors.

A Core 2 Duo processor would not keep up with the high demands placed on email, database, high-volume web and even Active Directory machines. The sheer number of requests for email servers alone would not be feasible for a C2D machine.

As for Operating Systems stick with a Windows Server OS or a Unix-based server OS. Never use a "consumer" level OS. As to which OS to go with that is completely up to you. If you have never touched a Unix OS, let alone have any small amount of experience, then maybe a Windows Server OS may be easier for you. However you will have to spend money if you want a Windows Server OS (although I do not know what the prices are at the moment). I would do some research into what would be the easiest implementation for your website and go with that. Then once you have more experience you can make the switch to another OS (such as Unix-based Debian or Red Hat Linux) and add more or less features that you want.

Hope that helps.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: legocitytruck
How does a Dual Core Xeon compare to a Core 2 duo of similar speed rating? What operating system must be run on this server?

throw up a CentOS :
http://howtoforge.com/perfect-...centos-5.2-ispconfig-3

XEONS were created specifically for server code. It sounds like you will have a small site anyway, so 1-2core Xeon's would suffice + 2gigs of ram or more.

Better I/O speeds on the HD's would be nice..10k-15k scsi drives.

 

[Aluvus]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
XEONS were created specifically for server code.

How is that, exactly?

 

[ViviTheMage]

I keep reading things like this :

2) Xeons are purposely meant to work extremely hard all the time under heavy loads while still functioning; few CPUs consumer-grade can keep up with that.

Granted, I have never put two CPU's next to eachother...consumer grade core2duo and a comparable server cpu.

 

[specialk90]

/\ Nope.

Actually, Xeons are identical to C2D in every way except their power usage. Intel takes the lowest power consuming chips and brands them as Xeon. For example, look at the new 1366 i7 vs 1366 Xeon. The i7's have higher TDPs than the same speed Xeon. This is done because servers must be energy efficient.

What type of websites and how many will be running are needed in order to provide better recommendations. Do you also need email servers for the accompanying sites? If so, Virtual Machines could help there. You will certainly need a hardware Raid controller with at least 8 ports. Plus, is this for 1 business or multiple? I ask because SAS hard drives are needed for very important data due to their much lower data error rate compared to Sata drives. Not to mention, SAS drives are designed to run 24/7 under constant use and are optimized for server applications.

We need more info.

 

[legocitytruck]

The server will preform many functions. It will serve as an ftp server for work files. It will host a historic preservation website which will include forms for comments and a forum, so user registration is required. Additionally, it will host some websites I plan on starting. However, if any of them become very popular, I will resort to outside hosting for greater reliability. I don't imagine any of the websites will have more than a 1000 conversions a day. In the distant future, it may one day provide personal email service.

I hope this info helps.

 

[Crusty]

Find some shared hosting and be on your way. Until you have established sites with high traffic there's no need to run your own hosting environment.

 

[spikespiegal]

What other hardware or hardware features should be paid close attention too?

RAID 1...the rest is fluff. You don't need 8 channel RAID controllers or Xeon processors, and some of the comments above regarding Xeon -vs- Core Duo sound like garbage you'd hear in a Mac forum so they can feel special.

The only meaningful difference between Xeon/Opteron server processors and their consumer counterparts is the server processors can be used in multi-processor arrays. For instance, there is no such thing as a dual processor Core Duo. Some other minor architectural differences allowing for better utilization of large amounts of server memory, etc.

A 2.8ghz Core Duo with simple RAID 1 controller will have identical performance as a 2.8ghz dual core Xeon Server 99.9% of the time, and the former will be a helluva lot cheaper.

Throw Apache on it, and use any basic Windows OS and it will be solid and pretty secure. Or, hold your breath and pay too much for a 5-cal Server 2003 box, which you don't need anyways.

At first it's fun to host your own Web box, but after awhile you'll get sick of your ISP's politics, dynamic IP's, crappy upload speeds annoying your clients, blah, blah, blah. At that point you'll find cheap hosting.