Bought this for a server.. Feedback wanted

[akshatp]

Case w/ 7 bays, 400W PS $64
Abit Th7II 850 with Raid Socket 478 Pentium ATX Mainboard $210
Intel Pentium 4 1.8 gHz 478 pin 400fsb CPU $269
Sony 52x CDROM $49
Microsoft Optical Mouse/Internet Keyboard $32/$24
3com 3c905B 10/100 NIC $47
Major Brand 1GB RDRAM, PC800, 512x2, $388
(2) 40GB IBM IDE 7200rpm ATA/100 2MB Cache Hard Drive $248 (Bought two for raid mirroring)
Asus V7700 Pure GeForce2 GTS 32MB DDR 4XAGP Video $137 (To be swapped out with my personal machine for a V3)
Case fan $9.00

Total with shipping $1503.

What do you guys think of this setup for an application server in a network of 20 users. Workstations are AMD 1.4, 512mb, ECS K7S5A.

Furthermore, do you think the prices are reasonable, or did I get ripped off?

Thanks for looking...

 

[jblondi]

Prices to me seem a little high, just by looking at pricewatch. Was this system assembled for you? If so then not that bad.

 

[Woodie]

I assume this isn't for a business? You may see HD performance issues, since there's only one spindle, and 20 users...if they're all reading/writing to the server at the same time.

What's the warranty? What about on-site service? Do you need 4-hour on-site? What happens when the server crashes? What's your backup solution--I don't see a tape drive on this--?

--Woodie

 

[akshatp]

This is for a business. But at most, four people would be accessing the server at the same time, and for that to happen is highly unlikely.

No warranty, I am building the machine myself.

 

[Woodie]

So, what happens when the server has a (hardware) problem?
How do you get compensated for coming in to deal w/ a hardware problem?
How long do you expect to be with the company?
How much will it cost the company to have the server down for 4 hours? (Lost income, lost sales, lost production time, etc..)

These are the questions that come up when you're talking about a server for a business. If the company is very small (like this one), they may be able to skate by with a cheapo setup like this for quite a while, but it depends on the specific skills that the company has access to. If you get hit by a bus the day after you install the server, they may have a lot of difficulty supporting this device. BTW, I wouldn't expect you to answer the questions above in the forum, just for yourself, and the "boss", as you evaluate this purchase.

Don't forget to factor the software licensing...if it's M$, it's going to cost you. Also, make sure that all this hardware is supported by whatever OS you're going to run on it.

--Woodie