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build me a server for $1600...

vi edit

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Work wants another server, and they are giving me $1600 to put twords it. It's going to be a file/backup/crystal report runner. NT Server 4 will be the OS.

Here's some things that I definitely want:

- 17" monitor, doesn't have to be a trinitron class, just something nice.

- a high density backup device - needs to be able to back up at least 12 gig of data

- at least 30+ gigs of storage(a 7200 RPM IDE drive would suffice)

Things that would be nice -

- Dual processor would be great(maybe pick up some old P2-400 Xeons for cheap?)

- Nice, big tower case for easy expandability

Ok, so does anybody have any suggestions for this budget? Should I nab a BP6 and drop two celeron 400's in there? Or, should I try to find a couple P2-400 Xeons and chase down a dualy board for that? Video doesn't have to be anything special. An older Matrox PCI card would be sufficient. Would 256 RAM be good?

Thanks
 
For a server 256MB would definatly be good. And if it's going to be a file server, you want fast HD access. That means either SCSI or some sort of RAID. Now, you can go with IDE RAID if you feel comfortable with that. I've had a set up for a very long time now and it works reall well. Something like RAID 0(stripping) will give you fast performance, and large volume size. However, if you are worried about losing data(i.e. 1 drives die, the whole thing is lost) then you want to go with a RAID card that supports RAID 5(typically SCSI). You can Mirror the Stripe set. Yet, this brings the cost up since SCSI is considerably more expensive.

Just throwing out some suggestions.

Things like Monitor and Video card don't have to be that spectacular. Just get the decent stuff. Unless you are going to be working on this machine everyday, there's no reason to buy expensive stuff.

A good Full Tower or Server case would be nice. Only one I can really recommend is a SuperMicro SC-750 since this is the only Full Tower case I've ever owned. Antec and InWin make some nice ones though.

edit: typos
 
119.00 Xeon 1meg L2 400mhz
119.00 Xeon 1meg L2 400mhz

207.00 256meg PC100 http://www.computersupersale.com

216.00 SuperMicro P6DGE Dual 440 GX 5PCI/2ISA http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/pwhome.hmx

139.00 MediaShuttle TP-109: 10 Bays File Server Case 300W (or 2X300W = 600W) http://store.yahoo.com/mediashuttle/tp10bayfilse3.html

150.00 KDS or any cheap 17in monitor http://www.pricewatch.com

20.00 A cheap 4meg S3 or the alike http://www.pricewatch.com

20.00 10/100 BASE-TX Ethernet NIC http://www.pricewatch.com

245.00 WesternDigital 10000rpm WDE18310-0040 18.0GB Ultra2 Wide SCSI
245.00 WesternDigital 10000rpm WDE18310-0040 18.0GB Ultra2 Wide SCSI http://www.spartantech.com

30.00 Adaptec AHA-2940U2W Ultra2 Wide Controler Card http://www.computer-x-press.com/pricewatch.htm

150.00 Seagate STT220000N-M 20GB SCSI2 http://www.compdisk.com/products/productsPW.htm

20.00 Any Cheap SCSI2 Controler Card http://www.pricewatch.com

(Cdrom, Floppy, Mouse & Keyboard are from recycle parts at work)

1680.00 Total


If the server have the need for more power then the Xeon 450mhz 2meg L2 catch is for $315.00 each at http://www.bunta.com
And crank the PC100 to 512megs or 1gig

 
K6-2+ at 600mHz
2mb 100mHz L3 cache
512mb PC100 CAS2 SDRAM
32gb 7200rpm RAID/mirrored IDE-pair storage
15gb Tape-backup
2mb videocard
19" monitor

K6-III on a 2mb board was simply awesome as an equivalent to a Xeon-class server.
K6-2+ will run 600mHz, although a K6-III-400 would be sufficient.

Dual boards are not necessary and the 66fsb of a Celeron is a terrible bottleneck to fight! Go at least 100fsb, but higher if you can afford it. Don't let memory size or speed be your bottleneck, and I garauntee it will make you very happy.
 

I would second MadRat with the K6-2 & 2megs L3 mobo for light-duty/home use, but for a business you would want the stability of the 440GX mobo.

And, dual SCSI HDD offer Hot Fix.


 
Don't forget S&H. Many of those "cheap" places may gouge you on shipping.

I don't think the SuperMicro P6DGE can hold 2 Xeons since the board is Slot 1 and the Xeons are Slot 2. Speaking of Xeon, make sure you add 2 heatsink plus fan.

I am building a similar server on the S2DGE mobo. NEVER go cheap on a server. It will only come back to bite you with downtime and lost productivity. ASk for Another $500 and make sure its solid. Servers don't have to be the fastest but the most stable and resource rich. Also consider ECC SDRAM.

Windogg
 
Why do you need 17" monitor for file server?
I'd get no monitor, just hook one up when you install it, and then just pcAnywhere into it whenever you have to do anything...
 
Also NEVER neglect fault tolerence. Get a decent backup device (Travan TR5 10/20GB?) and a good UPS that is no more than 50% loaded. Try to get Backup Exec if possible. Everyone claims they will monitor backup daily (YEA RIGHT!!!!).

Windogg
 
Wow, they are really skimping on the money end of this deal, although I have to question why you want a 17" monitor for a file server. Get a switch box or use PcAnywhere.
 
I highly doubt that they intend to get heavy-duty use from a $1600 server; its probably something that just needs to be dependable. I've found the high-end S7 boards to run very dependable. I still have about 200 P5-120's (some going on 5 years of age) out of the almost 400 machines I cover.

But like I said, don't skimp on the speed or size of the RAM and you won't have regrets.
 
That is really low end. I built a server for a local company that was about the cheapest I'd build a server for, for around $3000. And that didn't include a monitor. :Q
 
I'm with you BoberFett. When I saw $1600 for a server,I had to look and see who can build one that cheap.

vi_edit,your boss is unrealistic. $1600 can buy a nice desktop,but tape back up and 30 gig 7200 drives and dual processors and mobos.?

Good luck. I'll watch your thread.😛


 
I guess I should give a little more info. This isn't going to be a box supporting a fortune 500 company. It's not going to be hit really hard non stop 8 hours a day as well. Besides, there's only 12 of us that could be hitting it at once. My guess would be maybe 5 users at any given time.

It's going to be a test box for me to mirror over the production system to.

Basically, it's going to be my bitch box. It's going to be my system to putz around with so that I don't fuxor up the prod box 🙂

The files that it will be serving out will be some crytal reports and I think that I'm going to hook up IIS to set up a makeshift intranet as well.

As far as harddrive space goes, i'm going to use it for ghost images that I'm going to pull down from the network.

I wanted dual processors cuz crystal reports brought the P2-300 that I was using today to it's knees. We need more power captain 🙂

Besides - whatever I do, it'll be better than the P2-300 system that they currently have for a server.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

- Oh - the reason I want a 17" monitor is because I'll be using it quite a bit to write/run crystal reports on. I'm spoiled and can't stand anything smaller than 17". 🙂
 
I noticed that lowtech mentioned the adaptec ultra2 for $30. I think that is how much the cable costs as I couldn't find the card for less than $180. So that solution needs to be trimmed a little.

Since you're tight on the budget, a couple 30 GB Quantums would save you near $300 from a SCSI solution.

Regarding a dual board I would also skip it as I would skip any Celeron solution. You want cache. So if you don't want an AMD go at least with a 600MHz PIII. It will kick your PII's arse easily, and also save you near $100 on the mobo.

$1,600 is tight, specially if you think about backup and UPS. But it can be done.
 
buy the new msi dual socket 370 board. $160

2 p3-600e (overclock to 800 , well this is a server maybe 2 600ebs) $340

compgeeks has maxtor 60 gig drives for $230 , get two for $460
(this is 5400rpm yeah, but its got platter density that will make up for it)

2 256mb dimm - $420


any video card agp $30
ide 24x and up cdrom $40
17" cheap monitor $150
antec sx1030 case $100
$15 10/100 nic

you dont even need a tape drive i guess if you only need 60 gigs of storage you can just have nt 4 server use its software raid to mirror 1 60 gig on the other 60 gig



 
Don't oc the system or go for an Athy mobo.

I've tried using an Athlon classic/w a KX133 chipset board with Win2K and its still not stable enough.

Your best bet would be to stick with two Intel coppermine 700e $220 each, processors and a Dual BX board it will also kick Dual Xeons @400Mhz even with a 1 MB of cache. The Via boards out there are decent but not rock solid like an Intel BX board.

$600 for two P3 700es with a niec Tyan S1832DL (Dual BX)
$180 for a nice IBM 30 Gig 75GXP. You could stripe the two to get 2X the performance 🙂
Not sure about 12 Gig backup disks. Best bet would be to get a seperate HDD for data backup.
$350 Monitor a Viewsonic or Optiquest range are very good monitors for the price. A 19' would set you back $350 or so. A high quality 17' like the Viewsonic Professional series about the same.
$100 Inwin Q500a is the best server tower case I can find for a reasonable price. Its far better than the Addtronics 7890/7896 series.
$500 for half a Gig of PC100 ram pref in 2 256 Meg Dimms. Make sure its ECC specially for a data backup server.

Comes to $1730 shipped which is not too bad. You could skimp out on the RAM or a lower quality monitor.
 
Where are you finding 512 MB of ECC for $500???

Just 256 MB of ECC will run you nearly that much.

You also missed a CD drive, NIC and floppy (if you want one). And that still doesn't include a backup device or copy of Windows NT.

I'm following this thread anxiously awaing somebody who can build a server for $1600.
 
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