Buying/building web server need some advice

[Fenix793]

So I need to build or buy a server to run my site. The site will use a basic LAMP setup and we will also be allowing for file uploads and downloads. File sizes aren't expected to be too large, mostly word/PDF documents and maybe some Powerpoint presentations. At the moment we can only afford one box to run the whole site so we need to build something that can handle both file serving and basic site stuff.

I'm wondering what kinds of hardware we would need to make this happen. If I were to setup a box with a quad core CPU, 4-8GB of RAM, and a few 15K RPM drives would that be able to handle file serving and PHP/mySQL? Would multiple processors be required? What about RAID?

I guess the real question is what kind of hardware requirements are involved with setting up a file server. I'm guessing running PHP and mySQL is not really an issue but I don't want the site to slow down because of the file serving. I'm sure some of you have experience with this sort of thing so if anyone knows please let share your thoughts.

Thanks!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Have you thought about a Virtual Private Server or a dedicated server at a real datacenter?

www.WebHostingTalk.com forums are a good place to check out companies but we've been running VPS servers with ServInt.com for years now with no issues.

If you still want to set up your own box, making it run reliably is the main concern. For file serving and a "normal" website that doesn't run something like massive databases or CPU-intensive jobs the slowest core 2 is more than enough, and 2 GB RAM is overkill but you might as well get it since RAM is cheap. Put it in a case with 120mm exhaust fan and a good PSU (Antec NSK4480 is one choice).

 

[Fenix793]

Thought about VPS and dedicated. Dedicated may be an option but it seems like a better idea to provide our own server and colocate at a datacenter. Our site uses the database extensively. If a user were to take full advantage of the site they would be leaving comments, adding events to a calendar and leaving ratings and evaluations. Most users however would probably just be reading from the database. We are not doing anything out of the ordinary and if we weren't offering some file serving I wouldn't be worried at all.

My concern is that we are going to allow file uploads/downloads so I'm wondering what impact that will have on normal site operations and how we can possibly avoid any problems. The typical user experience would not involve uploads or even downloads and most just reading from the database. Still, the option is there and we'd like the prepared for the worst.

In the future the tasks will be split but for now we can only afford to have one box.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Colocation can be a nightmare since it isn't their box and they may not support it as well as their own.

Deadicated is a better choice since if a hardware failure occurs they can replace parts or migrate you to a new box very quickly.

One nice feature of a VPS is ServInt can migrate you to a better plan seamlessly with at most 15 minutes downtime and no effort by you. They are very reliable, but you can find cheaper plans at lower-quality companies.