The Anandtech reviews and forums have helped me to build several desktop workstations which are working great (and saved me 40% off the comparable Dell). Now I need advice for building an entry-level server.
This server needs to run MySQL or PostgreSQL on some Linux distribution (I was thinking Red Hat 7.1 but could be persuaded otherwise). This is for an editorial system for an XML-laden electronic publication. The project is budgeting some $3-5K for this server. There are two important categories to servers which I have not implemented on desktops I've built - RAID and backup (I manually and infrequently backup my PCs to CDR) - that I especially need to learn about.
How critical would SMP be for this?
Could ATA/100 be used or must the system be SCSI160?
What type of RAID is need (data protection is more important than speed?
What is the preferred backup solution (must be simple: one command line and be prompted to insert/remove media; retrieval can be a bit more involved)?
Basic requirements
*low maintenance (staff has to backups but not much else after it is configured)
*simple process to backup to tape
*will have 700 users and up to 30 at a time accessing and using documents 15KB or smaller
*about 30GB of data storage
Either AMD or Intel based is fine. My initial thoughts were:
Case: Antec SX-1240 $190
Power Supply: Antec 412X (included with case)
CPU: AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) 1.2 GHz (266 FSB) $95
Motherboard (Chipset): MSI K7 Master (AMD 761) $130
Cooling Solution: GlobalWin FOP32 $20, 2 x Sunon Case Fan $8 each
RAM: Micron/Crucial 2 x 256MB PC2100 DDR $90
Video Board: Matrox G200 8MB $25
LAN Board: 3com 3C905C-TX $60
Floppy Drive: Teac 235HD FDD $15
CD Drive: Mitsumi 48X $35
SCSI RAID Controller: Adaptec 2100S $350 (set to RAID 5)
HDD System: 1 x IBM UltraStar LZX 9GB 68 pin $276
HDD Data: 3 x IBM UltraStar LZX 18GB 68 pin @ $372 = $1116
Tape Backup: Onstream ADR50 50GB SCSI-3LVD $680 + $70 apiece for media
Keyboard: Logitech PS/2 K/B $10
Mouse: Logitech First Mouse Plus (with wheel) $10
Additional Cables: 25 ft Cat-5 $15
Uninterruptable Power Supply: APC Back-UPS Pro with PowerChute 650VA (BP650S) $240
Hardware Total: $3443
For Intel SMP capability + $246
Change motherboard to Tyan S2510 (Serverworks LE) $376
CPU to 1.0GHz FCPGA Intel Pentium III (Coppermine) at 133 FSB $180
RAM to Micron/Crucial 2 x 256MB PC133 SDR $90
Use onboard video and LAN
For AMD SMP capability + $165
Motherboard to Tyan Tiger MP (AMD 760MP) $250
CPU to 1.0GHz Athlon MP (Palomino) $140
RAM to Micron/Crucial 2 x 256MB PC2100 DDR Registered $90
OS: Red Hat Linux 7.1 (Kernel 2.4) Professional Server $180 or free download (no support)
Software:
Antivirus ? Kaspersky AVP
Backup - AMANDA
HTTPD - Apache
Database - MySQL or PostgreSQL
SMTPD - Sendmail
POP3D ? Qualcomm QPOP
Software Total: free or $180
Network connectivity:
Dedicated 768 kbps upstream: hook up to the office's connection $FREE
Router/Switch: Linksys Instant Broadband EtherFast Router $100
I welcome any and all suggestions and requests for more details.
Thank you,
Sathyan
This server needs to run MySQL or PostgreSQL on some Linux distribution (I was thinking Red Hat 7.1 but could be persuaded otherwise). This is for an editorial system for an XML-laden electronic publication. The project is budgeting some $3-5K for this server. There are two important categories to servers which I have not implemented on desktops I've built - RAID and backup (I manually and infrequently backup my PCs to CDR) - that I especially need to learn about.
How critical would SMP be for this?
Could ATA/100 be used or must the system be SCSI160?
What type of RAID is need (data protection is more important than speed?
What is the preferred backup solution (must be simple: one command line and be prompted to insert/remove media; retrieval can be a bit more involved)?
Basic requirements
*low maintenance (staff has to backups but not much else after it is configured)
*simple process to backup to tape
*will have 700 users and up to 30 at a time accessing and using documents 15KB or smaller
*about 30GB of data storage
Either AMD or Intel based is fine. My initial thoughts were:
Case: Antec SX-1240 $190
Power Supply: Antec 412X (included with case)
CPU: AMD Athlon (Thunderbird) 1.2 GHz (266 FSB) $95
Motherboard (Chipset): MSI K7 Master (AMD 761) $130
Cooling Solution: GlobalWin FOP32 $20, 2 x Sunon Case Fan $8 each
RAM: Micron/Crucial 2 x 256MB PC2100 DDR $90
Video Board: Matrox G200 8MB $25
LAN Board: 3com 3C905C-TX $60
Floppy Drive: Teac 235HD FDD $15
CD Drive: Mitsumi 48X $35
SCSI RAID Controller: Adaptec 2100S $350 (set to RAID 5)
HDD System: 1 x IBM UltraStar LZX 9GB 68 pin $276
HDD Data: 3 x IBM UltraStar LZX 18GB 68 pin @ $372 = $1116
Tape Backup: Onstream ADR50 50GB SCSI-3LVD $680 + $70 apiece for media
Keyboard: Logitech PS/2 K/B $10
Mouse: Logitech First Mouse Plus (with wheel) $10
Additional Cables: 25 ft Cat-5 $15
Uninterruptable Power Supply: APC Back-UPS Pro with PowerChute 650VA (BP650S) $240
Hardware Total: $3443
For Intel SMP capability + $246
Change motherboard to Tyan S2510 (Serverworks LE) $376
CPU to 1.0GHz FCPGA Intel Pentium III (Coppermine) at 133 FSB $180
RAM to Micron/Crucial 2 x 256MB PC133 SDR $90
Use onboard video and LAN
For AMD SMP capability + $165
Motherboard to Tyan Tiger MP (AMD 760MP) $250
CPU to 1.0GHz Athlon MP (Palomino) $140
RAM to Micron/Crucial 2 x 256MB PC2100 DDR Registered $90
OS: Red Hat Linux 7.1 (Kernel 2.4) Professional Server $180 or free download (no support)
Software:
Antivirus ? Kaspersky AVP
Backup - AMANDA
HTTPD - Apache
Database - MySQL or PostgreSQL
SMTPD - Sendmail
POP3D ? Qualcomm QPOP
Software Total: free or $180
Network connectivity:
Dedicated 768 kbps upstream: hook up to the office's connection $FREE
Router/Switch: Linksys Instant Broadband EtherFast Router $100
I welcome any and all suggestions and requests for more details.
Thank you,
Sathyan
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