thx for the input! - ftp server

abracadabra1

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 1999
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need to build an ftp server. the comp would only be doing ftp requests (lots and ltos and lots of sending/receiving)probably do over 215gigs a day.
what parts should i use?
cpu/memory/hd/nic/mobo
thx!

Abit KT7RAID-$140
Duron 600-$60
30.2 GB IBM 75GXP's $135x2-$270
256 megs PC133-$173
3COM 3C905-TX-M-$47
Case-$50
Heatsink-$20
Cheapo Video-$20
CD-$30
KB/M-$20


that seem right...?
 

abracadabra1

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 1999
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this doesn't have to be a kickass server or comp...just needs to be able to handle the load well.
 

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
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For $500? You're going to be hard pressed to build even an acceptably fast server for that price... Especially if you have to buy all new parts.

Viper GTS
 

randomlinh

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
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linh.wordpress.com
well, all i know is invest in a GOOD drive. As, for me, my quantum LM Plus (30GB), died. I think i was getting over 30GB's a day traffic... but it went klunk on me :( Lucky for me it did w/in the first 30 days cause i was able to return it.
 

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
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Well, if you figure a minimum $120 for motherboard, $120 for CPU, $200 for hard drive, & you're already left with only $60 for everything else.

Viper GTS
 

BA

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 1999
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There was a guy selling Intel T440BX boards in FS/FT for $60, onboard SCSI(UW? don't really remember) and 10/100 Lan. Put in a ~450-500. I'm not all that up to speed on SCSI HD's, being poor, so any suggestions? Blow whatever money's left on memory.
 

cgclausen

Senior member
Aug 6, 2000
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I saw a motherboard with built in 10/100 LAN and a duron 650 for 150 + shipping on pricewatch.com (look for motherboards bundeled with Duron 650's). That isn't too bad. You should be able to get a hd for 50-90 bucks, look in hot deals, but a cheap video card, and spend the rest on ram like BA said
 

abracadabra1

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 1999
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could you be a little more specific on parts.
one major thing that is a must is at least 45gigs of storage.

btw, shouldn't i stray away from built in lan seeing that it'll degrade system performance?
 

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
38,107
433
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Well, using Pricewatch:

Typical ATX case - $45
ABIT BF6 - $90
P3 550E - $117
Golden Orb - $14
30.7 GB IBM 75GXP IDE - $150x2 - $300
2 MB PCI Video - $2
128 MB PC100 - $65
24X IDE CD-ROM - $29
Generic 10/100 NIC - $15

With no OS, keyboard, mouse, or monitor, you're looking at $700.

Obviously if you want more performance/backup capability/reliability you're going to pay more.

Viper GTS
 

abracadabra1

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 1999
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i think w/ that much data traffic i'm going to need 256 megs of ram (yes or no?)
so far this is what i have set:
45GB IBM 7200RPM ATA100
256MB PC133 SDRAM
3COM 3C905C-TX-M

the rest i'm not sure-
thunderbird800
abit kt7-raid

any ideas?
thx
 

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
38,107
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I chose the BX platform for cost concerns, but the KT7 RAID would provide excellent performance in a server environment.

Viper GTS
 

Napalm381

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 1999
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You can get a single IBM 75GXP 45 gigger for around 200.
Plus I think P3 550 is overkill. I think a Celeron or Celeron 2 would be more than enough. I run an FTP on a Celeron 300 and 64 megs of RAM and it works just fine. Azzo Computers has some clearance CPUs available, they have a Intel 300A that won't do 450MHz for only 30 bucks right now. That kind of setup could easily knock 150-200 dollars off Viper's suggestions. As for OS, if you use Linux that's free. Cheap KB/mouse you can probably find for 20 bucks for the pair.
 

Napalm381

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 1999
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I have run FTP servers on 300's w/64 megs, both Linux and Windows, and they can serve up however fast I need- they handle a meg a second without problem. To be honest I don't think a high powered proc is gonna make a whole lot of difference in the performance. Like lnguyen said, the hard drive is probably the most important thing- get a good 7200 rpm IBM.
 

Viper GTS

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
38,107
433
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$850 gives you a lot more to work with. How about:

ATX Case, 300 W P/S = $75
KT7 RAID = $143
Duron 600 = $60
Heatsink = $30
30.2 GB IBM 75GXP's $135x2 = $270
2x128 MB DIMM = $130
Cheap ass PCI video = $15
Cheap ass 10/100 NIC = $15
24X IDE CD-ROM = $29

That's $767 without a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Add another $20 for a cheap ass keyboard & mouse, & you have a pretty decent system.

Viper GTS
 

lowtech1

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2000
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Is the FTP sever goint to be strickly for FTP?

How is it going to be access...Though RAS/56k, LAN, or ATM :)

Its all depend on what your current peak-load, expected/projected peak traffics, data/media size & band width.

If you have a high peak load & your band width is small then a 486 & a Xeon is going to perform the same through-put.

You can try a second hand 486 or Pentium with 32megs RAM and Minimum install Linux, if the peak trafic is low (majority of the traffics is spread out in an amound of 6 hour or more).

If you need to move that traffics in 1~2 hours then you may need God or ATM & a 600mhz or better CPU with large catch, RAM & SCSI RAID-0 :)

If you have a bunch of Zip or commonlly upload files that is smaller than your ram, then you could just image them on Ram that way you don't need to have fast hdd.


 

abracadabra1

Diamond Member
Nov 18, 1999
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lowtech
yah...the server is strictly ftp.

access will be through any and all connections- e.g. 56k/lan/dsl/cable (not atm though)
traffic will be around 1.2 gigs an hour.
peak will be around 3 gigs an hour
server will be located on a shared oc3


 

kami

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
17,627
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Napalm is right...processor doesn't really mean anything.

Did you know that until recently, ftp.cdrom.com, a popular FTP site with a 5000 user limit, was running on a single Pentium Pro 200? It never had problems...however it DID have 4GB of memory.
Now I think they run on a single Xeon 500MHz.

You might not want to cheap out on the NIC either....I'd cheap out on the processor and get a better NIC. IMO a BX board with ATA/66 would be best and then just buy a cheap celeron.
 

Napalm381

Platinum Member
Oct 10, 1999
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3 gigs an hour is still under a meg a second which I can run just fine on my lowly 300 :)
so......
Abit KT7-$140
Duron 600-$60
IBM 75GXP 45 gigger-$200
128 megs PC100-$100
Decent NIC (Linksys works good for me)-$20
Case-$50
Heatsink-$20
Cheapo Video-$20
CD-$30
KB/M-$20

=$660 bucks, plus monitor.

This should be more than enough for the throughput you need. Plus it would serve as a decent webserver should that pique your interests. Also would work just fine as a basic Net browsing computer and other lowly functions. If you wanted to you could go cheaper on the proc/mobo it would work just as good for serving. As mentioned before, HD and NIC will probably be your bottlenecks.