W2K Server... Dual or Single?

[Magicthyse]

Just interested in whether a W2K server would give higher performance with dual PIII 1Ghz, or single P4 2Ghz.

Let's say you'll be running Exchange Server, IIS, SQL Server and a general file server on the unit.

Assuming that each has the same hardware around it, what are the things that make most difference on a dual system as opposed to a single system?

 

[Superwormy]

First off, you don't want a dual P3 system, cause you wanna get a Dual Athlon XP system, save some money and gain some performance.

Secondly, it really depends on the specific apps and load that'll be placed on the server. The ideal way to go is with a dual AMD system as said (actually, probably smartest to start with 1 CPU, and work up from there when you need the second), you might also check out Anand's review / article about their database server performance and such.

 

[Woodie]

Ignoring the AMD comments....

It depends on the applications. In the server arena, raw CPU Mhz tends not to be as significant as disk operations, and I/O in general. That said, for the applications you have listed, I would go w/ a dual-processor machine. All the applications you list are multi-CPU aware, so the two pipes may well out-perform the single faster pipe--for your setup only!

I haven't seen a comparison, and I'd be surprised if you found one, since it's so application dependant.

 

[Ih8canada]

AMD has no real place in the enterprise environment. Dual Intel p3's will take your further and be much more stable. Are you going to build this box yourself?

 

[Strych9]

AMD has no real place in the enterprise environment. Dual Intel p3's will take your further and be much more stable.

 

[Filter]

Originally posted by: Ih8canada
AMD has no real place in the enterprise environment. Dual Intel p3's will take your further and be much more stable. Are you going to build this box yourself?

liar

 

[N11]

Originally posted by: Magicthyse

Let's say you'll be running Exchange Server, IIS, SQL Server and a general file server on the unit.

Assuming that each has the same hardware around it, what are the things that make most difference on a dual system as opposed to a single system?

Exchange, SQL and IIS desire dual processors. Exchange and SQL in particular... it is more or less standard these days to run these on a minimum of 2 processors.

The AMD comments may or may not be justified. There aren't really any serious high end servers, and I'm talking about servers such as the new Dell 6650s, which are being speced with AMD processors. Intel has an established relationship with most of these companies, and has a proven track record in the server industry.

First off, you don't want a dual p3 system, cause you wann get a Dual Athlon XP system, save some money and gain some performance.

Servers are not desktops. If it were all about benchmarks and performance we'd be forgetting about the registered ECC, raid5, integrated peripherals, etc.

Specing out a server really isn't about trying to save $50-100 where you can. You'll drop 10 to 100 times that with your redundant psus, percs, and other gems.

 

[N11]

browser messing up.

 

[N11]

..

 

[N11]

ugh. new konqueror has a serious bug here.

 

[N11]

..

 

[blstriker]

For a server, a dual proc would be better. Different processes and threads could run independently. The cpu speed itself isn't all that important until you get a really heavy load on a webserver.

 

[Derango]

Originally posted by: N11

Originally posted by: Magicthyse

Servers are not desktops. If it were all about benchmarks and performance we'd be forgetting about the registered ECC, raid5, integrated peripherals, etc.

Specing out a server really isn't about trying to save $50-100 where you can. You'll drop 10 to 100 times that with your redundant psus, percs, and other gems.

And since you really need a lot to keep an XP cool, in a server that needs to be up, you don't want somthing like the heatsink failing to be a catastrophic event. a P3 just slows itself down, pop another HSF on there and it starts working great again. An XP tends to fry, taking the motherboard with it, Meaning more time the server has to be down, meaning more angry people who need to access the server.

 

[ripthesystem]

I have a Dual PIII 933 rig(see my sig) which runs 2 websites, FTP, email, MySQL, multiple software firewalls, NAV, etc.. and still lets me do fun things like play games, burn CD's, fiddle with Design software, and maybe even RC5 all @ the same time.

I can't speak on all this AMD vs Intel crap and granted the sites I have are lower bandwidth sites.. but my system is SOLID as a ROCK. Last reboot was well over 3 months ago and that was just cause I was playing with components!

hth
ripthesystem