New Server Update
Posted in OAImages News by John E. Pannell on December 2nd, 2008 at 6:02 am Last Winter I let it be known that this site would soon require a new server. The current server is aging and nearing then end of its live… so I thought. Then in February all plans were put on hold: the server was compromised by a hacker and required a complete reinstall and then I lost my job. For personal reasons — I’m still effectively unemployed — I’ve been loathe to spend money and been hedging on buying a new server.
I think the time to buy has come at last.
I’ve been eying rack servers at Dell. Prices have come down and they’re extending decent financing deals. So I think the time has come at last. In fact prices look very cheap but that’s until one starts adding needed options –namely an operating system, hard drives and additional memory.
This may change, but this is the server I’m planning to buy:
| PowerEdge R300: Intel ® Core 2 Duo ®E6405, 2.13GHz, 2MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB |
R321 | 1 | [223-6136] | ||||
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Memory: 4GB DDR2, 667MHz, 4x1GB Single Ranked DIMMs |
4G4D6S | 1 | [311-6421] | |||
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Operating System: SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, SP2, 1 CPU, 1 YR Subscription, FI, Media |
SLES11 | 1 | [420-9817] | |||
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Chassis Configuration: Chassis with Cabled Hard Drive and Non-Redundant Power Supply |
CNR | 1 | [330-0309] | |||
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Hard Drive Configuration: Onboard SATA, 1-2 Drives connected to Onboard SATA Controller – No RAID |
OBSATA | 1 | [341-6338] | |||
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Primary Hard Drive: 500GB 7.2k RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive |
500S | 1 | [341-6086] | |||
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2nd Hard Drive: 250GB 7.2k RPM Serial ATA 3Gbps 3.5-in Cabled Hard Drive |
250S | 1 | [341-6085] | |||
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CD/DVD Drive: 8X DVD-ROM Drive, Internal, SATA |
8XDVD | 1 | [313-6116] | |||
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Power Cords: Power Cord, NEMA 5-15P to C13, wall plug, 10 feet |
WP10FS | 1 | [310-8509] | |||
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Riser Card: Riser with 2 Slots: 2 PCI Express x8 slots |
RSRPCIE | 1 | [320-6326] | |||
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Bezel: Bezel |
BEZEL | 1 | [313-6114] | |||
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Rack Rail: No Rack Rails Included |
NORAIL | 1 | [341-3089] | |||
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Network Adapter: On-Board Dual Gigabit Network Adapter |
DOBNIC | 1 | [430-2008] | |||
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Documentation: Electronic Documentation and OpenManage DVD Kit |
EDOCS | 1 | [330-0312] | |||
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Hardware Support Services: 3Yr Basic Hardware Warranty Repair: 5×10 HW-Only, 5×10 NBD Onsite |
U3OS | 1 | [987-5132][987-9550][990-1927][990-1938][990-2389] | |||
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Installation Services: No Installation |
NOINSTL | 1 | [900-9997] | |||
This will be used almost exclusively as a web server. There is the possibility I may open it up to web and domain hosting in the future if there is demand for this. Hard drive space is much larger than I currently need but I want the space to allow for lots of future growth. The current server has two 40GB hard drives and is only about 20% full.
When the new server arrives it will be here at home for a while as I install what’s needed to run this site. Then it will run for a while as a mirror. In time it will be sent to my collocation folks and replace the server I currently have there, with the old box being returned to me.
Do the readers who are more knowledgeable than me about such things have any comments about this choice? Good? Bad?
Popularity: 20% [?]
John,
You definately need a larger thing-a-ma-bob cause the do-hickey is too small….inturn the do-flotchy will also need up-grading. Hope this helps….LOL
As you see I know nothing. Good luck with it!
Have you considered an Apple Xserve? Certified Unix is hard to scoff at.
What’s the pricetag on that Dell?
It looks decent. The only thing that stuck out was the CD/DVD drive, I’m assuming that’s not standard, is it necessary? You can network it to transfer the files…
I don’t know what kind of collocating deal you have worked out, but I’m assuming a major expense is data transfer. Have you thought about using cloud hosting? Even if you still wanted a server, using Rackspace’s “Cloud Files” might be a cheaper data option for all the images. I haven’t explored all the details yet, but am thinking about going that way for an image intensive directory site I will be working on. Just a thought.
John,
Have you looked having the site hosted somewhere? There are a bunch of hosts that allow virtual servers (via Xen or otherwise (i.e., FreeBSD jails)). This lets you be root without having to maintain the hardware. Patchlodge.com is run on a FreeBSD jail at http://www.rootbsd.net. What are your storage requirements?…shoot me an email if you’re interested in finding out more.
WWW,
Brett
John, I don’t know anything about all of the stuff these other guys are talking about – What we all need to know is whether you have the money raised to buy this thing – or if you still need some help – if so – you should send a note to Patch-L and let us know. Tico