Which server should I buy? (Server spec)
Posted by fusionwebhost, 04-22-2009, 10:57 AM Greetings to everyone on this board. I have decided that I will be purchasing my own servers as opposed to leasing them. I am confused as to which type of server I need to get. These are the questions running through my head. Do I go with AMD or Intel Xeon? How much RAM do i need? How much Hard-drive space should I go with? I am currently looking at a 1U server with 2 - Quad Core Xeon processors. Should I go with 4TB (4Hd's - 1TB each) or something smaller, bigger? Would 4TB be able to serve hundreds of pages at a time? I will have a 100mbps bandwidth connection and plan on adding NAS later to the configuration - especially if I get powerful processors. Should I go with Linux as the primary OS, or should I virtualize Linux through a Windows OS? The current server I am looking at is here: www(dot)tigerdirect(dot)com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3804405&CatId=1205 I appreciate any feedback, and thank you in advance. -Shaun
Posted by txitcs, 04-22-2009, 11:10 AM Personally I like Intel servers better. With the type of CPU you're looking at I would go with atleast 8GB of RAM. I'd buy 1.5TB hard drives and put them in a RAID array. As far as the OS personally I'd say install Linux rather than running a VM off of windows.
Posted by TheSimpleHost-Nathan, 04-22-2009, 11:11 AM What sort of loads are you experiencing at the moment on your current server? Do you need 4TB - do you store files or just dynamic content served from a database? How much ram does your current server have as well? Defiantly don't run Linux through Windows, go straight for Linux (CentOS).
Posted by fusionwebhost, 04-22-2009, 11:23 AM I'm in the early phases of starting a webhosting company and do not have an existing server. It is dynamic content served from databases - webpages. Should I virtualize windows for asp.net?
Posted by MikeDVB, 04-22-2009, 11:39 AM Hello Ok - are you going to be managing the support for them in cases of hardware failure or is the datacenter going to be taking care of it? Are you going to keep extra parts on hand or will the dc be doing it? Ok. Intel is more popular in the hosting industry and AMD is often branded as the "lower quality" or "cheaper" alternative to Intel. It depends on what you want to do with the server. Anywhere between 1gb to 8gb for a standard shared server depending on what else you put in the server - I've seen up to 64gb in a VPS node. It depends on what you plan to do with the server - if it's regular shared hosting you'd likely be fine with a total of about 500gb worth of storage (1tb if running Raid1 or Raid10) Which Xeons? 1.66ghz? 2.0ghz? 2.4ghz? 2.66ghz? 3.0ghz? Realistically CPU isn't very often the bottleneck on a server but there's no sense in "going big" on the rest of the system and not "going big" on the processor as well. 4tb would be enough for thousands upon thousands of sites - the average site is anywhere between 100mb and 500mb with exceptions usually being around 1~3gb - you will probably run out of Disk I/O, and CPU before you would run out of disk space. Storage is more often than not the limit when it comes to hosting - more often than not it's Disk I/O which you may be able to avoid using a *large* raid setup via NAS - it depends on what your goals are and how you plan on going about achieving them. Why would you want to run Linux from inside of Windows? Never heard of CybertronPC - I'd personally stick with SuperMicro or Dell if I were going to be colocating my own machines but that's just me. I hope you are able to more accurately determine what exactly you want to do and how you want to go about doing it. Please do not try to go into this business without a solid and well thought out business plan. Good luck.
Posted by PKS-David, 04-22-2009, 08:11 PM I would get this barebone below and install the rest of the items myself. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816101135
Posted by fusionwebhost, 04-22-2009, 08:41 PM thanks for the link!
Posted by PKS-David, 04-22-2009, 09:25 PM No problem, just remember it's a barebone and you'll still need CPU, RAM, Harddrives. You can also check this link if you want ECC instead of F-DIMM RAM. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16816101214
Posted by mwatkins, 04-22-2009, 09:45 PM Taking on managing the hardware plus learning the biz plus learning all that is needed to sysadmin a *nix box plus create the web hosting environment (control panels, billing, promotional and such) plus get out and get some customers... is a big undertaking. You could ease in, reduce your financial risk, by starting out smaller, perhaps with a managed VPS from one of the established providers. Learn the ropes and then buy (or lease) hardware if it makes sense then. You may find as you get experience that you aren't that keen on owning.
Posted by fusionwebhost, 04-22-2009, 11:40 PM Mwatkins, Thank you for your feedback as well. There are many great points that were posted as a reply to my initial post. I am still in the early stages of it all and I'm considering all possible routes. Doing my homework at the moment and putting together a solid business plan.