$2000 Server

[ripken204]

me and some guys want to colo a server and split all of the costs.
so we are thinking about building a nice server for ourselves.
i do not know much about server hardware but to be generic, here is what i was thinking:

dual socket 771 motherboard
2 quads xeons (maybe just 1 to start with)
8GB of ram, possible expand up to 16GB in the future.
most likely 4U

now im not sure for hdds, we will probably be getting some of those 640gb 2 platter hdds, i already have 2 in raid0 in my gaming comp, they are pretty sweet.

do we need a raid card or will mobo raid work fine?
we are thinking either raid 5 or 10

if anyone can suggest specific components that would be soo helpful

[tiro_uspsss]

for R5, get a card imo

[Maxym]

Well I just got 2xE5420 Xeon's
Supermicro X7DAL-E motherboard
4x2gb Kingstom FB DIMM 667mhz
1kw PSU

Cost's well over $2k. Hopefully you can use that system as a guide/comparison. Probably won't get much cheaper for a dual socket 771 setup. With 2U/4U case etc etc It could add up. (I only got the base components heh)

Windows raid on the supermicro supports 0/5/10
Linux raid on the supermicro only supports 0/10

Personally I just use Software raid in linux unless raid performance is critical for your application.

[ripken204]

ya i was looking at an E5410, pretty good price, Harpertown ftw
This will be linux raid, probably Centos 5.

Maxym, What psu do you have? i was wondering how strong of one I actually need, 1kw seems a bit overkill.. its not like your running SLI.
the harpertowns take 80watts, so 2 of them would be 160w, then there is mobo, ram, i have no idea how much those take, cant over 100w? then like 4 hdds, those take nothing at all..
Are there specific psus for servers or can i use anything?

[Serra]

What do you plan on doing with it? You can't buy just a "generic server". Well, you can, but your performance and cost are going to be less and more than it could have been (respectively) for the application(s) you're putting it towards. No offense, but if you haven't planned that out (and I hope if you have you would have mentioned it) you're pretty much planning on a colossal waste of money.

ie. Depending on what you do, you could need Quad-SLI cards to do video rendering, or a machine with no video cards at all. If you're doing just file serving, you need next to nothing for a processor and a large disk subsystem. If you're doing something processor-intensive, the reverse is true. Same goes for memory.

Oh, and let's not forget - if this is going to be a remote server to you or any of your friends, you're also going to be constricted by the upload speed of the place the server's at. If you're on a 1Mb/s upload cap or something like that and it's a file server, you won't need to spend even $200 to max it out.

[Movieman]

What do you plan on doing with it? You can't buy just a "generic server". Well, you can, but your performance and cost are going to be less and more than it could have been (respectively) for the application(s) you're putting it towards. No offense, but if you haven't planned that out (and I hope if you have you would have mentioned it) you're pretty much planning on a colossal waste of money.

ie. Depending on what you do, you could need Quad-SLI cards to do video rendering, or a machine with no video cards at all. If you're doing just file serving, you need next to nothing for a processor and a large disk subsystem. If you're doing something processor-intensive, the reverse is true. Same goes for memory.

Oh, and let's not forget - if this is going to be a remote server to you or any of your friends, you're also going to be constricted by the upload speed of the place the server's at. If you're on a 1Mb/s upload cap or something like that and it's a file server, you won't need to spend even $200 to max it out.

Glad to see this.
People use the word server where server is actually the use to which you put a machine not the design.

To the OP:
Dual socket 771 systems are expensive to build.
To what use are you putting the machine?
You may well be able to use a single socket machine at far less cost and serve your needs well.
If your looking for dependability then Supermicro also makes a single socket 775 board that you might want to look at.
Gives you the best of both worlds, supermicro quality and the ease and cheaper cost of socket 775 parts.
Here's the listing of the single socket boards:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/m...Xeon3000/#3210

[psmawson]

I run a dual quad xeon E5405A poweredge 1950 which cost me about £700 off ebay and runs like a dream, currently thinking of a new project of watercooling it :d (got to be one of the first)

send me a pm if you haven't found any colo and I will try and help if your ever looking in the EU :d

I would just have a really good look look around ebay for compyanies selling off kit after they have gone down the drain

[ripken204]

well there are going to be a few of us using this, each of us have a bunch of sites.
lots of php/mysql from all of us. so we are going to get at least 1 quad for now and probably 8gb to start.
who knows, that might be more than enough for us, but its always nice to have to room to add on later

i dont see us needing anything more than onboard video.
one of my friend's who will be using the server has a friend at a datacenter who will get him a nice deal hooked up to a 100Mbit port.
i still need to speak to this datacenter guy, info is being relayed to me so im not always getting the full story..

im currently looking at ebay and there are some sweet deals