Help - Server hardware

D

DannC

Geek Trainee
I am building my first server. It is a 1U system that will be running FreeBSD 5 with Raid 0+1. I am not that good with hardware, so maybe you guys can help me out here. What I want to be sure of before I buy everything is the following:
  1. Are all the items on the list compatable with each other?
  2. Will everything here fit in the 1U case I picked out?
(I'm pretty sure everything I picked should run fine under FreeBSD 5)

Heres the hardware:

I could be mistaken, but I am pretty sure that this is the case that I mentioned above - http://www.gpb-jge.com/file/rm8188.htm This page contains some more detail about it.

Thanks in advance!
 
OK, first of all, why a 1U server? If you're not too limited on space or don't already own a rack, I'd go with a larger mid-ATX chassis. The cooling is worlds better, you'll have a lot more room for components, and your hardware is likely to last longer, because you can use a higher-spec (or even redundant) PSU. Not to mention the fact that 1U chassis cost about $200, and you can get a great mid-ATX server chassis for well under $100. If you were to mount it on a rack, I imagine it'd be about 4U. But, if you do have your reasons for wanting a 1U chassis, then that one is just fine! :good: Good choice of RAID controller, HighPoint is always a safe bet. However, you might reconsider on the RAM and HDD...

For the RAM, I'd go for at least Kingston Value RAM, which is inexpensive, reliable, and comes with a lifetime warranty. Keep in mind that there's no harm in getting RAM which is rated faster than you require and running it at lower speeds than it is capable of, especially if it is the same price or cheaper than PC2100. In addition, your system would greatly benefit from dual-channel RAM. I'd go for some dual-channel, ECC-registered RAM from Kingston or Corsair (whichever is cheaper).

Concerning the HDDs, good choice -- SATA *and* Western Digital! :good: Having said that, I would actually choose Seagate Barraccuda over WD Caviar for a RAID array. Let me say that I am a huge fan of WD, and in fact have a RAID-5 of WDC-150GB drives in a very important server. But Seagates perform better, cost about the same, and carry a 5-year warranty rather than 3. As long as you keep Seagates fairly cool, they'll purr happily for years. The only downside is noise, as Barraccudas are slightly noisier than WD. Probably not noticable, but some people are more sensitive to such things.
 
Let me first say Thank You for your input. I've been looking around for some honest reviews, and you gave me some good advice.

OK, first of all, why a 1U server?
Click to expand...
Well primarily this is because I will be paying per U at the place where I am colocating it. Otherwise I would have gone with the good ol $30 case that you can pick up at any computer show. :chk:

As far as the RAM goes. I havn't really looked around, that was really more of a placeholder. I am a Corsair fan, so I will check that out before I buy anything. Thanks for the tip about the dual-channel Ram, I alwasys overlook things like that!

As far as the HDD's go. Im a fan of WD, but I don't have any thing against Seagate either. If the speeds / size / price are good, I will change. Do you know which ones run hotter? As you mentioned before temperature could become a problem.

My biggest question of the night - You said that this is a good raid controller.. Do you know if it will allow my to rebuild one pair of drives while the OS is still running? From what I understand this is definately possible, but it depends on the hardware.. I will be running raid 0+1.


Also, there have been some changes to the hardware config.. I decided that the dual xeons might be a bit much for a entry level web server. Here is my new setup:



  • $104 MOBO - Intel "D865GBFLK" i865G Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL
  • $185 CPU - Intel Pentium 4/ 3.0E GHz 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology
  • $30 FAN - CoolJag JAC332C ( only 25 mm tall so it fits in a 1u case).
  • not sure what case yet... but im almost there http://www.rackmountnet.com/rmc/rmc1hxp/rmc1hxp.htm
 
Before you buy anything, you might want to cross-reference any site you come across with Reseller Ratings. Newegg does have a good rating and was basically how I deciding to start buying from them.

Does it absolutely have to be a 1U server?
 
yeah, it has to be 1u.. money is tight otherwise i would go bigger

any idea about the rebuilding the raid ?
 
It would have to be 1U Big B, as he's colocating the server, hosts/datacenters tend to charge on the size of the server, so a 2U would cost more per month than 1U etc
 
DannC said:
yeah, it has to be 1u.. money is tight otherwise i would go bigger

any idea about the rebuilding the raid ?
Click to expand...
Well, if you're running BSD 5 anyway, you might consider just getting a Promise FastTrack or a HighPoint SATA controller, and just build the RAID in software. It's usually easier to remotely manage software RAIDs in *nix, and you can cron most everything anyway. Plus it'll save you some cash up front!
 
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