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building a new xeon system

S

sdadept

Limp Gawd
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Jul 3, 2004
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I need recommendations on a new system I'm building. The system will be runing win2k3 and be used as a home office server for Sharepoint Portal Server, CVS and Builds, Exchange Server, Web Server and a few other MS technologies I write software against. The machine will only be used as a server so I really don't need any heavy graphics or sound capabilities. I'm trying to do this on a budget too so I can't just order a Dell and be done with it.

Here is what I'm thinking at this point

motherboard: 800 fsb, 1 pci enhanced slot and or pci64 (for the scsi card). Would prefer a board that supported dual xeons so I could upgrade later if I needed more power. Also needs to have an onboard nic 1000. I don't really care if it has serial and parallel ports. I also don't care if it has sata connectors.

processor: Single Xeon (lowest that supports 800fsb).

drives: 2 73gig SCSI 320 drives in raid 1 configuration. 1 pci64 scsi card capable of at least raid 1 with 2 drives.

1 gig of pc3200 ecc ram


The main thing in this I need recommendations on is the motherboard. As there are so many different brands and types. I would appreciate recommendations on the other things as well.

thanks!
 
It's nice to see someone building a Xeon system that has an intended use for that type of system. Too many people keep asking if a Xeon is good for gaming. Sounds like it will make a fine server.
 
Honestly, for what you want, I would go with nothing less than the best, Supermicro.

If you already have the SCSI card you might want to go with a cheaper option that doesn't have SCSI onboard, but otherwise, go with something like this:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon800/E7520/X6DH8-G.cfm

I would totally skip something like the Iwill that uses the 875 chipset for Xeons since that's a total hack. Get something with a proper server chipset for 800mhz Xeons like the 7520/7525 (the 7525 if you want PCI-E).

-MrD
 
I haven't seen anyone recommend any of the Tyan boards. At one time it seems like Tyan was the leader in boards like this?

also, does anyone have any advice on the right scsi card to use for something like this? It would need to do at least raid 1 and of course support pci64 or pci e.
 
sdadept said:
I haven't seen anyone recommend any of the Tyan boards. At one time it seems like Tyan was the leader in boards like this?

also, does anyone have any advice on the right scsi card to use for something like this? It would need to do at least raid 1 and of course support pci64 or pci e.
Click to expand...

Tyan boards are okay but there are usually better choices. Tyan's selling point is that they tend to be "first to market" with new chipsets and whatnot. *Some* of their boards are also highly recommended, but unless you get one of those specific boards you're better off avoiding them.

If you only need to do RAID0/RAID1/RAID0+1 you're best off just getting an Adaptec 29320 or 39320. If you're planning on doing RAID5 you're going to need a specific RAID card.

You have a couple of options then. If you buy one of the Supermicro boards with onboard SCSI you can buy a "zero channel" RAID (ZCR) card like the Adaptec 2010S, which converts your onboard SCSI into an onboard RAID. If you end up going with a board without onboard SCSI than you'd need to buy a full-blown RAID card, which means something like the Adaptec 2120S.

If you look at the Supermicro boards with onboard SCSI you'll see that they have a green PCI-X slot. That's the slot where the ZCR card goes.

I'd probably avoid getting a PCI-E board right now since the amount of options you have for add-on cards is pretty limited. I have yet to hear any real advantages of PCI-E over PCI-X anyhow. If you put a 39320 in a PCI-X/133 slot it will move over 1GB/s, which easily handles even dual U320 channels (640MB/s).

-MrD
 
I think the adaptec 29320A-R looks just about perfect for what I need, I found them for sale at around $172 also which is great.

On the drives, I'm looking at putting two of the Seagate ST373307LC 73gig drives in this machine in Raid 1 configuration initially. Are those good drives to get? Are there more reliable drives elsewhere than Seagate?
 
sdadept said:
I think the adaptec 29320A-R looks just about perfect for what I need, I found them for sale at around $172 also which is great.

On the drives, I'm looking at putting two of the Seagate ST373307LC 73gig drives in this machine in Raid 1 configuration initially. Are those good drives to get? Are there more reliable drives elsewhere than Seagate?
Click to expand...

Actually, you'd want the LW drives. The LC drives are 80-pin hot swap drives and I don't think you're going to want (or need) to invest the money in a SCSI backplane for hot swapping.

Seagate pretty much dominates the server HD market, and for good reason. They are the most reliable and usually trendsetters in their HD mechanics. All I ever buy when I buy SCSI is Seagate.

You might want to monitor eBay too. There's a dude on there who goes by "scsi4me" who has some of the sweetest prices I've seen on Adaptec cards. I think I got my 39320 from him (brand new OEM) for $179 I think. Same warranty, just no box or SCSI cable.

-MrD
 
gah, I'm glad you said something or I wouldn't have known the difference. Around the 74 gig range, whats the best scsi drives to get for what I'm going to use them for?
 
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