Need help spec'ing some test PC's

I

Iratus

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 16, 2003
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After bordering on the lines of techie geekdom for several years I've decided that with my new job I really need a test network at home to well you know. Test.

I have decided that as a start for this network I am going to go for 2 PC's to act as servers within this network but as these need to be
  • Cheap
  • Small
  • Quiet

I'm a little bit stuck (My Main PC is a bit of a monster) and so basically I need some advice on components as I don't have a clue on the lower spec PC equipment.

What should I get?

Matching my criteria (Cheap and Quiet are the most important) can anyone suggest a spec (pref SFF) which allows me to fit 2-4GB of Ram, 2*3.5" Drives and ideally an Athlon 64 (For 64 Bit Windows)

If it had Gigabit Ethernet that'd be even better but not essential.

Ideas, Questions, Comments........................

Thanks in advance.
 
Iratus said:
After bordering on the lines of techie geekdom for several years I've decided that with my new job I really need a test network at home to well you know. Test.

I have decided that as a start for this network I am going to go for 2 PC's to act as servers within this network but as these need to be
  • Cheap
  • Small
  • Quiet

I'm a little bit stuck (My Main PC is a bit of a monster) and so basically I need some advice on components as I don't have a clue on the lower spec PC equipment.

What should I get?

Matching my criteria (Cheap and Quiet are the most important) can anyone suggest a spec (pref SFF) which allows me to fit 2-4GB of Ram, 2*3.5" Drives and ideally an Athlon 64 (For 64 Bit Windows)

If it had Gigabit Ethernet that'd be even better but not essential.

Ideas, Questions, Comments........................

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Cheap and quiet for a home test environment only?

Go to ebay and buy 2 older Dell's or Compaq desktops. They will work great for such low (no) loads and will be pretty quiet and super cheap. Look for ones around 1.0 GHZ but a 700MHZ machine will work fine with plenty of ram.
 
Not that cheap, :)

One of them needs to run, Landesk, W2K Server, SQL and Exchange albeit at low load but Athlon 64 or P4 is pretty much a prequisite.

Cheers though, thought of that but overall it doesn't really save that much money.
 
This might seem a bit odd, but I have recently found something I think far better then having a bunch of computers to test stuff on. And believe me I know having come from 6-7 machines all baking my den and spending more time maintaining them then testing them. VMware Workstation 4.5 costs under $200 and you can completely simulate an isolated network just on one machine with multiple virtual installations. The costs are far less plus you gain some sweet abilities such as taking a snapshot of a machine in time and being able to roll back to it whenever you want. The hardware will always stay the same, so you can move virtual installations around from machine to machine even without reinstalling/messing with drivers. You will need a bunch of ram and a powerfull machine, but hey you wanted that anyway. :p I have Netware 6.5, Server 2003, and WinXP Pro all installed and running simulaneously on an isolated network so that I can get more up to speed on how they interact, etc. If you go this route (seriously someone come up with why the average guy wanting to mess wouldn't) then get minimum 1GB of RAM.
 
P4 and Athlon64 are far from prerequisite. How much stuff are you connecting to one of your "servers"? My boss (Server 2000 cert, working on his 2003) is running a PDC/Exchange/SQL/File/Web server off of a single P3 or some other ridiculously old machine.

If you've only got a couple of loads going at any given time, like you would in a home environment, a compact AthlonXP box would work just fine for you.

Pueblo, a good reason against it: It's Just More Fun to have a bunch of extra computers lying around. :p

Anyway, my suggestions if you REALLY want a "server" and not just a PC playing server, Newegg pricing:
$99 - Antec Sonata (120mm fans, TruePower 380W PSU, big)
$155 - Intel D875PBZLK FMB 1.5 (Intel 875P chipset; supports ECC)
$230 - 2x 512MB ECC PC3200
$175 - Intel 2.8GHz Northwood-C Retail
Fill in your own storage and other stuff.

For the cheap-n-cheerful route:
$96 - Antec Aria (TINY)
$65 - Biostar M7NCG
$85 - AMD AthlonXP 2500+ Retail
$170 - 2x 512MB PC3200
$40 - Intel GigE card? The onboard nVidia 10/100 will probably be enough for anything you'll be doing.
Fill in your own storage and other stuff.
 
True, can't invite your buddies over for pre-configured LAN parties with VMware. Strictly for testing purposed though its been a godsend for me. Maintaining 6 different machines wore on me. I even transport virtual machines back and forth to work by burning them to DVD.
 
Thanks for your help Stilleto, I did need the A64 preferably though as I need to get a lead on 64 Bit Windows but the other stuff you suggested is good cheers.

The reason for the high spec is as I say the high requirements of the systems it will run. I will be scripting actions on 10's of thousands users at once so the replication and processing requirements will be high.

I probably should have mentioned the fact I'm not using it for my MCSE or stuff like that, I'm testing it for WMI/ADSI level control of a simulated 20,000 AD network, I work for IBM as a Technical Specialist on the Novell>AD transformation of one of the worlds largest insurance companies but need to test stuff as our client won't pay for the test equipment so we're a bit screwed atm.

Cheers again, I really need to know more about SFF systems.
 
You want quiet, new technology, and cheap? The only way you can do this is to have your work buy it for you ...

But then ... how much is cheap to you?
 
Stiletto One said:
For the cheap-n-cheerful route:
$96 - Antec Aria (TINY)
$65 - Biostar M7NCG
$85 - AMD AthlonXP 2500+ Retail
$170 - 2x 512MB PC3200
$40 - Intel GigE card? The onboard nVidia 10/100 will probably be enough for anything you'll be doing.
Fill in your own storage and other stuff.
Click to expand...
This man is on the right track. If you want small and manageable, I suggest the Antec Aria, and a mATX board that suits your needs. The Antec Aria is the best of both worlds: small like a Shuttle SFF, but infinitely upgradeable like a normal system. :)

Review of the Aria.
 
primea said:
You want quiet, new technology, and cheap? The only way you can do this is to have your work buy it for you ...

But then ... how much is cheap to you?
Click to expand...

Cheap would be <£500 which works out at <900 USD.

If I could get an A64, 2GB of ram and all the gubbins for that price I'd be happy.

Unfortunately work buying is not an option atm. I work for Solutions which means that our entire budget is controlled by what the client is prepared to pay. As they won't pay anything we don't get anything, however we can then place a caveat on the solution not being great. However I'd like to deliver the best I can on this project as I want to leave and jump a few paygrades to join another company.
 
US$900 is doable ... some KT800 mobos are pretty cheap ... since this will be a server ... I assume you won't be OCing ... I can see this happening here in the US ... not sure how the market is where you are ... goodluck ... keep us abreast of your progress ...
 
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