server build

C

CraftyOtter

Gawd
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Jun 25, 2004
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Looking to replace an aging Dell Power_edge server soon - time to build one myself (have about a dozen desktop builds under my belt)

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

 SQL/file server for 5 desktop WinXP workstations running quickbooks enterprise and Folding@home -bigadv when spare CPU cycles volunteer themselves *cough*.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

$1500 range. not including tax/shipping.

3) Where do you live?

USA - right coast. NewEgg has been good to me and I don't live near a microcenter

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

case (tower)/psu/mobo/cpu/ram/hsf/HDD 500 GB x 2 RAID

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

SATA optical drive x 1
8800TGS graphics board x 1
montior @ 1280x1024 (all I need)

6) Will you be overclocking?

Would be nice to have a little room to OC ..... more points per day for folding@home, team 33 of course.

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

3-4 months

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

RAID 1, single PCIe 16x slot. Maybe dual socket mobo and start with a single Xeon CPU for now?? gigabit onboard network- maybe dedicated card - not mission critial

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

free Linux 64bit - not sure which flavor yet - open to suggestions on this as well.
 
I see you mention a Xeon. However it is my understanding that all you need to get the -bigadv is an i7. I would rec an i7, with 6gb RAM. This also provides you with a good basis to OC, since you mention you may want to later in the future. I would save the money on a dual socket board, and xeon chip(s) and just get an i7 setup with a workstation class board.

I would look for a board with a since onboard NIC, but plan to buy an add on NIC. If you turn this machine into a VM host, you will want two NICs. It is also a good idea on most server situations to have two NICs, one for the clients to connect through, but then one for remote administration.

Also, as far as the case, how many HDDs do you plan on sticking in there? You mention you want this to be a file server as well. It seems to me that all you need is an OS drive, and then two drives in RAID 1 to serve up your quickbooks files. 3 HDDs and an optical drive?

mobo RAID or Linux RAID?
 
This will be a file server first, folding rig second. Can have as many as 5 desktops passing data at the same time for client-based software. I suppose an i7 cpu would be okay. Most of the load will be passing files back and forth with SQL server apps feeding the clients.

No more than 3 HDD - mobo RAID prefered.
 
TBH you do not need the power of an i7 for SQL and file serving, with that small number of clients connecting. You could get away with a Core 2 Quad and still have left over resources. Both chips would still give you room to add to the server future features, or more client connections.

I would say get an i7, and a decent stable workstation class mobo. And again I would rec 6gb of RAM. That will get you the advantage of triple channel as well as have plenty of RAM for queries and file serving. Also, any mobo in this class will come with mobo RAID, and a slot for your gfx card.

Concerning your HDDs, you may want to consider using RAID 10. From the specs I am suggesting, your bottle neck will be HDD throughput. RAID 10 will still mirror like you want, but it will also give the speed advantages of RAID 0. This may not be necessary if your clients are not doing large file transfers or otherwise banging out the HDD on your server. If you do choose to use RAID 10, you will need 4 identical drives, and the space will still be 50% of the overall capacity just like RAID 1. So there is some overhead to worry about. Also, most mobos in the workstation class for i7 chips will allow RAID 0, 1, and 10. Some even do 5.

I would rec an OS drive, of small capacity, just something fairly inexpensive. Since this is a file server not many OS read/ writes will be done (HDD x1). Then use RAID 10 for your storage drives (HDDs x4). Plus one optical drive, would be 6 SATA ports needed on the mobo.
 
The above setup is very similar to the server I am currently building/ testing (see sig). I still need more storage drives. Mine is using MS Server 2008 R2 w/ Hyper-V and a file server. And (right now) five VMs: Server 2008 (x2), Turnkey Linux- LAMP, Win7 pro x64 as a test client, and fedora core 12 as a test client.

I have resources to spare even with all the VMs running. However my file server is not in constant use like I imagine yours will be. In my setup RAM in my limiting factor, but HDD is not far behind. When I get more storage drive, the intent will be to stick them in RAID 10.
 
File services/SQL and RAID 1???? Yuck, that will be slow. Raid 5 at a minimum with Raid 10 being the best choice.
 
Ryan45 said:
File services/SQL and RAID 1???? Yuck, that will be slow. Raid 5 at a minimum with Raid 10 being the best choice.
Click to expand...

In this situation, it might not be too bad. It is for a low client count, but I do not know the file sizes. RAID 1 could be possible. My vote would still be for RAID 10, which is also why I was trying to save money by going with a quad or i7 as opposed to a (dual) xeon cpu and mobo, and instead using the cash on HDDs
 
Obligatory: You really should get this server as a prebuilt by either Dell or HP. Yes it'll cost a bit more but you get significantly better customer support and the ability to CYA by pointing figures at Dell.

Anyway, now thats out of the way, let's say you do actually build this server. Use your existing 500GB drives as a RAID 1 array for your OS. It's rarely a good idea to put the OS on the same array/drive as the database/file storage in a server. As J-Will noted, HDD speed and RAM will be your main issues with a SQL server. So the RAID 10 is a definitely a good idea. Yes that'll end up being a total of 6 drives but you're far better off since you get the following advantages:
- Faster database performance
- Better uptime for the OS
- Seperation of the OS and database files/file storage.

Like with all servers, make sure you have some sort of backup for this server. I.e a NAS, DVDs, another file server, external hard drive, etc.

Now what's the minimum amount of storage you're gonna need for the file storage aspect of the server? 1TB? 2TB? etc.
 
[Nods to Dell]

Thanks for all the input. An i7 with Raid 10 sounds like the way to go (had to look it up - it's been a long while since setting up a RAID)

HDD: 500 GB usable is plenty. My current server is doing fine with 150 GB RAID.

I'd like to be top heavy on RAM.

I've got the server backups covered x 3 :D
 
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Prelim specs:
$240 - Intel Xeon E5504 CPU
$165 - G.Skill F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$280 - Supermicro MBD-X8DTL-i-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5500 ATX Motherboard
$220 - 4 x Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (This drive will be in stock by the time you buy)
$160 - SeaSonic X650 Gold 650 Modular PSU
$55 - Antec 300 ATX Case
---
Total: $1120 plus tax and shipping.

Yes at 1TB it's a tad overkill BUT those Samsung 500GB have the best bang for the buck value in terms of performance.
 
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