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Servers from the 90's...

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Silver_Pharaoh

Likes the big ones n00b Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2013
I dunno. I don't like blade servers or anything that goes in rack mount style. :shrug:
Love me some old tower servers. There's just something about the look of a tall, old tower that I love.

Stuff like the old Compaq ProLiant servers before HP bought them.
I also have one key for Windows Server 2008 R2... Wonder how it would run on an old PIII server. :p

So some questions:
Are these old dual CPU PIII servers even powerful enough for a simple task like IIS and file storage for LAN?

And where the heck can I even find these nowadays?


I'm not planning on buying now, just gathering info for later. ;)
 
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I have a few boards if you want to start from scratch and build your own.
 
I wouldn't expect mind blowing performance obviously but dual PII's should be able to handle such simple tasks. I'd be more concerned with storage.

Pentium III's are surprisingly capable processors.
 
I have a few boards if you want to start from scratch and build your own.
:)

Awesome! I have way too much to buy right now though, and my water loop drained my wallet :(
I'll know who to PM for boards and other goodies later on though! :thup:
I wouldn't expect mind blowing performance obviously but dual PII's should be able to handle such simple tasks. I'd be more concerned with storage.

Pentium III's are surprisingly capable processors.

Concerned about storage... How so?
The mobo's can only support so much space?
 
:)

Awesome! I have way too much to buy right now though, and my water loop drained my wallet :(
I'll know who to PM for boards and other goodies later on though! :thup:


Concerned about storage... How so?
The mobo's can only support so much space?
Nevermind don't pay any attention to me. I read your OP wrong. Sorry.....

Try to get boards that support Tualatins.
 
PIII's are very much like the socket A's. Austin is right, Tualatin support if you can get it. ;)
 
Nevermind don't pay any attention to me. I read your OP wrong. Sorry.....

Try to get boards that support Tualatins.

MMX, SSE, prefetch and more L2 Cache :thup:
I like it. Old, but not Spitfire Duron old lol

@Mr.Scott
Will do :salute:

You know, this hunt would be SO much easier if I could root through the huge boxes of electronics at the local garbage dump... But for privacy concerns, they will not allow it. :(
 
How about a Gateway2000 NS-9000 (aka ALR 6x6 Revolution)

www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/607094-Gateway-2000-NS-9000-Pentium-Pro-5-core-server
www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/670383-What-computer-*don-t*-the-competitors-have

The system is crazy stupid overkill for a system in that time period. The hard drives it came with was capable of a blazing 9 mb/sec transfer speed. The memory does a blistering 120 mb/sec.

So no, anything that old is going to be incredibly worthless for any task. A low power AMD CPU/GPU is going to be magnitudes faster and draw far less power. Old systems are fun to have, but using them for things other than a nightstand (which mine does an amazing job of), isn't worth the headache.
 
How about a Gateway2000 NS-9000 (aka ALR 6x6 Revolution)

www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/607094-Gateway-2000-NS-9000-Pentium-Pro-5-core-server
www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/670383-What-computer-*don-t*-the-competitors-have

The system is crazy stupid overkill for a system in that time period. The hard drives it came with was capable of a blazing 9 mb/sec transfer speed. The memory does a blistering 120 mb/sec.

So no, anything that old is going to be incredibly worthless for any task. A low power AMD CPU/GPU is going to be magnitudes faster and draw far less power. Old systems are fun to have, but using them for things other than a nightstand (which mine does an amazing job of), isn't worth the headache.

I don't even care. I sub'd to your beast mode server. :drool:
Server pr0n at it's best omg. :drool: :drool:


I could build a cheap AMD APU server yeah, but where's the collecting old servers fun in that? :p
Actually, I wouldn't build a APU server. I'd just use that craptastic 3570K or my sweet i5 2300 :D
 
How about a Gateway2000 NS-9000 (aka ALR 6x6 Revolution)

www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/607094-Gateway-2000-NS-9000-Pentium-Pro-5-core-server
www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/670383-What-computer-*don-t*-the-competitors-have

The system is crazy stupid overkill for a system in that time period. The hard drives it came with was capable of a blazing 9 mb/sec transfer speed. The memory does a blistering 120 mb/sec.

So no, anything that old is going to be incredibly worthless for any task. A low power AMD CPU/GPU is going to be magnitudes faster and draw far less power. Old systems are fun to have, but using them for things other than a nightstand (which mine does an amazing job of), isn't worth the headache.

I have to disagree a Tualatin based dual socket should suffice.
 
If you were going to run linux and apache, I'd say sure, it could handle it. But the overhead of Windows (let alone Server 2008) plus IIS, you're just asking for headaches. Who knows if it will even install on that hardware. You also have to keep in mind how inefficient, loud, and hot something like this is going be.

If you want to do it just for fun to see if it can be done, more power to you, but if you're trying to be practical about it.. forget about it, IMO.
 
+1 anything newer is gonna be way more power efficient and practical. for fun, go for it, i ran a ts / vent server from a 133mhz 94mb ram machine throughout highschool. lol.
 
If you were going to run linux and apache, I'd say sure, it could handle it. But the overhead of Windows (let alone Server 2008) plus IIS, you're just asking for headaches. Who knows if it will even install on that hardware. You also have to keep in mind how inefficient, loud, and hot something like this is going be.

If you want to do it just for fun to see if it can be done, more power to you, but if you're trying to be practical about it.. forget about it, IMO.

Basically. Not looking for top preformance or low power usage.
Just want a reason to buy an old server and put it to use! :D
 
I know you're going to end up loading Minecraft onto the server, buy something relevant in performance.
I honestly wouldn't go older than the 1156/1366 Xeon.

You can still put this in some old decrepit shell to make your "There's just something about the look of a tall, old tower that I love." happy.
 
I know you're going to end up loading Minecraft onto the server, buy something relevant in performance.
I honestly wouldn't go older than the 1156/1366 Xeon.

You can still put this in some old decrepit shell to make your "There's just something about the look of a tall, old tower that I love." happy.

Not a bad idea, but I'm finished with hosting a LAN server.
Too much work involved in modding it and getting it happy. :p

This server would be strictly file storage/hosting and a simple IIS server to host my music files for my PSP
 
Too new & too fast. ;)
If I was to do that, I'd use my crappy 3570K

Storage is my only concern really....
Not sure how much the older servers can handle. Though I'm sure there are ways of fixing that.
 
So why not use the 3570K? You're talking about having issues with a lot of new HDDs with old equipment.
High chance of only PCI/PCIx on old equipment, which won't have add-on cards to support large HDDs either.
You're also going to run into compatibility issues with newer OS's, as those old boards won't have drivers for a lot of newer OS's.

Boards for the 3570K should support a minimum of 2TB HDD's and will have PCIe for expansion slots.
It'll be supported for a few years to come, instead of already being multiple years obsolete.

As cool as old hardware is, I wouldn't trust it to a file server.
If you have a board that typically lasts 5-8 years and you're buying it at 6 years old... Well you're looking at a dead file server before very long.
 
So why not use the 3570K? You're talking about having issues with a lot of new HDDs with old equipment.
High chance of only PCI/PCIx on old equipment, which won't have add-on cards to support large HDDs either.
You're also going to run into compatibility issues with newer OS's, as those old boards won't have drivers for a lot of newer OS's.

Boards for the 3570K should support a minimum of 2TB HDD's and will have PCIe for expansion slots.
It'll be supported for a few years to come, instead of already being multiple years obsolete.

As cool as old hardware is, I wouldn't trust it to a file server.
If you have a board that typically lasts 5-8 years and you're buying it at 6 years old... Well you're looking at a dead file server before very long.

Why? Just because I want that old server. Sure it's not practical in terms of best preformance/$ but I like old hardware more than the new stuff.

Like benchmarkers who hoard hardware for benching, I like hoarding old hardware :)
 
As cool as old hardware is, I wouldn't trust it to a file server.
If you have a board that typically lasts 5-8 years and you're buying it at 6 years old... Well you're looking at a dead file server before very long.

Garbage.
Take care of your stuff. My file server is a dual MP2800+ K7D Master. It's still in like new condition, and still performs flawlessly for what it is.
Is there better?, sure, but if you're into old hardware, new isn't an option. It defeats the purpose of being an old hardware junkie.
Different strokes for different folks.
 
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