Budget Server Advice?

FishDog3 · 09-20-05, 02:14 PM

Hey guys, I'm thinking about putting together a box to use as a web server. I'm looking to keep it cheep but don't really know what I should or shouldn't skimp on. I'm going to run a linux distro, probably yoper, apache, and mysql. Mostly I want a box I can use to host some database stuff for my business, my own web projects, and a few small sites. The load will be low, and if it were to get bigger I'd like to be able to do a couple upgrades to deal with it, but I don't need 14 racks with a room full of storage and memory. Just a nice, stable, efficient and cost effective place to put some of my perl/php/mysql knowledge to use.

So if you don't mind, toss out a few ideas on what I should be looking for as far as hardware. Thanks a lot!

9mmCensor · 09-20-05, 02:15 PM

You gonna host from your house, or from a Co-Location facility?

FishDog3 · 09-20-05, 02:35 PM

Going to host from my house.

BaconTheory · 09-20-05, 02:36 PM

Go to http://www.retrobox.com and check out some of the old PCs that they have like maybe an old P2 Dell or something.

sicloan · 09-20-05, 02:49 PM

servers like ram, and not so much processing power unless your running huge serverside coding loops. i would look into a p3, or maybe a dual p3... and get a gig of ram. as far as hard drives and storage, that depends on how safe you want your web data to be. I would get 1 drive for the os, and 1 for the root directory of your web applications. this way if the os fails your web apps are still good.

I am running a web server right now, and it runs alot smoother with more ram. Especially when it caches pages into memory. Its great for developing also, makes coding serverside websites a breeze having a webserver to test on at home.

My server specs:
Some cheap ass DFI socket 370 mobo I got off here for $20
512 pc133 memory
p3 1 ghz socket 370 processor
old 8gb drive for the os
40 gb drive for the web stuff
and cheap video card

i only got a video card cuz this board didnt have video out.

Bensa · 09-20-05, 02:58 PM

I'm running a pretty easy setup, Celly 700, 256mb, 4gb for OS and dual 20gb for FTP, runs perfectly.
You really don't need an expensive machine to run server software.

9mmCensor · 09-20-05, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bensa

You really don't need an expensive machine to run server software.

Tell that to iNet.

Bensa · 09-20-05, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9mmCensor

Tell that to iNet.

The software is fine, what they need is memory, storage and bandwidth. vBulletin isn't very heavy and I doubt he's going to be hosting such large arrays of information that he will have to worry.

FishDog3 · 09-20-05, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bensa

The software is fine, what they need is memory, storage and bandwidth. vBulletin isn't very heavy and I doubt he's going to be hosting such large arrays of information that he will have to worry.

No I won't be, I dobut anything I will be doing would put much stress on a system at all, this box is mostly for development convience. So I'd just like something that was stable, safe, and I'd like to keep it under $500 which I don't think will be a big issue.

Cheator · 09-21-05, 07:01 AM

I've run servers off of 386s in the past. If you want something responsive and decent, I ran a server for the longest time off of a cheap little A7V333 with 1 gig of ram and some crappy pata drive.

I hosted a popular community with about 600 members, 400 active. It had an IRC, FTP, MySQL, PHP, VNC, etc. I also hosted, at the same time, for about 20 people who uploaded images and whatnot on a regular basis. And along with all that, a decently popular web comic that my brother and I did with about 100 hits a day, oddly mostly from Japan... But even with all this, I still had plenty of room to host game servers for Halo, Counter-Srtike, Unreal Tournament, and a few others.

At any rate, this should show you just how much power you need for a server. IF you are looking for strickly development, why not use your own computer and something simple like NetServer? not only is it absolutely simple to setup, but you can just open it up and turn it on in seconds, or close it whenever you like.

Of course if you are going for a bit of hosting as well, get something like I have and you will never run out of room if you stay small.

BaconTheory · 09-21-05, 06:24 PM

If you just need a simple dev machine, then you only really need bandwith and RAM. Bandwith is the key if you want to do file hosting. If not then your current connection will be fine unless you're rocking a 28K. Memory is the other important issue. I would get at least a gig. As for hard drives, get one small one (5 gigs or so) and another big one (about 20 gigs). Put the OS on the small drive, and put your web services (MySQL, PHP, etc.) on the larger one so in case the OS drive gets hacked, you can still save your data.

ajrettke · 09-21-05, 06:37 PM

yeah...a 1ghz CPU and a 1gb of RAM or more is all ya need, go into the classifieds and find cheap parts and you can easily do it under 500

FishDog3 · 09-22-05, 12:21 PM

That looks like a sweet project Karl, would be fun haha.

I think I'm going to throw together a 478 box. I have an 80 gig WD SATA drive that has been sitting around un-used, and I want to take out a 20 gig ATA drive that's in my current box and replace it with a bigger one. And I'd like a new case for my current box...

<sidetrack>
Anyone have a good recommendation for a nice roomy box in the $100-150 range? Looking at the Antec P180, people seem to love it, but I'm thinking about having two PSUs, maybe even water cooling... although some of the heatpipe sinks seem to be pretty damn competitive... thoughts?
</sidetrack>

So I figure I'll toss together the server with some parts from my current box and upgrade a few things on my main system, kill two birds with one stone.

So my shopping list would be:
-478 Mobo with 4 DIMM slots & SATA
-New vidcard to replace my 9500pro, not looking for the latest and greatest.
-New socket A heatsink
-New case, looking for functional, don't want flashy lights, I like to sleep at night.

Than I'll take my memory, 80gig & 20gig drives, vid card, case, heatsink, and an old monitor I have. Grab a mobo and cpu, dvd burner, keyboard and mouse. Toss together a box with that stuff.

And upgrade my vid card, memory, heatsink, and add a bigger HD to my current box.

1cem4n · 09-22-05, 11:50 PM

what about one for a cs source server? what would i have to concentrate more money on?

-1cem4n

Cheator · 09-23-05, 06:59 AM

@FishDog3: I would recomend An ATI rage or maybe radeon 7000. Very low heat and they are smaller cards. more room.

@1cem4n: I like my serer as a CS:s server. It works great even on top of the other stuff it used to do. Concentrate on ram though. And CPUage. Find a good balance between the two. BTW, my server rig is changing soon so to show you what I meant, I pasted the current specs here:

Kirkan: ASUS A7V600 (soon will be Neo2 Plat), 1800+ Athlon XP T-bred, Thermalright AX-7, 512 mb Corsair Valueselect + 512 mb PC2700 generic ram, Sapphire Radeon 9600XT w/ better cooling, 2 X 60 GB Maxtor, 80 GB Maxtor, 200 gb IDE WD, 80 gb IDE WD, Antec Truepower 430w

09-20-05, 02:14 PM	Thread Starter #1
FishDog3 Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Santa Barbara, CA	Budget Server Advice? Hey guys, I'm thinking about putting together a box to use as a web server. I'm looking to keep it cheep but don't really know what I should or shouldn't skimp on. I'm going to run a linux distro, probably yoper, apache, and mysql. Mostly I want a box I can use to host some database stuff for my business, my own web projects, and a few small sites. The load will be low, and if it were to get bigger I'd like to be able to do a couple upgrades to deal with it, but I don't need 14 racks with a room full of storage and memory. Just a nice, stable, efficient and cost effective place to put some of my perl/php/mysql knowledge to use. So if you don't mind, toss out a few ideas on what I should be looking for as far as hardware. Thanks a lot! __________________ I7-920 5850 6G DDR3
	QUOTE Thanks

09-20-05, 02:15 PM	#2
9mmCensor Disabled Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Banned Camp	You gonna host from your house, or from a Co-Location facility?
	QUOTE Thanks

09-20-05, 02:35 PM	Thread Starter #3
FishDog3 Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Santa Barbara, CA	Going to host from my house. __________________ I7-920 5850 6G DDR3
	QUOTE Thanks

09-20-05, 02:36 PM	#4
BaconTheory Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Coming to bunker your ass with my E-Bladed Cocker	Go to http://www.retrobox.com and check out some of the old PCs that they have like maybe an old P2 Dell or something.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-20-05, 02:49 PM	#5
sicloan Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Folding in the Pacific Northwest.	servers like ram, and not so much processing power unless your running huge serverside coding loops. i would look into a p3, or maybe a dual p3... and get a gig of ram. as far as hard drives and storage, that depends on how safe you want your web data to be. I would get 1 drive for the os, and 1 for the root directory of your web applications. this way if the os fails your web apps are still good. I am running a web server right now, and it runs alot smoother with more ram. Especially when it caches pages into memory. Its great for developing also, makes coding serverside websites a breeze having a webserver to test on at home. My server specs: Some cheap ass DFI socket 370 mobo I got off here for $20 512 pc133 memory p3 1 ghz socket 370 processor old 8gb drive for the os 40 gb drive for the web stuff and cheap video card i only got a video card cuz this board didnt have video out. __________________ Laptop: MacBook Air i5 8GB (2012) Desktop: Ubuntu 12.04 Intel i7 2600k @ 4.5ghz\| Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P \| 16 GB DDR3 1600\| EVGA GTS 450 \| Noctua NH-C14 \| Seasonic SS-560KM \| Lian Li v2000B HTPC: Ubuntu 12.04 Intel Core i3-3225 Ivy Bridge \| 4GB Corsair XMS3 \| ASRock H77m \| OrigenAE X11
	QUOTE Thanks

Budget Server Advice?

Internet Services

Website Development

Tech Hardware

09-20-05, 02:58 PM	#6
Bensa Member Join Date: Jun 2003	I'm running a pretty easy setup, Celly 700, 256mb, 4gb for OS and dual 20gb for FTP, runs perfectly. You really don't need an expensive machine to run server software. __________________ The elephant/Epox verdict: Many readers have noted that their newly purchased elephants won't properly fit into the AGP slot of the 8KHA motherboards because some capacitors were in the way. Since most elephants don't comply with the AGP 2.0 specification, we recommend that God does a product recall on elephants.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-21-05, 07:01 AM	#10
Cheator Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada	I've run servers off of 386s in the past. If you want something responsive and decent, I ran a server for the longest time off of a cheap little A7V333 with 1 gig of ram and some crappy pata drive. I hosted a popular community with about 600 members, 400 active. It had an IRC, FTP, MySQL, PHP, VNC, etc. I also hosted, at the same time, for about 20 people who uploaded images and whatnot on a regular basis. And along with all that, a decently popular web comic that my brother and I did with about 100 hits a day, oddly mostly from Japan... But even with all this, I still had plenty of room to host game servers for Halo, Counter-Srtike, Unreal Tournament, and a few others. At any rate, this should show you just how much power you need for a server. IF you are looking for strickly development, why not use your own computer and something simple like NetServer? not only is it absolutely simple to setup, but you can just open it up and turn it on in seconds, or close it whenever you like. Of course if you are going for a bit of hosting as well, get something like I have and you will never run out of room if you stay small. __________________ Optimus (Main): Antec P180, Asus P5Q-E, E8400, 4 GB G.Skill PC8000, ATI 4850, Seagate 320gb, Antec TrueControl II Teletraan I (htpc): Asus M2N-E, X2 4400+, 2 GB DDR2, ATI 3450, Sapphire Theatrix, 1.25TB storage, Antec SP2 400w Galvatron: Asus M2NPV-VM, 4200+ X2, 2GB DDR2, ATI 2900xt, Seasonic 500w Tracks: Acer AS5920, C2D 2.1ghz 45nm, 3GB DDR2, Nvidia 8600m GT, 250gb hdd Gears: Asus Eee PC 701, 1 GB DDR, Win XP My Heatware! "Duct tape is like The Force. It has a light side, a dark side and it holds the universe together." - Malpine Walis
	QUOTE Thanks

09-21-05, 06:24 PM	#11
BaconTheory Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Coming to bunker your ass with my E-Bladed Cocker	If you just need a simple dev machine, then you only really need bandwith and RAM. Bandwith is the key if you want to do file hosting. If not then your current connection will be fine unless you're rocking a 28K. Memory is the other important issue. I would get at least a gig. As for hard drives, get one small one (5 gigs or so) and another big one (about 20 gigs). Put the OS on the small drive, and put your web services (MySQL, PHP, etc.) on the larger one so in case the OS drive gets hacked, you can still save your data.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-21-05, 06:37 PM	#12
ajrettke Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Colorado Springs	yeah...a 1ghz CPU and a 1gb of RAM or more is all ya need, go into the classifieds and find cheap parts and you can easily do it under 500 __________________ Q6600@390x9 (3.5 and 1.400v) WC'd MSI P35 Neo2-FR 2x2 gb of DDR2 800 2 x Vertex 2 SSD's RAID 0 Sennheiser HDR-120's 2405FPW+2x2001FP "Computer games don’t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitve electonic dance music..." - Kristian Wilson, Nintendo Inc, 1989 "Is it worth overclocking? That's like asking if sex is enjoyable!" -cw823
	QUOTE Thanks

09-22-05, 12:21 PM	Thread Starter #13
FishDog3 Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Santa Barbara, CA	That looks like a sweet project Karl, would be fun haha. I think I'm going to throw together a 478 box. I have an 80 gig WD SATA drive that has been sitting around un-used, and I want to take out a 20 gig ATA drive that's in my current box and replace it with a bigger one. And I'd like a new case for my current box... <sidetrack> Anyone have a good recommendation for a nice roomy box in the $100-150 range? Looking at the Antec P180, people seem to love it, but I'm thinking about having two PSUs, maybe even water cooling... although some of the heatpipe sinks seem to be pretty damn competitive... thoughts? </sidetrack> So I figure I'll toss together the server with some parts from my current box and upgrade a few things on my main system, kill two birds with one stone. So my shopping list would be: -478 Mobo with 4 DIMM slots & SATA -New vidcard to replace my 9500pro, not looking for the latest and greatest. -New socket A heatsink -New case, looking for functional, don't want flashy lights, I like to sleep at night. Than I'll take my memory, 80gig & 20gig drives, vid card, case, heatsink, and an old monitor I have. Grab a mobo and cpu, dvd burner, keyboard and mouse. Toss together a box with that stuff. And upgrade my vid card, memory, heatsink, and add a bigger HD to my current box. __________________ I7-920 5850 6G DDR3
	QUOTE Thanks

09-22-05, 11:50 PM	#14
1cem4n Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: FusoFuso	what about one for a cs source server? what would i have to concentrate more money on? -1cem4n
	QUOTE Thanks

09-23-05, 06:59 AM	#15
Cheator Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ottawa, Canada	@FishDog3: I would recomend An ATI rage or maybe radeon 7000. Very low heat and they are smaller cards. more room. @1cem4n: I like my serer as a CS:s server. It works great even on top of the other stuff it used to do. Concentrate on ram though. And CPUage. Find a good balance between the two. BTW, my server rig is changing soon so to show you what I meant, I pasted the current specs here: Kirkan: ASUS A7V600 (soon will be Neo2 Plat), 1800+ Athlon XP T-bred, Thermalright AX-7, 512 mb Corsair Valueselect + 512 mb PC2700 generic ram, Sapphire Radeon 9600XT w/ better cooling, 2 X 60 GB Maxtor, 80 GB Maxtor, 200 gb IDE WD, 80 gb IDE WD, Antec Truepower 430w __________________ Optimus (Main): Antec P180, Asus P5Q-E, E8400, 4 GB G.Skill PC8000, ATI 4850, Seagate 320gb, Antec TrueControl II Teletraan I (htpc): Asus M2N-E, X2 4400+, 2 GB DDR2, ATI 3450, Sapphire Theatrix, 1.25TB storage, Antec SP2 400w Galvatron: Asus M2NPV-VM, 4200+ X2, 2GB DDR2, ATI 2900xt, Seasonic 500w Tracks: Acer AS5920, C2D 2.1ghz 45nm, 3GB DDR2, Nvidia 8600m GT, 250gb hdd Gears: Asus Eee PC 701, 1 GB DDR, Win XP My Heatware! "Duct tape is like The Force. It has a light side, a dark side and it holds the universe together." - Malpine Walis
	QUOTE Thanks

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