I am a web developer and i'm building my own web server. Of course...because its just fun, I want to pimp this thing out. Below are my hardware selections and hopefully some of you that are better versed in server builds can help me out and let me know if these are good choices based on my needs, if they are compatible, and any other suggestions or recommendations.
I will be running a version of Ubuntu server, so hardware must be compatitible with this. The needs are specifically geared towards a web server. I will be hosting multiple sites which at the moment are low traffic, but my entire goal with this server is upgradability. If and when one of my sites begins bringing in heavy amounts of traffic I want to be able to upgrade this thing without having to rebuild an entire server. I want to build a little on the heavy end in case I want to host a site that does more video streaming type stuff etc etc. Basically a jack-of-all-trades server for hosting multiple projects and of course if one really takes off, then it will be moved to its own servers etc. At the moment is will serve a mysql database as well as the http requests. Eventually i'm sure i'll build a separate database server, but for right now i'm hoping this will do.
The motherboard
SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DTi-LN4F-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series Server Motherboard
I chose this MB because of the dual cpu slots and the high memory it can support. At first I plan on only running one cpu and one stick of 16GB ram. Is it ok to run this board with only 1 cpu and have the option to just stick another one in the future? Does a web server require this much power or is it way overkill? Should I downgrade a save a couple hundred bucks?
The RAID Card
Adaptec RAID 6405 2270000-R 6Gb/s SATA/SAS 4 internal ports w/512MB cache memory Controller Card
Do I need a raid card with this much power? Is it a good investment? Or for my needs does it make more sense to go with something a little lower end? As I will talk about a little more below, at first I plan on running 2 SSD drives on RAID 0 (mirrored), but i'd like to eventually upgrade to a RAID 5 or event 10 config. I went with this model also because it has its own processor and won't rely on the cpu for this, but is that worth a couple hundred extra bucks?
The RAID Cage
ICY DOCK MB994SP-4SB-1 4x 2.5" SSD/HD in 1x 5.25" Bay SATA Hot-Swap Backplane Cage
Can I daisy chain these if I want to add another in the future for a raid 10 config? Not much to say about this, I plan on running SSD's and its a great space saving way to achieve this.
The CPU
Intel Xeon E5606 Westmere-EP 2.13GHz LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor
Again, i'd like to be able to run this alone at first, and then add another. Does the second cpu have to be the same or in the future can I add a 6 or 8 core in addition to this without a problem?
The Memory
Kingston 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Registered Server Memory
I plan on getting a stick of this and adding more as needed.
The Hard Drives
Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-NB 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Notebook Upgrade Kit
I'm going to start with 2 of these, and plan on adding more as needed. The price is good and they seem like they would do the trick.
The Case
NORCO RPC-470 Black 4U Rackmount Server Case - OEM
Not sure if this comes with a power supply. I'll add one if it doesn't. How many watts should I do on this with upgrading in mind? 750? I also plan on water cooling the CPU's. Does this case look like it has enough room to add a fairly large radiator? Should I run the RAD externally? I haven't picked a cooling system yet (any suggestions? i've got a XSPC in my desktop that has been great so i'll probably go with another one of those), but i'll start with 2 blocks and just run the one over an empty cpu slot until I add another.
So, does all this look good? Any thoughts? I'm all about saving some cash so if i'm going overboard on anything here, please let me know. I'm totally open to suggestions and comments. Right now this build is looking to cost around $1500, which is decent for a server and I really like the idea that I can toss a couple hundred bucks at it and double the memory, or bring in more cpu power etc...upgradability is my goal here. And if you've made it this far...thank you for reading
I will be running a version of Ubuntu server, so hardware must be compatitible with this. The needs are specifically geared towards a web server. I will be hosting multiple sites which at the moment are low traffic, but my entire goal with this server is upgradability. If and when one of my sites begins bringing in heavy amounts of traffic I want to be able to upgrade this thing without having to rebuild an entire server. I want to build a little on the heavy end in case I want to host a site that does more video streaming type stuff etc etc. Basically a jack-of-all-trades server for hosting multiple projects and of course if one really takes off, then it will be moved to its own servers etc. At the moment is will serve a mysql database as well as the http requests. Eventually i'm sure i'll build a separate database server, but for right now i'm hoping this will do.
The motherboard
SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DTi-LN4F-O Dual LGA 1366 Intel 5520 Extended ATX Dual Intel Xeon 5500 and 5600 Series Server Motherboard
I chose this MB because of the dual cpu slots and the high memory it can support. At first I plan on only running one cpu and one stick of 16GB ram. Is it ok to run this board with only 1 cpu and have the option to just stick another one in the future? Does a web server require this much power or is it way overkill? Should I downgrade a save a couple hundred bucks?
The RAID Card
Adaptec RAID 6405 2270000-R 6Gb/s SATA/SAS 4 internal ports w/512MB cache memory Controller Card
Do I need a raid card with this much power? Is it a good investment? Or for my needs does it make more sense to go with something a little lower end? As I will talk about a little more below, at first I plan on running 2 SSD drives on RAID 0 (mirrored), but i'd like to eventually upgrade to a RAID 5 or event 10 config. I went with this model also because it has its own processor and won't rely on the cpu for this, but is that worth a couple hundred extra bucks?
The RAID Cage
ICY DOCK MB994SP-4SB-1 4x 2.5" SSD/HD in 1x 5.25" Bay SATA Hot-Swap Backplane Cage
Can I daisy chain these if I want to add another in the future for a raid 10 config? Not much to say about this, I plan on running SSD's and its a great space saving way to achieve this.
The CPU
Intel Xeon E5606 Westmere-EP 2.13GHz LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor
Again, i'd like to be able to run this alone at first, and then add another. Does the second cpu have to be the same or in the future can I add a 6 or 8 core in addition to this without a problem?
The Memory
Kingston 16GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 ECC Registered Server Memory
I plan on getting a stick of this and adding more as needed.
The Hard Drives
Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-NB 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Notebook Upgrade Kit
I'm going to start with 2 of these, and plan on adding more as needed. The price is good and they seem like they would do the trick.
The Case
NORCO RPC-470 Black 4U Rackmount Server Case - OEM
Not sure if this comes with a power supply. I'll add one if it doesn't. How many watts should I do on this with upgrading in mind? 750? I also plan on water cooling the CPU's. Does this case look like it has enough room to add a fairly large radiator? Should I run the RAD externally? I haven't picked a cooling system yet (any suggestions? i've got a XSPC in my desktop that has been great so i'll probably go with another one of those), but i'll start with 2 blocks and just run the one over an empty cpu slot until I add another.
So, does all this look good? Any thoughts? I'm all about saving some cash so if i'm going overboard on anything here, please let me know. I'm totally open to suggestions and comments. Right now this build is looking to cost around $1500, which is decent for a server and I really like the idea that I can toss a couple hundred bucks at it and double the memory, or bring in more cpu power etc...upgradability is my goal here. And if you've made it this far...thank you for reading