Total Novice

Walker34

I may be getting a HP ProLiant DL580 G5 Server from an acquaintance to look after for a year or more, and I am totally clueless what to use it for (apart from a doorstop).

I have a few pc`s at home which are used for a variety of purposes (read mostly gaming), and was wondering if I could put it to some use or other. I am interested in technology, but shy away from servers and the like.

I would not even mind doing a night class in the Autumn to learn a bit about servers and how to configure/maintain them. Anyone got any ideas as to what I might be my best course of action.....other than finding an open door that needs stopping.:-)?

corkcomp

Walker34 wrote: »

I may be getting a HP ProLiant DL580 G5 Server from an acquaintance to look after for a year or more, and I am totally clueless what to use it for (apart from a doorstop).

I have a few pc`s at home which are used for a variety of purposes (read mostly gaming), and was wondering if I could put it to some use or other. I am interested in technology, but shy away from servers and the like.

I would not even mind doing a night class in the Autumn to learn a bit about servers and how to configure/maintain them. Anyone got any ideas as to what I might be my best course of action.....other than finding an open door that needs stopping.:-)?

will your friend want to use it again afterwards? what about existing data on it? if no wipe it clean and build from scratch using server 2008 imo .. your query is a little vague though

Walker34

Thanks for reply corkcomp,
Vague is a generous understatement there, but I have no idea what to use it for. I guess I could make a ghost image of the main drive and then wipe it clean and start from scratch. Secretly I`m optimistic that my friend will forget about it.

Could I set up my own game server, and is there a lot involved. Would I need a special connection to cope with additional traffic fiber optic or something. Like I say, I am pretty clueless on servers. Is server 2008 setup similar to just installing Windows .....I expect configuring it to run as a server is the art, but I don't mind learning that if its not a degree level effort.

If you owned it what would you do with it....?

corkcomp

Walker34 wrote: »

Thanks for reply corkcomp,
Vague is a generous understatement there, but I have no idea what to use it for. I guess I could make a ghost image of the main drive and then wipe it clean and start from scratch. Secretly I`m optimistic that my friend will forget about it.

Could I set up my own game server, and is there a lot involved. Would I need a special connection to cope with additional traffic fiber optic or something. Like I say, I am pretty clueless on servers. Is server 2008 setup similar to just installing Windows .....I expect configuring it to run as a server is the art, but I don't mind learning that if its not a degree level effort.

If you owned it what would you do with it....?

well.. I dont think you would want to use it for the same thing I would.. to boring:D make sure you have a full copy of everything thats on it now.. ghost or whatever.. (btw acronis true image is good for making live copy, it will run through windows!)

you wont need fiber connection to run a game server. a gb nic would do grand.. you might find a server of that spec wont do anything too exciting though, compared to a decent pc..

installing server os is childs play.. similar to win dows xp.. its what to do after than can be more complex! why not install server os and start using it for something basic like backing up your other machines.. you can always wipe it and start from scratch again

Walker34

The spec on this thing is here....

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=3239517&prodTypeId=12169&objectID=c01076998

It has 8 scsi 140gig drives 2 quad core Xeon processors ect, surely it is better than a PC, what is all the processing power used for, Im confused here.:-)

corkcomp

Walker34 wrote: »

The spec on this thing is here....

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=3239517&prodTypeId=12169&objectID=c01076998

It has 8 scsi 140gig drives 2 quad core Xeon processors ect, surely it is better than a PC, what is all the processing power used for, Im confused here.:-)

it depends what you use it for but servers are designed for back ground processing so it would make a good game server for sure but it wont be any quicker than a pc if your sitting in front of it.. it will take longer to go through post / bios and longer to boot / shutdown

rfrederick

Walker34 wrote: »

The spec on this thing is here....

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=3239517&prodTypeId=12169&objectID=c01076998

It has 8 scsi 140gig drives 2 quad core Xeon processors ect, surely it is better than a PC, what is all the processing power used for, Im confused here.:-)

Gad, I'd love to use that as a personal email/web/XMPP/SMB server.:D

EDIT
...and as a XEN hypervisor on top of all of the above!
EDIT2
s/on top of/beneath/

Walker34

But would you be happy rfrederick.....that's the real crux of the matter, WOULD YOU BE HAPPY! :-)

rfrederick

I'd be happy to have something whose processors have the virtualisation extensions at the least. There's only so much you can do with Xen/Citrix and KVM without the extra VM bits on the processors.

brianoconnell

There loads of things to do with Enterprise kit like that! It has hugh educational potential for managing and maintaing server systems. You could learn about Array Controllers and Raid Arrays, It should have an ILO port for remote management, open it up and take it apart.

It would make a great virtualisation host - take your pick. It should absolutely run the free versions VMware ESX and Citrix Xen, or you could try the 30 day trials of Microsoft Server 2008 and Hyper-V.

You could always just run any 64-bit OS on it, but it would be a waste to run a single operating sytem that was'ent mission critical on a box like that.

Mind you, it's going to be a power hungry beast!

LoGiE

I look after a number of theses bad boys as hosts in a vmware environment. I honestly can't think of any reason you would need one of these in your house unless you require running 20 VM's. They also come with 2-4 power supplies and are pretty noisy. By the way at 15,000 a pop thats quite a friend you've got there!

Gruaig

You could setup your own game server that would do nicely for that. What kind of connection do you have.? U could also set up a little cluster for all your other pc's that would be fun and have them perform different tasks for you. Or you could setup a web server and host peoples sites nothing to dramatic tho

funk-you

Bear in mind OP, these are noisy and will cost a fortune in ESB. Not exacly a household kinda machine. Fun to play around with though, you'll learn a lot.

-Funk

Ponster

Walker34 wrote: »

Is server 2008 setup similar to just installing Windows

To do it 'properly' you install first with HP Smartstart to configure the RAID. This will then ask you what OS you want to install and once chosen, you put in the 2008 disk and take it from there.

As the others have said, this is going to make lots of noise. I should have some spare 2.5" drives if you want to play around with RAID.

rolion

is a 750w per hour at 14c kwph = 10c ph x 24h = 2.40E pd x 30 d = ~ 70e per month ! !

i have two ML350s that i switch on to do my study and then...power off and unplug the power cord off the back of the server !

ED E

It would make a nice gaming server if you have a decent upload speed(and no limits). You could set up several source servers(remember to change the ports) for CSS/TF2/DODs/HL2DM and so on + Other games so you and your mates could play whatever game/gametype you wanted whenever.

Would also make for some great LANing if you really wanted to fill your house with players:p


Really seems like overkill though in terms of power consumption. Is there any way to dial it down like on portables?

rolion

Walker34 wrote: »

I would not even mind doing a night class in the Autumn to learn a bit about servers and how to configure/maintain them. Anyone got any ideas as to what I might be my best course of action.....other than finding an open door that needs stopping.:-)?

For start,look at Comptia:

Network +
http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed/network.aspx

Server +
http://www.comptia.org/certifications/listed/server.aspx

Then,if you look that you really enjoy it,go for Microsoft Server track. Classes are available in most of the colleges ,also online or offline ...
Good luck...

brianoconnell

The only thing I can think of to reduce the servers power consumption, would be to run it with a single disk drive and pull out the others. It would be a bit of work to remove any second CPU.

rolion

Removing drives from present configuration can lead to losing all configuration so hard worked to get it up & running ! i won't do it...

Re power...there are no so 'green design' based as the latest but they are monsters in term of performance. I'll remove a redundant PSU if you have one and unplug the power cord when not in use.

enjoy it...