entry level server

CSU

Could someone give me the low-down on the best and worst on the market?

I need something cheap and cheerful, doesn't matter how old and the cheapest possible.

Whats the difference to rack mounted servers to simply using a couple of PC's instead?

wasim21k

its all Depend what you want from that server,
my personal preference rack mount (if you have rack).

CSU

wasim21k wrote: »

its all Depend what you want from that server,
my personal preference rack mount (if you have rack).

Price, reliability, spare parts available, noise, power consumption to name a few.

For the hobbiest really, not going to be running huge amounts of services on it. Are there makes/models I should steer clear from in general?

Static M.e.

For the hobbyist take whatever you can get...Servers are pretty much just big PC's. Anything from Dell should be pretty easy to get parts and manuals for.

Pick up something second hand. No real point in paying out 10-12 hundred+ for something to play with..

ressem

Rack Servers would
be noisier than a desktop PC. The 1U (1.75inch) high server tend to be loud and shrill.
They will have RS232 serial ports which allow a terminal session for low-level server management, though more commonly this was used to connect to a UPS in small businesses.
There will be usually be a hard drive controller which monitors the status of the hard drives and can light up an LED to indicate when a hard drive has failed in a raid array, so you're less likely to remove the wrong drive. Also hot swapping hard drives is usually possible.
They can have redundant power supplies. Motherboards will often support redundant memory.
Sometimes server manufacturers like IBM can make irritating choices such as proprietary monitor connectors (intention was to allow the video connections to be daisychained with other IBMs reducing KVM cable length.)

It's all operational stuff to make it easier to manage cabinets full of the things.

For a hobby I wouldn't run one in a home. Dell and Lenovo have those cheap tower machines which are essentially desktops with a couple of server features, which are quiet enough.

_Kaiser_

All depends what you want to do with it...

Me, I was running an upgraded DELL Precision 390 desktop as a server and it happily had 3x 1.5TB drives installed with the stock PSU, ran Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V and was quieter than some of the PC's I've had

But I needed more space and wanted to start playing around with Hyper-V and Server 2008 more and a few other bits with the idea of getting some certification in them behind me, so I got myself a PowerEdge 2950 very cheap on Adverts a few weeks back (a machine which we paid about 4 grand for in my last job but I only paid a fraction of that!)

The only downside so far is that it's taking up half my desk (anyone got any suggestions for a cabinet for it?), and it's noisy enough - but it'll take up to 6 disks if I upgrade the backplane, something like 32GB RAM and the DRAC card (allowing remote access to the box even if Windows fails, or it's actually shut down) is great.

My only real concern is what the impact on the ESB bill will be (750W PSU with a redundant 2nd one) - any thoughts?

tech

Been honest and decent spec pc will allow you to play with Server Os's

GO with dell or HP and you will be sure to have driver support the precession range from Dell are great machines and also have RAID 1 support on board


@ Kaiser2000I got myself some of the PE 2850 from the dell auction ther last year, fine servers! 6x 146gig 8 gig ram dual PROC and will run 64bit!! I have esxi on 1 and server 2008 on the other and also got some 2650's!

I have a KVM IP switch which allows me to have the server in another room and no noise, all I have is screen , mouse & keyboard plugged into the other end of the IP KVM switch!!

Power costs are high enough alright so only powered on when in use, The DRAC cards are handy to power up the server rather than pressing the button!!

Sposs

I Have a couple of 1425's im looking to get rid of if your interested.Perfect machines for testing and playing with, super reliable.

http://www.adverts.ie/servers/7-x-dell-1425-servers-for-sale/404007

tech

for free?


are these x64?

Sposs

For a small amount - not x64.

tech

hmm x64 is all the go these days, only can run 2003 or Linux so then ?

Sposs

Yep, Ideal as linux test machines.

jimmycrackcorm

I throughly recommend this HP ML110

Quad core, add in 7GB ram and extra disk. Fantastic for virtualization.

tech

@ jimmy have you 1 of these in action using ESxi? or esx?

CSU

@ Sposs - thanks for the heads up.

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I throughly recommend this HP ML110

Quad core, add in 7GB ram and extra disk. Fantastic for virtualization.

Thats some machine for the price *ponders an excuse for the missus*:D

This is a bit OT but, I don't get virtualization... I mean whats the point? Why not use all system resources purely for running and dealing with networking services and applications??? I've always wondered this about virtual machines, to me, it seems a waste virtualizing systems within systems

can someone point out a topographic networking scenario where only virtualizing the servers is the only way to get the job done?