server building

WhiteWashMan

i have a server and i want o uil it really.
have lots of nice parts, but thats about it
how does one put together a server?
sticking the OS is prolly the last thing you do, so how do you set up raid, what about xeon processors and these terminal thingies, what about ram etc.
i have looked on the net for general server building info, but ll ive found is specific manuals that tells me what things do, not how they operate or are set up.
any help would be greatly apprecited.
after all, its gonna be the biggest MP3 server in gateway

Baz_

thats very responsible of you, making sure you build the server properly, for the music like

WhiteWashMan

up you go....

Yossarian

Exactly what hardware do you have?

WhiteWashMan

i have whatever hardware i need.
harware is not an issue.
i need to find out what im doing.
theres any number of pc's for dummys manuals about, what i want is servers for dummys.
its a gateway alr 7300 server

ButcherOfNog

lol, wtf do u need RAID for an mp3 server? you gonna mirror the mp3's as they're mission critical?

Yossarian

Have you taken a look at gateways site for
info about that server?

Since its a branded server its probable the best place to look.

Regardin RAID, does it have a RAID card?
Xeon processors are just another processor with more L2 cache. They use a diff slot to the PIII. Nothing to worry about really.

what terminal thingies??

Check the Gateway website toi see what ram the MB takes.

Configuration is very hardware specific, your not likely to find general guides.

Decay

WWM

For a server the basics are the same as a workstation but the priorities change.

memory is crucial the more the better you can never have too much.

raid SCSI if you can afford it one drive does not make raid. three at a minimum more if possible using seperate controller cards i.e two drives on one card and two on the other.

Failing that, IDE raid is acceptable, its better than none (But the purists will freak };-)

CPU 750 or above plenty good

Network cards spend the money and get the goods. Intel ethernet are reliable use more than one.

PSU 300 Watt min more better

OS w2k is nice, make sure the swap file is on raid drive.


Graphics card, any cheapy will do as long as the screensaver is NOT set to open gl or other silly screensavers using 3D

Sound none, steals cycles like a *******

Monitor, at you discretion 17" makes life comfortable

Thats about it really memory, memory and more memory

JWT

Canaboid

SCSI drives are not strictly p&p. You need to assign a scsi ID set by jumpers and the scsi chain (cable) must be terminated. This is either done via jumper on drive or with a physical terminator at end of cable.

Yossarian

Remember there a different RAID levels,
the common ones being RAID0, RAID1, RAID5.
RAID0 - Data is stripped across HD's. No Fault Tolerance. All of the disk space is used.

RAID1- Also known as mirroring. Disk 1 is identical to Disk2. 50% of availible disk space is used. This provides fault tolerance.

RAID5- Minimum of 3 HD required. Data is stripped across disks with parity. This is Fault tolerant. Maximum of 1 disk can fail in a RAID5 array and data will still be accessible. X -1/X = Availible Disk space.
Where X is the number of HD's in the array. Example: 3 9Gb HD, 3 -1/3 =2/3 , Availible disk space is 2/3 of 27Gb=18Gb.

WhiteWashMan

ok, i understand the basics behind raid, and im well aware that setting it up is a different kettle of scaley things altogether.
but... is it possible to have an inbuilt scsi card, with a big long scsi cable. but if i only have one or 2 drives on it, will it behave like normal ide, ie, drive c, drive d etcetc. or do i have to kick into scsi bios and set it up specificly. and is there going to be another bios altogether for raid?
you see, this is why i wanted a servers for dummys manaul! i know enogh to be dangerous, but not enough to be useful!

Yossarian

If you just have a scsi controller and you connect 2 HD to it, then in NT Disk admin you will see two HD's. You will then be able to partition these drives as normal.

If the HD are attached to a RAID controller then the OS will see what the RAID controller tells it to see.
Eg, 3 HD config as RAID5 will be seen by OS as 1 HD.

With RAID you will need to config stuff in the bios. with SCSI you wont (unless theres problems..usual story).

Stephen

[steals the topic {!}]

I have on my machine here an onboard Adaptec AIC 7899 SCSI controller, with just the one scsi HD installed. I have one IDE HD and a CDRW and also a DVD. I want to use the scsi drive as my primary (c) drive, as its a hell of a lot faster than the older IDE drive. The problem is, when i FDISK, the IDE HD is *always* set as drive C. The only way I've found to get around it is to physically remove the IDE drive and then partition the scsi one, and then reinstall the IDE drive once the OS is installed on the scsi one. Which is a bit of a pain in the ass.

Any tips?

---

- Munch

Decay

Easy enough, use fdisk to remove all the partitions. boot up the OS wether w2k w98 or Unix. Let the OS to the partitioning and formatting.
All will display the drives and available space and allow you to pick.


JWT

WhiteWashMan

have you ever read a gateway manual?
they are brutal.
no, i was kidding about it being an mp3 server, i just want to install win2k server and setup a small network. im just trying to teach myself stuff as id rather be an mcse by knowing stuff, not by being able to remember stuff from a book.
ive learnt a few things, so maybe the manual will seem somewhat clearer, but i was hoping someone kmight know a general server hardware site, that explains about the different kinds of ram and processors etc.
the terminal thing is if you have a dual xeon mobo, and only one xeon processor, apparently you need a terminal thingy for the free slot.
id explain it better if i could read it from a site and learn

Canaboid

WWm, servers are the same as workstations. The hardware varies but the principals are the same. Build it, install OS, read error msg, fix error. Repeat until it works.
The terminal thingie I assume is a card to regulate voltage if only 1 processor is used.
Get cracking and then post specific questions.
And raid can be used to improve disk access as well as for fault tolerance, Noel.

WhiteWashMan

actually, adaptec site has some great info on raid cards. giving both specific card related info and generic 'this is a raid card and can be user for this' type info.
fergus, i have decided to just lash lots of stuff together, leaving out raid card for now, and see what happens.
watch this thread for next question
bugger, ive just realised, i dont have any scsi hard drives.
heres one for you straight of.
this here server has scsi, can i just install one drive like normal ide, or do i actually have to connect up a host of stuff.
i think it may have onboard raid, so its a bit confusing...?!

WhiteWashMan

wey-hey.
i have got the stupid machine to boot
it comes up with my cdrom, and my 3scsi hard drives. it goes past the raid bios bit as well.
it then installs the mouse and keyboard and then.....
ERROR update table not found for cpu #1 step 673.
it then gives me F2 setup and F1 continue.
if i continue it tells me i have no operating system. do i have to install an ide hard drive with an operating system on it. the scsi drives are then used as storage drives with raid?
i thought that all was suppose to be on scsi and you installed your OS onto the first SCSI drive on the raid, or scsi cable or whatever?
alao, i assume it comes up with the 1 cpu found, as i have not got a second xeon installed, and have placed a terminator board in the second slot. is this correct?

Yossarian

hmmm...
not sure of that error
ERROR update table not found for cpu #1 step 673
is the cpu detected correctly in the bios?
is the correct Term board for that server?


The OS would be installed as normal onto a scsi HD (or if RAID is configured installed onto that).
When installing NT remember to press F6 when you get 'Setup is inspecting your system configuration' on the screen. NT install will then prompt you for drivers for the controller the HD's are on. Once these are loaded the install will detect the HD.

WhiteWashMan

currently there is no OS installed to my knowledge. like i said this is being built from scratch by someone who hasnt a clue
the terminal board i reckon is fine, as its the only one that fits (xeon size, right way around)
the processor is detected and is running at 450mhz (although its a 500, the mobo only supports up to 450, im not worried about that)
i'll stick a win98 cd in and see if i can install that first and then kick win2k onto it. i'll get back to you then..

Canaboid

NOOOOO. Just put win2k on. Theres no way 98 will support the various server hardware. NT/2k will. Just boot from cdrom.
It should detect raid and disks and allow you to partiton no probs.

WhiteWashMan

ok,
but it doesnt matter as it wont boot from the cd anyway. just comes up as no operating system.
i reckon its something ive missed, so i will get a bit of help here and see where i come out in a while

Yossarian

500?
that might explain the error on boot then..

Try installing the OS anyway. Do not install 98! As suggested try Win2K.

Is it necessary to press F6 with Win2K like you have to with NT?


Stephen.

Yossarian

check the boot sequence in the system bios.
should be
A:
CD-ROM
HD (or C:...or SCSI)

WhiteWashMan

ok, i cant boot from cd rom, thats the problem at the moment.
i have a: then cd then hard drive boot.
all this i know aboiut from pcs.
however, i dont have anything on my ide cables except my cd rom which is secondry mster. 3 scsi hard drives are appearingin the scsi bios and are shown during the boot sequence.
any reason (apart from a buggered cd rom drive) that cd wont run?

lphchild

get a 98 bootdisk including the cd drivers..boot with that and go to the CD from there?

Leverz

Stick the Win2K CD in a system, and then use it to build boot disks, although, you should be able to boot from CD, I do it here daily
;(

Loomer

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by WhiteWashMan:
id rather be an mcse by knowing stuff, not by being able to remember stuff from a book.B]</font>

LOL - thank you for a good chuckle