Ratdude's first true server?

[ratdude747]

i might have finally made something that can be called a server (as opposed to my last unit, which was a combo web browser).

My old RIMM job has been given a makeover...

what I have for it now is one of my favorite builds to date.

specs:

Intel vc820
PIII coppermine 800EB
512mb pc600/700 rambus
s3 savage 4 agp (32mb?)
3com 10/100 LAN card with WOL cable
2x 320gb 7200RPM wd blue ATA + 3ware hardware raid card
52x cdrom
zip 100
AGI 300w psu (ATX 1.0)

the case is perfect for it... It is a foxconn made side saddle'd PSU case.

what makes the case nice is that the whole motherboard tray and card bracket mounts slide out the back on a set of rails.

I modded the case... I added a daughterboard to the tray. what it does is allows me to put all of the front I/O (pwr/hdd lights, pwr/reset switches) on one connector and break it out to individual pairs. that way to slide oput the tray, i only have one connector for that instead of 5 (the PC beep is on the board as well). The board also has the same switches and LED's the front of the case has to make diagnostics faster.

For an OS, it has ubuntu server edition 10.04.2 on it. my goal is to make it a fully headless server so all it needs is power and a network cable (and a keyboard if auto login is not possible)

i do have a question:

the RAM is a mix-match of a pc600 stick and a pc700 stick. the board will do up to pc800. I found this for $7.99 a pop. they are 256mb pc800 ECC chips. my board is good for two. I also think my setup will do ECC.

would a speed boost (from 600 to 800) and ECC be worth it?

no pics now... my camera is playing dead again and I do not know if it will come back. Once i have access to a camera, expect pics.

any other comments?

[Th3_uN1Qu3]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

I expected it to be a dual.

[Topcat]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

What will this machine be serving>?

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

for now, files. maybe more in the future

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

I expected it to be a dual.

don't have a dual that would fit. I have one but it uses 4 slots sdram (though a rdram converter) and it uses two slot 1 coppermines (i used to use a pair of 733's) and is eatx (not the notched kind that would have fitted my case).

if it bothers you too much, you could always gift me one

[Topcat]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

For a file server on a home network, a dual really isn't necessary. Fast drives on a good controller are what make a file server shine. They don't require a lot of CPU horsepower, the P3 is more than plenty.

[toastygoodness]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

sounds good for a file server. P3 is plenty, especially with that hardware 3ware card.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

You might want to think about getting a decent gigabit card and a gigabit switch for a fileserver.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

if i had the $$$

[NxB]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

ebay... that stuff is cheap. especially older server stuff.

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

whatever... my 10/100 does fine. to make use of the 1000 advantage i would need a a gigabit router and 2 or 3 gigabit switches.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

how big is your network? is your server really that far from your main computer?

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

my room has the router. the parent's office has a switch. between the two is another switch. the server is tied to the middle switch... and my parents will bed backing stuff up on the server as well as myself.

[NxB]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

All daisy chained up like that?

[ratdude747]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

yes. to save the amount of cable needed for runs.

[Pyr0Beast]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

Better than mine -> Old compax desktop

P3 933, 512MB ram, Integrated Intel Graphic card which causes kernel panic on shutdown !

Added 4 port sata+esata controller and 1x1TB WD green HDD
It works for now and it is reasonably quiet.

Problem is only 10MB network traffic speed with Gbit cards - should fix that.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

I have a poweredge 700, two wd 1tb drives and a gigabit switch, with ext compression I can actually stream files from the hard drives faster then the speed of the drives themselfs

[Uranium-235]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

I actually also have a PE 1800, 1650, and a promise vtrak 15100 (picked up for $125 /w 8 good 200gb sata drives) >

[NxB]

Re: Ratdude's first true server?

Better slower and easier to cool than loud with 50 fans.