Theres a hack in the works to get the X-Box to run Linux.  Once that's
finished, I can imagine racks of $199.00 dns servers, mail servers, etc
:-)


-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Watts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] 
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 4:34 PM
To: CF-Talk
Subject: RE: [SOT] Server Hard Drives


> But, I have heard that Apple boxes (pre-Xserve) have been
> used for years as servers in Universities, and places like 
> Ford, and some others

Anything can be used as a server. You could rack-mount laptops. (I could
tell some funny stories at this point, but won't.) However, machines
designed as servers typically have a different feature-set than those
designed as desktops. Reliability and redundancy are very important in
server hardware.

> One comment was that SCSI interface to hard drives is better
> than ATA IDE interface.
> 
> Why?

SCSI supports concurrent requests better than IDE does. In a
multitasking environment, like you'd find on a server, this is more
important than on the typical desktop, in which the application on the
user's screen is typically doing most of the work.

> Others said that they would not consider hardware for a
> server unless it had RAID.
> 
> Why?
> 
> I can see the desirability of RAID, but:
> 
>       Is RAID necessary ...

It's not necessary, but it is desirable. It allows a server to continue
functioning after a hard drive fails. It can be used with any server
(database, application, etc). In addition, it can speed filesystem
access.

> Do RAIDs normally go in the same box as the server(s) or
> they just a separate rack-mount component?

Yes, typically, a server will have a hardware RAID controller inside the
box (on the motherboard or on an add-on card) and some number of
physical disk drives.

Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software
http://www.figleaf.com/
voice: (202) 797-5496
fax: (202) 797-5444

______________________________________________________________________
Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at 
http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm
FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq
Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists

Reply via email to