-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 TekBudda wrote: > What does an eSATA expansion card run? I have a P4 1.7 Ghz machine > that i want to turn into a server running linux & virtualizing server > 2003. I have an 80 GB SATA drive...but no ports. > If you buy an eSata capable enclosure, most (but not all) have a bracket that mounts at the back of a pc, and provides a pass through to your motherboard's SATA ports. If you need more ports than what the motherboard proveds, then you need to add a controller card. The prices range from $35 to $1300 at memory express, though you could certainly spend more.
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/Computers%28ME%29/ComputerComponents%28ME%29/ControllerCards%28ME%29/Default.aspx > Any major speed or performance differences I would see in a config > like this? Or would it better to put the drive into a general purpose > desktop that was running linux with viryual xp > On newer machines if you get a PCIE card, then there should be no perceptible performance problems, on an older P4 you probably only have PCI slots, which top out at a 133 MiB/sec (the bus tops out here, so that 133 MiB is shared with all your PCI adaptors). Two hard drives on the same channel will see a performance hit, more so if you have a PCI sound card and a NIC. Sometimes integrated peripherals share resources with PCI slots, sometimes not. Some motherboards with a large number of PCI slots (like 5) will have only certain slots shared. This varies so much from board to board, that you really need to know your hardware. Check the motherboard documentation. When designing these systems you should think about information flow (how much data, from where is it coming, where is it going, and what are you doing with it) to make it easier to find and eliminate bottlenecks. Also, your P4 does not have any of the virtualization extensions present in more modern CPUs so running in a VM will be noticeably slower, especially for a festively plump OS like server 2003. Make sure you have enough RAM for all the roles that this machine will perform. FWIW, my previous home setup was similar to what you are proposing. I have since ditched the dual core server and moved to low power Atoms. I have also ditched Windows from all "server" roles. I do carry a lab with me on my laptop (Vmware workstation) for testing, and that external eSata drive is lovely for this. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/ iEYEARECAAYFAkreMIgACgkQwRXgH3rKGfNSSgCdH6cJMDeXLIPDbGeMSdx5i09C R6QAn0JZ4meKasiIlqfp2l6ksUlr/UL0 =DmTy -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ clug-talk mailing list [email protected] http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) **Please remove these lines when replying
