Joshua Penix wrote: > Here's what I recommend for a server. Thanks for putting this together. As you know I have bought a previous generation of these servers and though I don't personally like the phoenix bios, all the pieces of the systems are first class.
> First we start with the "platform" Intel Server System SR1530CL > ($685): > http://www.intel.com/design/servers/platforms/S5000vcl/99319.pdf > - Intel Server Chassis SR1530 > - Intel Server Board S5000VCL > - Configured for two non-hot-swap SATA drives > - 400W power supply > - All requisite internal cabling > > Into that platform we have to add our choices of CPUs, drives and > memory: > > CPU choices - The server board is a dual socket and is engineered to > take the new Core-architecture Intel dual core Xeon chips. So it > could be a quad core machine, though I suspect that's overkill. Here > are the CPU choices and pricing, see what you think about quantity > and speed: > > - Xeon 5120, Dual Core 1.86GHz, 1066MHz FSB - $290 > - Xeon 5130, Dual Core 2.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB - $355 > - Xeon 5140, Dual Core 2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB - $495 > > I think a single 5130 would serve quite well - it's worth the extra > $65 for the faster FSB, but I'm not sure it's worth another $140 for . > 33GHz of speed. All those CPUs are 64-bit and support Intel's VT > virtualization extensions. > > Memory - I usually build with Kingston memory, but market prices > vary. Best I can tell is that 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 ECC memory is going > to run around $600 - 700. It seems that a pair of 2GB sticks is only > slightly more than four 1GB sticks, so that'd be my preference. The > server board has a total of 6 memory slots. > > Drives - The slimline DVD-ROM for the 1U chassis is $90. Then we'll > want a pair of SATA drives, and my recommendation is the Seagate > Barracuda ES series (previously the "NL" line). These are drives > engineered for 24x7 storage environments, supposedly less sensitive > to vibration and thusly with higher MTBFs than the standard desktop > SATA drives. They're SATA-2 drives with NCQ, supported by the > controller on the server board. We'll have to RAID1 them through > software however. 250GB drives are $94/ea, 400GB are $145/ea and > 500GB are $198/ea. > > So... there you go. :) This should be one of the more cost effective > ways to get a server, since we're paying only for parts and not > someone else's labor. A reasonably configured server with a single > Xeon 5130, 4GB of RAM and 2x250GB drives comes to right about $1920. Since we have plenty of cash, and nothing else really to spend the money on here's what I'd go for. 1- Intel Server System SR1530CL $685 2 - Xeon 5130, Dual Core 2.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB - $355 $710 4GB - 667MHz DDR2 ECC $700 1 - Slimline DVD-ROM for the 1U chassis $90 2 - 400GB Seagate Barracuda ES SATA-2 w/ NCQ, $145/ea $290 ------------------------------------- Total $2475 I might even consider doubling the memory so that we have plenty for virtualization, if the consensus is we should. This is less than half our treasury, and other than a party, what else could we spend the money on? -- Neil Schneider pacneil_at_linuxgeek_dot_net http://www.paccomp.com Key fingerprint = 67F0 E493 FCC0 0A8C 769B 8209 32D7 1DB1 8460 C47D A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain. - Mark Twain -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-steer
