I'm assuming your server will have a light load and will not be used for parts
of the year. I also assume you would like something that will last over 5
years.
You probably can get by with a single core CPU and 1 GIG of RAM.
You could buy a bare bones machine like this one
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1336887&Sku=B69-0454
Add another drive, load CentOS configure it and your off and running for under
$400.00 and 2 or 3 hours of work depending on your configuration.
Another alternative is to move to using laptops. I home office and use a
Windows desktop and a Linux development server. I have 2 mini towers that
crank out the heat. During the winter it is ok for the most part. During the
summer it is not. My office is about 2 degrees hotter than the rest of the
house. My solution is two laptops. Less heat during those toasty summer days.
I know someone who actually uses inexpensive netbooks with an external monitor
& drive. For a sever you would not need an external monitor and you could add
a USB hard drive and auto mount it. My current Linux box is an old Dell Celeron
which only using 376M RAM which is about a 3rd of what is available. And it
is running X.
Several months ago I loaded CentOS 5.5 w/o X onto an old laptop that had a 1GIG
celeron, 256M RAM, and a 14GIG hard drive. I was only using it for testing
however it ran fine.
So I'm assuming you could get by with a netbook and might not need an external
drive. A 250GIG hard drive is common with most netbooks and can be purchased
for around $225.
------------------------
Keith Smith
--- On Sun, 10/16/11, Phillip Waclawski <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Phillip Waclawski <[email protected]>
Subject: suggestions for Buying a small server?
To: "Main PLUG discussion list" <[email protected]>
Date: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 8:33 PM
#yiv306750599 p {margin:0;}I'm in the market for a small, cheap server machine
to replace the aging Dell Workstations I'm using for my students (Pentium III
Coppermine... really ;).
I don't need anything special in the way of graphics. Need 2-4 Gigs of Ram (
to be honest, haven't had issues with the 512Meg I have in the existing ones).
Just want something stable, able to take 2 or more SATA drives and not be much
of a power hog. I'll be using CentOS 6 on them. And I'd like to keep it in the
low range for the student server, under $500 if I can.
Dennis Kibbe has suggested some of the HP Proliant Micro Servers, and they do
look interesting. I figured I'd just ask this group for some of their opinions,
Phil Waclawski
MCC CIS Faculty
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