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AngusFlag for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Building a Server - Is it a good idea?

Folks,

I am using all my remaining points as I need your support and I hope you can help.  We are in the process of starting up a Market Research company and we need a server to host a database.  Being a startup company – money is very tight.  The database is large (approx 10-12GB) and one table has Full Text Indexing (table contains 14 million records)

Performance is key, however as this server sole function is hosting this database we do not need all the fancy trappings of a commerical server.  Our requirements are Dual CPU, Fast Memory, Fast I/O [apologies for the use of non descriptive words].  Therefore our ideal server would have the following spec:

Motherboard:      Dual Xeon                   
Processors + Fans:      2Ghz or more each            
Memory:            4 GB DDR or RMBS            
Form Factor Case:      ATX                         
Hard Disk            1xSCSI & 1xIDE                    
CD-ROM            Basic

These are indeed simple requirements, however we are finding it a challenge to find an ideal server (including second hand).  We are now considering building one ourselves.  This ofcourse has additional risks etc, however it may be the most ideal solution from both a cost saving point of view as well as having a solution that best meets our needs.

The building will be done by myself – although an IT graduate and comfortable doing routine tasks (e.g. Hard disk changes, memory – everything short of playing with the CPU or motherboard) – I have never build a pc.

So – what is my question? I guess I am writing this to get some perspective if ‘building a server’ is a good idea or am I just asking for trouble? Also, are there any key components that I am missing?  

Regards
Angus

P.S Our main source for second hand servers has been ebay.co.uk – however nothing  ideal has appeared.  Does anyone else know of any other sources?





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Wow,
I did not expect so much feedback.  Thanks!  Some very good comments.  

On the subject of redundancy - the database is static and only updated on a weekly basis.  In case of any issues with the server we can host the database on another computer. However the 1 out of the 8 searches will not be available - the full text search (the performance heavy one) as the pc is underpowered.

Panjandrum - very good point about servicing online - I had not considered this.  The question is how to enable this without spending too much.

Callandor - thanks for your feedback and especially the SCSI HD recommendation - which I will followup.  Also thanks AurimasP - it may indeed be worth while buying one processor and investing on HD - it is always possible to upgrade later.

I would like to steer the discussion to the following direction - Do you think the hassle/effort involved in building a server is worth the cost savings?  I.e. based on your vast experience did u find that at the end of the day, through building your own server you benefited or did you find that you would have saved yourself a lot of time by buying something off the shelf (even though it is not meet your needs perfectly)?

thanks again guys - much appreciated for your feedback
If you don't need 24/7 uptime, the cost savings is worth it.  The servers sold by vendors are designed to keep running continuously without interruption, and that is partly why they are priced the way they are.  For some of us, thinking about and maintaining the hardware is as easy as breathing, but if it causes you undue stress, it may not be for you.  It depends on how much you want to learn and if it's "fun" for you.
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Panjandrum

I don't how big your budget is but for a +-2000 Euro/Dollars you can buy a very decent system and you don't
have to spend nights and nights figuring out if you're decision was the right thing to do.

Keep in mind that for the moment HW is completely no business at all. Big manufacturers are losing money on HW and try to gain it with the service/support they are trying to sell on top.

Off course, as Callandor said, if you feel confidend enough and you want the real fun of building one yourself, go for it.
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Actually, "zero technical support" isn't exactly true.  Every component that you buy when building a computer yourself is covered by the manufacturer warranty which ranges from 1-5 years depending on the part.  You just don't have a sort of single point of service when something goes wrong, you have to figure out what's causing the hardware problem and then call the right company.  Though, if you can build your own computer, I'm sure you can figure out what piece of hardware is giving you problems when something goes wrong, if not, then Caseybea is right, you should go with a vendor.

offset by the "time to build"? We're talking a minimum of $1000 difference between a build it yourself and a vendor computer.  If he's making $1000 or more for the half day it'd take to put the machine together, then cost wouldn't be an issue for them... correct me if I'm wrong...

Also, I've never found that any software comes "bundled" on a server that you don't have to pay for.  If anything does come bundled, it's a trial version.  Just my experience though.

-Bernie
If you not  cheep on

fans - cooling
power - supplies  - get 50% more wattage than need  Antec are good
Server Mother borard -  buy server borard I never had a server board die from intel  or tyan.

You will little troubles on setup and later in not have hard failures.
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Again - WOW, I did not expect such a response.  Completely overwhelmed.

Thanks to all (DoTheDEW335, paranoidcookie, gjohnson99, salvagbf, Caseybea , AurimasP, Panjandrum) for your advice - you have given me a lot of food for thought.

Based on all the feedback - I have come to the decision that I am going to build the server.  I am confident that I wont screw it up ;-).

I have one last and final question - I am not familar (i.e. zero experience) on RAID.  I have read the material & understand types & benefits.  However I lack the expertise on how to implement/build a machine with RAID and what is required.  Can anyone direct me to a source of information on where there is an idiots guide to building/implement RAID? I.e. What components are needed? Sofware? etc..

Again Many thanks for your help - it has been tremendous.

I will split all the points equally amongst you all.
RAID is a way of getting either redundancy (in case of disk failure) or extra performance or both.
I wont go into an explaination of how raid works theres plenty of examples like

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/product/markeditorial.html?prodkey=quick_explanation_of_raid

In your case I would recommend data safety over performance so either use a RAID 5 array or a RAID 1 mirror. Or a combinatoin the OS on a mirror the data on a RAID 5 set. If yo choose RAID 5 I recommend 5 disks 4 in the active set and one hot spare, a lot of people only use three disks for raid 5 while this works its not really giving a good level of fault tolerance.

I would always advise a RAID card over software if your budget will cope. The hardware cards take the work off of the processor and usually do a few other tricks for you as well (except for those cheap promise controllers which are basically software raid on chip).

IMHO SCSI is king for any serious RAID application in terms of performance and lower failure rates.

Finally good luck with you server I hope it all goes to plan
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Check the systemboard you will use, most manufacturers have RAID utility build in. (I don't know if it will be scsi capable.)

Othwewise If you install the appropriate RAID card you can use Hardware mirroring. This is mostly configured before you install the operating system. Somewhere at Bios level you can choose to access the RAID card utility and specify the disks and RAID you want to use. (Usually called Smart Array Card)

In Windows 2003 Advanced Server you can setup RAID using dynamic disks but I never used it before and I'm not familiar with customer who actually use it.
Most RAID cards come with information on how to implement them.  The Adaptec card I mentioned previously will definitely come with a manual letting you know how to implement any RAID level you decide on.  If I were you I'd stay away from RAID 1 (mirroring, 2 drives, same data, one dies, the other's still up).  While it'd give you redundancy it'd make access to your database slower, which goes against the "Fast I/O" requirement you've mentioned.  Again, RAID 5 is the way to go.  RAID 5 splits the data over several drives and uses one drive for parity.  If a drive dies, the data can be rebuilt to another drive (hence the recomendations for a "hot spare") and you're back up and running.  The Adaptec card I mentioned also supports that.  As far as implementation goes, you plug all your drives into the RAID card, just like you would into a SCSI card.  The RAID card will have a BIOS that you use a key combo to get into and from there you build the array.  Again, the manual will have information on what to do and how to do it.

-Bernie