[TriLUG] rfc on server

[Kevin Flanagan]

Jim,


    As a point solution this bit of info is OK, but if you want to use 
this as a configuration to sell to many customers then you really should 
provide more options. 

    It sounds like you have built this system up to a single purpose, 
not all situations are disk bound, some may be processor or memory 
bound.  The same goes for other things like redundancy options.  If you 
have a situation where there are fully redundant servers, say a farm of 
web servers, then you don't need redundant power supplies. 

    BTW, the spindle rotation may or may not be the best thing.  If you 
are working with things like a web server that will read all, or most, 
of the content into cache then disks aren't really the issue even though 
it may seem like it would be due to lots of small files. 

    In high performance systems, the disks have generally been the part 
of a server that is lagging behind.  Most systems run at very low CPU 
utilization, and you can get a lot of RAM in a server these days.  The 
I/O subsystem lag has been one of the reasons that SAN technology has 
taken off in recent years. 


    For disks, consider the following

    Data Path - U320 is a 320Mb/S path, and so on
    Spindle rotation speed, 10,000 or 15,000
    Seek time, I don't recall off  hand good numbers, but you get the 
idea, less is more.



    HP is moving all servers away from Parallel SCSI, (What we're used 
to), and towards Serial SCSI, just like ATA vs SATA.  SCSI is much more 
reliable, by a factor of 3. 

    HP is also moving towards more drive bays in servers, and smaller 
drives, 2.5" disks.




Good luck,


    Oh, and it's now up to about 2300 servers in on the network.  ;')  
Generally I don't do servers anymore, I'm in the Vulnerability 
Assessment and other security business these days.



Kevin
  
   

Jim Ray wrote:
>
> Kevin Flanagan wrote:
>
>> I didn't see the following.
>>
>> - Redundancy
>>    - power supply option
>
> we're running two servers in the environment where the first 
> production unit will go in a week.  i figure i'll mirror the data and 
> accept the risk of server down.  it won't take long to change a login 
> script for the fall back plan.
>
>>
>> - Capacity
>>    - How many drive bays?
>
> don't care.  it's got at least 3 for RAID5.  hot swap, too.
>
>>    - Second processor?, or more?
>
> nah.  single processor.  our bottleneck is in the disk subsystem, not 
> processor.
>
>>    - RAM capacity
>
> don't know.  2 GB is plenty for my customers.
>
>>
>> - Add on items
>>    - Tape drive options?
>
> i reckon you could add a tape device.  i've had lots of headache from 
> tape devices, cleaning tapes and grandfather-father-son tape 
> rotations.  i use other methods now.
>
>>
>>
>> - Others
>>    - Warranty?
>
> me thinks intel stuff is around 3 yrs.  i'm guessing the same for the 
> disks.
>
>>    - Service?
>
> 24/7.  we're 7 employees strong now and just about on our tenth year 
> of operation.  i bet i'll get to the customer before dell can dispatch 
> the call.  you might have to call a few times to wake my @%#$ up if 
> you call at 3 AM; however, i'll rise to the occassion as will the 
> others.  have minivan.  will travel.
>
>>
>>
>>
>> The descriptions were confusing, sometimes model designations from 
>> the manufacturer and the specs are redundant, better layout may help.
>
> yeah, typical grocery list.  sorry about that.  i was lazy and 
> cut/paste direct from tech data's web site.  maybe that marketing 
> class will teach me to tweak those important little details.
>
>>
>> If you want to compete on price, be sure that it's a real apples to 
>> apples comparison, that's one of the things that frustrates me the 
>> most when trying to compare things.
>> I'd suggest that you also compare IBM and HP servers to yours as well.
>>
>>
> thank you very much for the words of wisdom and for taking a look.  
> coming from you with your 1800 servers means a lot to me.
>
> seeya,
>
> jim
>
>>
>>
>> Just my $.02
>>
>>       Kevin
>>
>>
>> Jim Ray wrote:
>>
>>> not to mention any names; however, one of the largest PC 
>>> manufacturers is notorious for offering a low price yet leaving out 
>>> the components necessary for the system to run properly.  for 
>>> example, as soon as you add the necessary memory or whatever the 
>>> case may be, the price changes drastically.
>>>
>>> i'm taking a brand marketing course at nc state this semester and 
>>> wanted to bounce off the group my class project:
>>> http://www.neuse.net/server
>>>
>>> instead of offering the lowest price, i wanted to offer the best 
>>> server and go straight up against Dell.  does anyone have some 
>>> marketing angles that would be appropriate or technical comments on 
>>> the design?  many taxpayers are not particularly happy about the 
>>> incentives granted to Dell for their new plant when the small 
>>> businesses did not get squat.  what will make them squirm the most?
>>>
>>> i used to be one of their customers (and resellers for that matter) 
>>> yet started having a problem from a technical view point when the 
>>> same serial number for one of their PCs pulled up multiple choices 
>>> for drivers on their support web site.  they used to be #1 in my 
>>> book back in 1988 when i bought my first few systems (286 w/ a whole 
>>> megabyte of RAM).  they have slipped in my ratings.
>>>
>>> regards,
>>>
>>> jim
>>>