building a server, loads of questions

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Hello, got a friend who runs a few websites via a remote virtual server that he rents, so he now wants to build his own server in his house/office, he doesnt want to buy one

Hes asked me to price up some parts and gave me a few details of what he wants, but ive never built a server before so wanted help from you people

He wants it so he can use a KVM switch to switch between his PC and his server, can you even do that? so far the hardware i can think of that he will need is:

*CPU - C2D?
*HDD - He wants a terabyte if possble
*GFX card - doesnt need to be anything special
*RAM - about 4GB worth of server RAM
*PSU - i dont know what kinda power for a server

Those are the essentials...i think

i have no idea how to make a server, but said id help, i can get the prices once i know what i will need

thanks for any help you can give

 

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A server? Or a workstation that's pretending to be a server? If I was going to get a server-class computer, I'd buy one from Dell.

 

So true.

Far too many cowboy hosting (ahem) 'companies' out there are just some bloke in his basement with a couple of low-end poweredges sitting behind a crappy NAT router/firewall. In fact, i was thinking of moving into hosting myself a while back

In the end I decided I couldn't justify the time and investment necessary to do it properly.

 

yeah sorry i guess that would make more sense, a workstation pretending to be a server, he doesnt want something sitting in a rack

 

There are so many questions, I don't know where to even start.

How "failure-proof" does he want it? RAID1, RAID0+1, RAID5, no RAID? Dual NICs? Dual PSU?

Is he wanting this set up on Server 2003?

Keep in mind that if you want "server RAM", you have to get a motherboard that supports it.

 

4GB of RAM? What OS is he putting on this that will use that?

However - the most important things is this:

How will it be connected to the Internet at large? ADSL? Then say goodbye to bandwidth!

Harry.

 

2nd hand Dell or HP server may be an option to consider.

 

TBH when i say friend, hes someone on a course ive started, i dont mean this to sound harsh but he claims to have been a computer administrator of some kind for 8 years, i did ask him about RAID setups and he said it was up to me, infact he pretty much said everything was up to me, and yeah i know about the MoBo needing to handle server RAM

also he plans to use a beta test of server 2003, i didnt think this was a suitable using a beta but didnt say anything

think ill just tell him what other options he has that you guys suggested as hes not giving me much to go on which is making it even harder for you lot trying to help me

thanks anyway

 

As someone else has mentioned, if he intends to run some type of webserver from home (spec irrelavent) then he his going to need a very good & reliable connection in order to do that.

Also, one thing he may not have considered if he wan't to use a KVM to switch between his main pc / server. If you buy a cheap one then your image quality will suffer a great deal.

eg, if he's used to running a nice high res on his PC and games etc.. most cheap KVM's also use cheap cabling and as soon as you run the monitor through it, the image will be quite poor. So he needs to spend enough to get quality one that can handle high res signals without loss.

 

Also one word of warning do not host websites on it. ISPs take a very dim view of using a residential connection for hosting websites, also nowadays with bandwidth throttling, he's better off hosting his websites the way he already is doing.

 

can someone explain to me what a kvm switch is??

 

Here you go...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVM_switch

Cheers,

J.

 

Sounds like he's trying to get around paying for a legal copy of Server 2003.... in which case, you SHOULD say something, if only to make him sign a document that states that you've advised him of the legal implications of installing and using a beta OS in a live environment. Cover yourself, so that it'll be his problem if someone comes knocking... not yours.

In any case, I think you're wise to give him his options and let him handle it... after all, he IS an 8-year computer administrator, right?

 

why not?
you can get some great deals, and then just add in the extra cpu, ram, hdd if needed.

to be honest when you factor in your time, even if it is a hobby, plus parts and fitting and everything else, it will end up costing him more, eg

Intel Quad-Core Xeon 5300 with 4MB L2 cache
4GB PC2-5300F DDR2 RAM
Enermax Galaxy 1KW PSU
Western Digital Raptor X 150GB - 10,000RPM SATA - 16MB Cache

first thing I always ask is "how much do you wanna spend?"

 

Why doesn't he use remote connection instead of a KVM switch?? We support these switches at work and they causes nothing but trouble sometimes - would prefer remoting into a server anytime.

It may also prevent fewer problems if he forgot to change the switch back over.

 

From the sound of it - he has his own way of doing things and won't be moved by anybody. If I had to deal with such a person his bill would be inflated by 'stupidtax'.

Harry.

 

To be honest, when its business I dont really like working with people who want to do unethical things in order to save money. Usually I just let them know how I see this deal happening and if I am not comfortable I wont be taking the contract because I rather do it right from the start and not have to worry and violate any laws. because come knocking on the door and its me who will be blamed along side the client.

 

As has been mentioned here already, it really isn't a good idea to host your own web sites on a residential broadband connection. Remember it is the upload speed that is important when you have visitors downloading from your web server, so adsl is a definite no no.

IMHO the way he is doing it at the moment is the best way to go.