Which Server for R20k

[Shaunus]

Hi guys

Need some advice from you gurus please! Have around R20k to play with, and need to purchase whatever you deem is the best.

Current machine:

The current machine that has been running solidly now for around 5 years is nothing special, no raid, no redundant power supply etc. It is just a normal desktop box with lots of memory! It even has a Celeron CPU! The OS is Windows XP, and it mainly runs a Java application and a MySQL database.

Application:

The box is used as a messaging aggregator and pushes around 100 000 SMS and paging messages a day. The messages are stored in a MySQL database, and there are a large number of database queries every minute as SMS DR messages are always being matched up. The Java program also handles a number of socket connections to and from various clients (less than 30 concurrent), and it also has around 5 serial connections believe it or not, all running a different protocols. The database is also replicated to another box using MySQL standard replication techniques.

New Requirement:

I have an opportunity to now upgrade this system as we are moving offices, but I am not sure what to buy as there are a number of choices available. The system just needs to run Java, and MySQL, and allow me to put in a PCI serial board ... and handle the TCP/IP socket connections. I have been to http://www.server-warehouse.co.za/ to get an idea, and there seems to be a lot of choices. Also, is there any merit in also building my own system e.g. with Gigabyte components etc?

I suppose RAID 1 is a must, and a redundant power supply? Also, any suggestions where to buy, am JHB based. My budget is around R20k

Thanks in advance for any info!
Cheers
Shaun

 

[ozziej]

Probably gonna get shot for this, but how about switch the box to a linux setup since you are running a java app and mysql?

Especially coming from windows XP , a good linux server will get you far better throughput on the Disk I/O as well as network I/O
Also, I would suggest that you don't do a build your own from desktop components. Getting a good server CPU , RAM, and motherboard will also improve the performance for I/O.
Have a look at the intel server boards, and their matching chassis. Go to http://serverconfigurator.intel.com/sct_app.aspx they have a pretty decent configure tool on the site, all of the intel hardware is available from most of the suppliers.
The intel stuff is generally cheaper than a Dell/HP server.

For R20k you should be able to get at least a single socket good server motherboard, with a Xeon quad core CPU (the 3400 series are more entry level CPUs, the 5600 series are the higher end CPUs - read more expensive) , and at least 8GB of RAM. I would also suggest that you look at getting a SAS/SATA RAID card and doing RAID 5 (3 Hard drives), get 3 x 1TB, and then at least you have some redundancy with the drives as well as a reasonable amount of capacity. Also, the configuration tool will also give you the chassis options that allow for redundant power supplies.
If you buy a reasonable amount of hardware, it might not be a bad idea to register with one of the suppliers like Rectron (who sell the Intel server hardware) as you'll get cheaper kit.

Also, using linux you won't have to pay for the licenses for Windows Server, that should save you a few R's

 

[shogun]

Probably gonna get shot for this, but how about switch the box to a linux setup since you are running a java app and mysql?

Especially coming from windows XP , a good linux server will get you far better throughput on the Disk I/O as well as network I/O
Also, I would suggest that you don't do a build your own from desktop components. Getting a good server CPU , RAM, and motherboard will also improve the performance for I/O.
Have a look at the intel server boards, and their matching chassis. Go to http://serverconfigurator.intel.com/sct_app.aspx they have a pretty decent configure tool on the site, all of the intel hardware is available from most of the suppliers.
The intel stuff is generally cheaper than a Dell/HP server.

For R20k you should be able to get at least a single socket good server motherboard, with a Xeon quad core CPU (the 3400 series are more entry level CPUs, the 5600 series are the higher end CPUs - read more expensive) , and at least 8GB of RAM. I would also suggest that you look at getting a SAS/SATA RAID card and doing RAID 5 (3 Hard drives), get 3 x 1TB, and then at least you have some redundancy with the drives as well as a reasonable amount of capacity. Also, the configuration tool will also give you the chassis options that allow for redundant power supplies.
If you buy a reasonable amount of hardware, it might not be a bad idea to register with one of the suppliers like Rectron (who sell the Intel server hardware) as you'll get cheaper kit.

Also, using linux you won't have to pay for the licenses for Windows Server, that should save you a few R's

Don't want to derail, but I think it relates somewhat to your question, and may help answer it. I have to ask (serious question as i'm not a techie so don't laugh). What's the difference between buying a "server" with "server hardware" (read Xeon etc) if I can pick up some i7's on a mobo with Raid etc for a fraction of the price, with what I imagine to be better performance?

Is it down to a redundant power supply or something? I don't see the benefits from a processing or I/O point of view.

 

[TheGuy]

Don't want to derail, but I think it relates somewhat to your question, and may help answer it. I have to ask (serious question as i'm not a techie so don't laugh). What's the difference between buying a "server" with "server hardware" (read Xeon etc) if I can pick up some i7's on a mobo with Raid etc for a fraction of the price, with what I imagine to be better performance?

Is it down to a redundant power supply or something? I don't see the benefits from a processing or I/O point of view.

There are a few reason why:

1. Build quality on server hardware is just so much better then on desktops. So it decreases your chances of downtime.
2. Warranty - Most manufacturers have a 3 year onsite warranty with a 4 hour turn around time and as long as your server is under warranty they keep stock of all the components in your server.
3. Servers have builtin cards like Dell's Drac (Dell remote access cards) which mean I can control the machine remotely even if the OS is completely stuffed and it also alows me to remotely make changes to the Bios.
4. Support lines are also very good as I can phone Dell 24 hours a day and they will always help me troubleshoot a problem until it's resolved.

The main thing I've seen with servers is components rarely fail while the server is under warranty it only after 5 years of running 24/7/365 that components start failing.

 

[spiderz]

Don't want to derail, but I think it relates somewhat to your question, and may help answer it. I have to ask (serious question as i'm not a techie so don't laugh). What's the difference between buying a "server" with "server hardware" (read Xeon etc) if I can pick up some i7's on a mobo with Raid etc for a fraction of the price, with what I imagine to be better performance?

Is it down to a redundant power supply or something? I don't see the benefits from a processing or I/O point of view.

Server hardware are designed to run 24x7, have higher bandwidth/thru-put (or whatever it's called). That means you can have 20+ ppl connected to the server and they all get the same experience, where a desktop can't handle that kind of load.

If you go the desktop route, look for High-end Motherboards, they are designed better.
If your going linux, go software raid. It works as-well as hardware raid and is waay cheaper. Use the extra money and add a few extra hdd spares to the Raid array. (5 disk Raid + 2 spares) Oh, spares mean if a hdd in the array fail it automatically switches over to the next available spare.

 

[morkhans]

I recently built one of these. Should come to ~R10K-R12K.
SC5650UP Intel Fixed 400W Power, no heat sinks included Intel "Pilot Point T" server chassis UP
S3420GPLX Intel Need Redundant PSU APPT600WHPSU, no heatsinks & no power cord included, Intel® "Grosse Point LX" S3420GP Uni Processor Xeon SATA Server Motherboard, Intel S3420 Chipset, Socket LGA1156, 64MB on-board graphics, Dual GBE LAN, 6DIMM Slots DDR3 066/1333 (Maximum 32GB for RDIMM and 16 UDIMM), 1x 32Bit/33Mhz (5v) PCI Slots, 2x PCI-Express (2.0) x8, 1x PCI-Express x4 (x8), Six Port Serial ATA II (SW RAID 0,1,5 &10) Six Port Serial ATA II (SW RAID 0,1,5 &10) Intel "Grosse Point" boxed server board LX
LGODD-GH22NS30 LG OptDrive LG 22x DVDRW SATA Non Lightscribe
BX80605X3440 Intel Uni-Socket X34400 8MB FC-LGA8 (UP) Intel Xeon Quad-Core 2.53GHz processor
AXX4SASMOD Intel
ST31000524AS Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 SATA 6Gb/s 1TB Hard Drive x 4
ME-K4G3V13C9Ex2 Kingston ValueRam KVR1333D3E9SK2/8G , with ECC , 2x 4Gb kit ddr3-1333 , CL9 , 1.5v - 240pin, with thermal sensor - lifetime warranty x 2

Notes:
AXX4SASMOD will only do RAID1/10 but you can purchase a RAID5 key.
Will run ESXi if you want to virtualise. AXX4SASMOD RAID is supported in ESXi
The weakness in this build is the disk subsystem. The RAID controller and SATA disks won't be stellar performers, but they are not too bad in RAID10.
If you want to spend the rest of that 20K get a decent Intel/LSI RAID controller, SAS discs and if you want hot swap upgrade the drive cage.
There is also a Intel chassis that supports redundant power.

Can't be stressed enough that desktop != server hardware.