Re: Quick question.

["Alexei Roudnev" <alex () relcom net>]

Ok, so we pay extra $500 and spend extra 1U for what - more power which we
do not need, costly memory which we do not need, and extra space which we do
not have? No, these 1U / 2CPU P-III SuperMicro 6010{H,L} servers are really
a very
difficult to find (impossible now) - because everyone love them; they do not
have any new (and unknown to OS) interface cards, are not overpriced ($1K
for 2GB / 2disk / 2 x 1Ggz CPU server is not much...), are 1U, and do their
job very well. Purachasing 2U dell servers for $2K when you can use 1U
server for $1K (and when you are sure, that you always find a proper job for
these servers) is not a good idea. if you use VMWare, virtual hosts, etc
etc... may be... or if you host very complicated applciations, I agree.

99% apps servers do not require 6 disks (they are stateless), do not require
very fast CPU, even do not require dual power supply (because you are doing
redundancy on the server level, by installing 2 - 3 servers in parallel,
which is much more reliable than _dual everything inside_ approach - so why
should you pay extra money?

Was you impatient when you run domain controllers on non-dual-channel DDR?
Linux and DNS servers? FreeBSD and mail relaying system? Was you impatient
when you run GHOST server on such system? Log server? Front End for low
performance applications? I never saw any problems. If we saw a problem, we
instantly migraded onto 2U / 2 x P-IV / Dual DDR server (we use a cloning
and have universal multi platform image for Windoze, and there is not any
problem to migrate anything if you use Linux or FreeBSD).

PS. Hmm. ask Santa about Cisco 7509 for your home router. And you can get
solid, and serious Sun Enterprice 4500 for only $3K,
and use it in the kitchen as a table or drawer... The bigger HW, the more it
losts every year (example - Netra T1 servers sill cost 30% of their initial
price, but Sun E4500 cost barely 7% of their initial price - it's because I
can always make use for Netra T1 1U Unix system with 2 disks, but I am not
crazy to use big and unreliable E4500 for anything...


> Alexei Roudnev wrote:
> (but we still like old and cheap 2x1Ggz servers,
> able to do 99% of all tasks).

Barely worth it anymore, these days you can find an Intel Server Chassis
SR2300 and Intel Server Board SE7501WV2 (SCSI) for $1,500; it's a 2U
dual-Xeon dual-channel DDR with 6 hot-swap scsi bays. I have to say that
I get impatient when I work on anything that does not have dual-channel
DDR; it does not take much time to get used to it :-(

> PS. I like E-bay; last example - our collegues spend a long
> negotiations and settle price for Cisco switches with a good
> discount; 10 seconds e-bay search revealed exactly the same
> systems in original boxes (unopened) 10% cheaper -:)

Hear, hear. And since it's new, no re-licensing issues.

Hardware costs nothing these days:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73321&item=571185
5935&rd=1
Maybe that's what I'll ask Santa this year: a BFR^H^H^H GSR to replace
my home router.

<shameless plug>
Looking for someone to provide an OC-12 to my home for $100/mo so I can
test the router mentioned above. Oh, I also need this, don't I?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=162&item=51126654
63&rd=1
</shameless plug>

Michel.