[geeks] WANTED: quiet 1U server

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Shannon Hendrix <shannon at widomaker.com>
>Date: 2008/02/09 Sat PM 09:20:40 CST
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: [geeks] WANTED: quiet 1U server

>I'm getting ready to replace my last two Sun machines.  They are slow,  
>noisy, and run too hot.  I've already ditched everything else and  
>temporarily loaded up the U2 until I can replace it.
>
>Ideally, the replacement would be smaller.
>
>I am trying to replace N machines with just one, since new hardware is  
>so fast.  Probably anything current is faster than everything I am  
>replacing with plenty left over.
>
>Requirements:
>
>	- shelf is 19 inches deep, 13 inches high, 19 inches wide, hard limit
>	- dual CPUs, something reasonably fast... a Core 2 2Gz would be fine,
>	  quad CPUs icing on the cake
>	- 2GB of RAM, and ideally expandable to at least 8GB
>	- three drives: one OS/Apps drive, and a pair of like bays for a 
mirror
>	  setup where data will live, hot swap on two a plus
>	- ALTERNATE: maybe they could boot from compact-flash, and just have a
>	  couple of drive bays, hot swap a plus here too
>	- console redirection a huge plus
>	- budget undecided, but ideally $1000 or less, at least initially.


Shannon,

Were I to build such a system the first thing I'd do is disuade myself of the 
idea of a rackmount server - those things are always loud, and I can't imagine 
a Core 2 Duo in a 1 or 2U chassis that is what I would consider "quiet", so 
what follows is some advice on a quiet system that fits your physical 
constraints with links to pieces for actual pricing.

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0 GHz with 3 Meg cache per core) $189[0]
Intel Quad Core Q6600 (2.4 GHz with 8 Meg cache) $275[1]

RAM:
2x 2 Gig DDR2-800 RAM Kit (4 Gig total) $70 (after $30 rebate) [2]

MB:
Intel DG33FB Quad-core capable, * Gig RAM support, GMA 3100 video $110 [3]
(Alternate Intel DP35DPM no graphics on-board, but 6 SATA II w/RAID) $99[4]
(Console redirection will likely take you into $200+ server MBs)

HD:
3x 500 Gig SATA II drives $100 (common pricing, choose vendor)

Chassis:
I would suggest the Sonata III chassis[5] at $82 (after $30 rebate), but you 
want rackmount, so I'd suggest this no-name Rackmount chassis[6], but I can't 
vouch for the noise level (shouldn't be too bad). NOTE: this chassis will 
"swallow" six 3 1/2" drives internally and leave 3 5 1/4" bays for optical and 
other drives, and one of the the Intel MBs listed above has 6 SATA II ports 
with "BS" RAID (DP35DPM).

Optical DVD-R/W:
Samsung 12X DVD-R/W IDE drive $25[10]

Video: (If needed)
ATI Radeon X600 PCI-Express "Server Grade" video $28[7]
-or-
GeForce 8500 GT 512 Meg PCI-Express "desktop Grade" video $80[8]

Power Supply: (If needed)
Antec EartWatts 500 80+ Certified power supply $80[9]

Hot-Swap trays: (If needed)
Three hot-swap "no tray" assembly (fits in 2 5 1/4" bays) $68[11]

Total cost for a nice server with 6 on-board SATA ports, Desktop video, quad 
core CPU would be just under $1,000 (as speced above), you could save a couple 
hundred dollars by going with the nice dual-core E8400 and a MB with on-board 
graphics. The rackmount case looks nice, but the Sonata III is a bargain 
(silent, includes a nice PS), but it won't fit your shelf.

Of course, the Dell PowerEdge SC1430 would be perfect, if it were in a desktop 
chassis (not a tower)...

Hope this helps, I think this would make a nice server with gobs of storage, 
speed to spare and not take up too much space.

Lionel

Links:
[0] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0281097
[1] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0257938 
[2] http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0259027
[3] http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0264955
[4] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0267412
[5] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0257459
[6] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0254155
[7] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0267412
[8] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0278662
[9] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0252311
[10] http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?
product_id=0262980
[11] http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0266843