Hi
I'm about to build a linux server and could use some advice picking HW.
I'll be running either Xen or kvm on it and expect to have a few discrete VMs running:
* email using cyrus imap. Fairly large stores (00,000s of msgs) but only 2 users
* file / music server
* groupware server
* VOIP server
and then, from time to time:
* compile farm
* ad-hoc servers
I have 6 1Tb drives with some RAID/LVM setup and a small mirrored pair for the OS.
The system will be on 24/7 so I want to keep power down - I'll probably structure the drives to allow some to sleep when the VMs pause at night but things like VOIP/email will be 24/7.
Ideally I'll be looking at a quad-core for the compilation and ability to virt.
Probably 8Gb RAM
So:
Case : Lian Li PCB71B from Novatech: £200
I like the hot-plug feature here - I've had enough HDD failures over the years to appreciate that
The case will be in a cupboard with a temp/controlled extractor fan - even so it gets warm (28C) in the summer - so cooling and alu are important.
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX (Socket AM3)
All the SATA ports I need are onboard and it can run text mode on my 15" monitor from the onboard GPU
CPU: AMD Quad Core Phenom II X4 965 125 Watt!! Black Edition 3.4GHz
The main thing is - will it run at a really *low* power when idle?
RAM: when I pick a mobo I'll check what crucial offer
PSU: No idea... really need advice on this.
Thoughts:
* Is there a better mobo? Maybe one with more memory slots?
* I need to check the linux support for the chipsets - Intel may be a better approach but AMD usually wins the price/perf war here
* Is the CPU capable of switching to a low-power mode?
I'm about to build a linux server and could use some advice picking HW.
I'll be running either Xen or kvm on it and expect to have a few discrete VMs running:
* email using cyrus imap. Fairly large stores (00,000s of msgs) but only 2 users
* file / music server
* groupware server
* VOIP server
and then, from time to time:
* compile farm
* ad-hoc servers
I have 6 1Tb drives with some RAID/LVM setup and a small mirrored pair for the OS.
The system will be on 24/7 so I want to keep power down - I'll probably structure the drives to allow some to sleep when the VMs pause at night but things like VOIP/email will be 24/7.
Ideally I'll be looking at a quad-core for the compilation and ability to virt.
Probably 8Gb RAM
So:
Case : Lian Li PCB71B from Novatech: £200
I like the hot-plug feature here - I've had enough HDD failures over the years to appreciate that
The case will be in a cupboard with a temp/controlled extractor fan - even so it gets warm (28C) in the summer - so cooling and alu are important.
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H AMD 890GX (Socket AM3)
All the SATA ports I need are onboard and it can run text mode on my 15" monitor from the onboard GPU
CPU: AMD Quad Core Phenom II X4 965 125 Watt!! Black Edition 3.4GHz
The main thing is - will it run at a really *low* power when idle?
RAM: when I pick a mobo I'll check what crucial offer
PSU: No idea... really need advice on this.
Thoughts:
* Is there a better mobo? Maybe one with more memory slots?
* I need to check the linux support for the chipsets - Intel may be a better approach but AMD usually wins the price/perf war here
* Is the CPU capable of switching to a low-power mode?