Web server build

[hunter315]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: About 2 weeks, current server is dead and school starts september 7th so it will be soon
BUDGET RANGE: As low as you can go for good performance, its for a college activities board with a limited budget so under 400 would be good

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Web server, it hosts PHP, HTML, and a MySQL database, reliability is of the utmost importance, a RAID 5 setup would be appreciated if possible.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: The dead one was an old dell, so nothing is being reused, however we only need the tower, no optical drive, i will rip that from the dead hulk.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg

PARTS PREFERENCES: IGP to keep costs down, if someone can suggest a prebuilt that would work too that will work

OVERCLOCKING: No, stability is paramount SLI OR CROSSFIRE: onboard graphics likely so i doubt it

MONITOR RESOLUTION: Its a server, so it doesnt really matter

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Im not up to date with what i would need for a server, so anyone who can help please do

Thanks guys

 

[shortstuff_mt]

Are you using the monitor from the old system? This is a basic system that would work, but adding another two hard drives for RAID 5 would put it considerably over budget, unless you don't need the OS.

Rosewill R102-P-BK 120mm Fan MicroATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147111

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit for System Builders w/ Tech Guarantee - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116677

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.235877.11-147-111 $119.98

AMD Athlon II X2 240 Regor 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103688

GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.240746 $122.98

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122 $51.99

PC Power & Cooling Silencer PPCS370X 370W ATX12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703018 $39.99

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074&Tpk=wd3200aaks $49.99

Total - $384.93

 

[Outlander_04]

since I know squat about servers , but assume that multithreading at pretty low power levels is a good idea
then something based on an intel Q8200 + G31 or G41 board
or phenom X4 810
or to save even more and fit the budget an x3 710 for $99
780g mb
some ddr2 ram for cost reasons
a decent sub 400 watt psu
and the raid array

but I think you will have problems with your budget if you want a RAID 5 array

 

[hunter315]

Its going to be running fedora due to the PHP server requirement, and im just going to use one of the other monitors we have around whenever it needs adjustment. Will the regor be able to handle a fair amount of web traffic? Its a large school and we get large volumes of traffic at times.

You guys dont have to fit the RAID array in the budget, but i would prefer to have a RAID 5 capable south bridge incase there are any out there that arent.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I'll be away from a computer for a while, so I'll let somebody else jump in. I just wanted to start the conversation off.

 

[Outlander_04]

if you are running fedora you might have issues with AMD/ATI integrated gfx .

Linux drivers for nVidia hve always been better , and that might be true for the integrated chipsets as well . You'd need to check

ASRock K10N78M AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157160

phenom 710 $99

2 x2 gig of DDR2 ram ~ $45

shortstuffs psu $40

3 x Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB @ $40 ea $120
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136055

$359

plus you need a case

EDIT : it might be smart to use a RAID controller card as well , and not the onboard controller

 

[shortstuff_mt]

I got access to a computer for a couple minutes.

You could take out the OS in my build, add another two WD3200AAKS drives for a RAID 5 setup, and put in a Phenom II X3 710. That would put you just over the $400 budget.

I haven't played with Fedora for a couple years, but from what I've read it seems like the Linux ATI drivers are much better now. It should work fine, but hopefully someone with direct experience will confirm this.

 

[Outlander_04]

It would be nice to be able to use a 780g mb . Prefer that to the 785g just for cost saving and the IGP will easily be strong enough

 

[hunter315]

Well keep in mind this server wont have a monitor permanently attached to it, it will only have a display when something goes awry, most of the time it will be remotely accessed anyway, so it doesnt really matter how crappy the IGP driver support is as long as it can show the desktop and run reliably. So if an opteron really isnt going to get much of a benefit over a low end phenom this falls back into desktop part picking land, thats something i can work with!