Web Server Specs

Hey guys, I posted this in site management, but I'm thinking I'll get more feedback here.

What is most important (hardware) when specing out a webserver?

Duki

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My guess would be RAM, but I've not ever had a server undergoing a heavy load. Seems like it'd have more of a dependence on disk I/O than on processor time though...

Infarction

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are we talking *nix or windows server?

DimaYasny

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Hey guys, I posted this in site management, but I'm thinking I'll get more feedback here. What is most important (hardware) when specing out a webserver?

RAM should be in gigabytes, secondary storage should be more than 100 GB, which OS are you planing to use?

ithelp

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depends how many clients (and also if its an intranet or internet server)

My home web server is 256ram and 2x 233mhz CPU and it runs Debian fine

jbennet

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It's going to be Windows Vista :-o

I'm no where near advanced in any *nix to run a webserver off it.

And the college is purchasing the equipment, and said eventually it would be migrated to vista, so we may as well get it on there. =/

Duki

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here is a system i customized... could you put your thoughts in?
I had the option of Fedora and SuSE.

I figure if we're going to use apache anyways, the OS isn't really a big deal.

BarebonesTYAN BLK - B5191G20V4H BBNS 1
ProcessorDual-Core Intel® Xeon® 3050 2.13GHz 1066FSB 2MB Cache
Memory2GB PC5300 667MHz DDR2 x 2
Case AccessoriesRackmount Sliding Rails
Optical DriveSlim 8x DVD-ROM
Controller CardNone
Hard Drive(s)73.4GB SAS 15000 RPM - Seagate Cheetah 15K.4
Operating SystemNovell SuSE Linux 10.2
SoftwareNone
Warranty and SupportThinkmate Server 3 Year Warranty
Price: $~3k

Duki

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also. will vbulletin run on linux?

Duki

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i suppose so

i would use fedora instead though. SuSEs updater is kinda broken and its a memory hog

Even better, use CentOS (free version of Red Hat Enterprise)

jbennet

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i suppose so i would use fedora instead though. SuSEs updater is kinda broken and its a memory hog Even better, use CentOS (free version of Red Hat Enterprise)

ah, interesting...

Duki

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yeah my home server runs CentOS

Its a 100% compatible rebuild of RedHat Enterprises source code(whatever the best version is) - only things it doesnt have is Redhat directory server and co.

As its a 100% RH rebuild it means that, if you ever need too, yo ucan run picky apps such as Oracle

It has the usual redhat/fedora stuff, only noticable difference is the removal of redhat trademarks and logos and a slightly modified updater so that it works with public repositories

CentOS is the most stable OS i have ever used and it gets its updates only a matter of HOURS after erdhat release them

jbennet

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I'm deffinately feeling CentOS... is it user friendly?

I have little/no experience with any *nix, but my buddy (who is going to be working on the project as well) has good knowledge on distros such as SuSE and SlackWare

Duki

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yeah... I'd say RAM.

christina>you

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yeah a basic centos desktop runs happily on 128mb. Ive run a server on 64 quite happily before as well.

Its got lots of Graphical configuration tools for things like services and webserver and is secure by default. if you have ever installed an os the (graphical) installer should be easy peasy (theres a text one too if you want to use it) - the inly potential problem you may have is with partitioning but you can have it do that all for you by just telling it whether ou want to use the whole disk or just any free space (just remember NOT to choose the server class of install if you want a GUI - choose custom then just tick the boxes for whatver you need it to do)

Not as good looking as suse but more practical (suse is almost as bad as vista with RAM)

CentOS is a very stable system too, not very cuttin gedge but functional nonetheless

Version 4.4 is guaranteed patches for a year and critical security updates until nearly 2012 too

jbennet

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well I think this is the final configuration we're going to go with.

CPU - Pentium Dual-Core 2.4GHz? (800FSB)
RAM - 4GB (4x1024mb) 533Mhz
HDD - RAID 1 on two ~140GB 15,000rpm drives
OS - CentOS
Price: ~$1700

What do you guys think?

We're not quite sure what board software to go with. I like vBulletin (because this site runs off it and DaniWeb pwnz ;P) but I'm also assuming that if you pay for your software it's more user friendly.

Anyone know where I can get tutorials on how to use Apache?

Duki

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should be more than fine. Are you going to do software or harware RAID?

jbennet

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