Home server, broadband connection 2

[dbeez]

Hi,

I'm thinking of building a server that I can run from my broadband connection at home. I'm trying to beef it up as much as possible, but I think that with the BW that my broadband connection gives me, there's no point going overboard on the box.

Basically I'm wondering what would be my best configuration, I don't really care too much about graphics cards. I guess I'd be looking at CPU and RAM. This would be a working server , maybe at some stage I could beef the band up to a T1 or something.

So my questions then are

Is it worth getting a dual-core Mobo/CPU ? ... I heard that they are only useful for multi-threaded apps. I'd imagine that apache would be the very definition of a multi-threaded app. Is this correct ?

Should I fork out for a 64-bit CPU ? ... don't you need a 64 bit operating system to get any use out of these systems. I'll hopefully be running a linux distro as the OS.

Should I go for a 1MB RAM stick ? ... does it make a difference which one ?

Thanks

 

[rvnguy]

dbeez,

Broadband Connection:

If you intend to have this server accessible on the web, you will need to establish a static IP address. Most broadband suppliers use a DNS type of IP assignment so your IP will change each time the modem is booted making your server inaccessible.

DualCore:

Dual cores are new and only available in 64bit topologies. So this is linked to your next question. If you are building new and have to purchase a mobo/CPU for this build there is a very small upcharge to obtain a P4 or Xeon and likewise on the AMD side; a Anthlon64 or Opteron. Much depends upon what you expect to be doing and the volume of access. Also, as you have indicated a possibility of moving to a more robust Bandwidth, the amount of time this system will be serviceable will be a factor. If you intend on upgrading bandwidth within 1-2 years, then build an actual server grade box. If you are unsure, or will take several years to require this much bandwidth, keep your investment on the conservative side. As a back door, if you do a lot of CAD, Graphics, or gaming; Build a server grade box and if worse comes to worse you can dedicate this box to other uses.

64bit CPU:

If you consider the above; Most server grade mobos are currectly run with one or more CPU's. The dual cores being relatively new, have little exposure to the server market now. They might be a good alternative to Dual CPU's or having actual discreet CPU's could be the better system. Time will tell. Procuring a 64bit capable CPU is what you want to do if building new. These chips can run 32bit apps and OS's with no problem. You do not have to have a 64bit OS to run these CPU's.

If you are interested in a 64bit Linux OS see:

http://www.x86-64.org/

I think that currently you will find getting all parts in 64bit code a problem. Things like Apache, MySQL, Samba and others. I am fairly sure that they will interoperate with each other for the most part. Drivers seem to be the hang.

RAM:

Depending on what you end up building, the RAM requirements will be dictated by the MOBO specifications. If you select a server mobo, most all require ECC Registered RAM. Why might be in your mind. Well servers run 24/7 in most all circumstances. And any RAM error that is not detected tends to propogate (continue) to the point that information processed becomes increasingly corrupt. Very bad if this is used in an accounting situation not very good if your web site is an e-commerce site and so on.

There are many considerations to what you have asked. I would suggest you plan out what your intentions are and proceed accordingly.


rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[dbeez]

wow, thats excellent rvnguy thanks.

I managed to find an ISP that will give me a static IP for just a little bit extra charge.

As for upgrading the line, I guess time will tell. The 64bit CPU seems to be the thing to go for nowadays ... although it seems from your post that this is mostly to cut a clear upgrade path for the future.

I'd done a little digging into ECC RAM, but I'd never heard about the propagting error issue.

Do you know of any good hardware resources where I could go to find some more info on issues like these ???

Thanks again.

 

[Freestone]

In their Service Agreement, my broadband provider prohibits servers of any sort on home connections. Check yours before investing too much into your prject.

 

[kmcferrin]

Most of them prohibit it, but I haven't had one yet that did anything about it. I used to run a web and email server off of my home cable modem, and the ISP never complained. I did see in my server logs several times a week where one of the ISP's own internal servers (not another customer) repeatedly tried to relay email through my mail server (unsuccessfully), so they knew it was there. I suspect that they were just checking to make sure that it was secured so that it couldn't be used for relaying spam. In general, I think that ISPs will only enforce their no-server clauses on you if you are using large amounts of bandwidth or present a security threat. Since I was doing neither they left me alone.

At any rate, you seem to be of the belief that a server needs to be the biggest, beefiest machine that you can find. That may be true in a business environment where the server will have a high workload, but probably not so much in a home environment (again, depending on what it is used for). My web server is a K6-III 450 MHz with 128 MB of RAM, and my mail server is a Pentium II 333 MHz with 128 MB of RAM. Both have 9.1 GB disk drives, and I built them out of spare parts. Neither of them ever comes close to being fully utilized because I'm not getting thousands of web hits/emails per day.

So before you go out and spend money on the latest and greatest 64-bit dual core/CPU system, figure out what you're going to use it for.

Regarding the CPUs, most mid and high end CPUs available now are 64-bit, but can run 32-bit operating systems as well. If you get a 64-bit CPU then you can run either a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows or Linux.

Running a 64-bit version of Windows offers very little benefit at this point unless you need access to more than 4 GB of RAM or your applications have already been recompiled for 64-bit. Otherwise the performance is roughly the same as on a 32-bit system.

Running a 64-bit Linux flavor might get you better performance since your applications can be recompiled for the 64-bit OS. The performance boost won't be as big as if they were specifically written for 64-bit, but you should see some improvement.

Of course, the OS decision is again going to be based primarily on what applications you are going to be running and what OS they are supported on.

Back to the CPUs, multi-core and multi-CPU setups really only shine in heavily multithreaded applications. Your OS can take advantage of multiple threads, so heavy multitasking can make good use of the extra CPU/core. Depending on what your server application is and how it is configured (does it spawn multiple threads, can you tweak the maximum number of threads spawned?), you might be able to tune the server for some exceptional performance. Generally, the more different things that a computer is doing simultaneously, the more benefit you will see from mluti-CPU/multi-core.

 

[kmcferrin]

Also, there are a couple of disadvantages of going with a T1 line versus what you have now. The first one is that your broadband provider probably provides you with a connection that is close to 1.5 Mbps downstream and 768 Kbps upstream right now. Many of them do, anyway. A T1 is 1.54 Mbps both ways, so it's not going to be appreicably faster than a good broadband connection. The biggest difference is that a T1 is dedicated bandwidth, while the cable/DSL connection can be shared and speeds may vary by time of day, etc. But unless you are saturating your broadband connection, it probably wouldn't be worth it to upgrade.

If you do move to a T1/Frame Relay connection, it will be considerably more expensive than residential broadband (or even "commercial broadband"). After installation I pay about $40/month for a cable connection. Our T1 lines at work are about $350/month.

Also, if you are using a T1 connection instead of a a consumer-oriented broadband connection, you are going to need to purchase a router and CSU/DSU (or a router with a CSU/DSU card built in). These aren't the little LinkSys broadband NAT devices that you buy at Circuit City, these are proper layer 3 routers.

 

[rvnguy]

dbeez,

I'd done a little digging into ECC RAM, but I'd never heard about the propagting error issue.

There was a time when all INTEL/clone PC's used ECC or parity memory. Later this ninth chip was left off yeilding the normal non-ecc memory we are used to seeing today.

In mission critical(read as numerically important) applications, a sigle bit error can cause an incorrect value to be used(say in multiplication or table look-up) and then these incorrect values are used in additional computations. Hence, error propagation. The more times these are used and stored for future use the larger the error can become. This goes back many years so I do not know if there is current information available but we know that it is a subject that must be addressed, especially in a 24/7 unattended environments(Servers) and not so much for the normal desktop user.

You could search using "memory parity error propagation" with ECC & without for results. You can also start with the following links:

http://www.lostcircuits.com/memory/reg_ddr/

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~piccard/mis300/eccram.htm

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all