need specs for a webserver

[PammyBoy]

Hello All,

I'm taking my first crack at building a web server. I have a T1 line dedicated to the web server. The only problem is, I don't know what type of server to build. I don't want to build a super server and have it never fully used. The only thing I have to go on are, the web page contains 280 pages of content, there's a flash banner on every page, there's a message board, tons of pictures with a shockwave picture gallery, and a bunch of articles. Check out

http://www.newyorkclubscene.com,

its an older version of the site. The new site is currently down and waiting for me to build this server. Please help, I need direction. Thank you in advance.

Tom

 

[Wullie]

Hi mate,

What do you mean by type of server?

You are asking this in an Apache forum so I assume that you will be using Apache, otherwise this is the wrong forum for the question.

As for setting up the server, this is not really any different whether the site has 1 page or 10,000 pages.

Set-up Apache and any other servers you need, FTP, mail etc and you are ready to go.

I suggest that you read up on security issues relating to running your own server though, this is not an area to be taken lightly.

http://www.apache.org

is a good place to start.

Hope this helps Wullie

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.com

http://www.mailtosanta.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change.
The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell

 

[PammyBoy]

By type, I mean single processor? dual processor? Intel Xeon? AMD Athlon MP? SCSI hd's? RAID0+1?
I just don't want to build a server that's more than necessary. And yes, I will be running linux and Apache. That decision was reached thanks to your very helpful advice from an earlier forum.

Tom

 

[sleipnir214]

Pammyboy:

Insufficient data for a meaningful answer.

The information you have provided so far only constrains how big a hard-drive must be in the machine. To advise on other specs for the machine we would have to know how many pages and MB per day the old site serves, an snapshot of the use of server-side scripting languages, and any other site-necessary applications that will run concurrently on the server.

Unless you have experience building server-class machines, I strongly recommend your buying one, rather than building one. I would buy the most machine I could afford, and add on-site service if you intend on making money from the site. Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!

 

[PammyBoy]

Thank you for the tip!

 

[johnb546]

Hi Pammyboy,
I think what you are after if I am right is, you need to know what hardware you need to run a Apache Webserver.

Well you don't need an aweful lot. You can quite happily run a webserver on a PC which has 64mb Memory, Pentium II CPU or greater (or even a 486 CPU) a 20gb hard drive, 8meg Graphics card and the usual keyboard and mouse, CDROM etc.

I actually run a PC with Linux installed as the operating system, it has a pentium II 333Mhz CPU, 128meg Ram, 4.2Gig hard drive and it runs Apache without any problems, this type of server would be more than adaquate for your 280 page web site.

Brian....

 

[PammyBoy]

Brian,

Are you serious??? This is all I would need? Would I still need the T1 line? The reason I ask is that we're currently paying $700/month to host this website. This is our fourth host, the previous three told us they couldn't mantain the bandwidth usage. And if the website is currently running on a windows 2000 server machine, would the transfer to Linux Apache be worth it? Or would it just make more sense to build a faster 2000 machine. Thank again for the response.

Tom

 

[RhythmAce]

He tells you no lie. Apache will run on both linux and win32 systems. If you plan on running other servers such as mail, ftp and ssh/telnet, then most linux distros have all of them and more in their packages. If he has a lot of streaming audio and video, you may want to stick with a T1. You can get different speeds of T1 just as you can with DSL. If you are going to build everything at your location then move it to his when it's ready to go online, you can get a DNS service such as

http://www.zoneedit.com

and point his domain name to your ip. Then when you move the server, you can just edit the records at zone edit and the changes go into effect within minutes.

 

[Newposter]

You would want either DSL or cable broadband (T1) just for speed and availability, but you can host sites yourself easily at home, or pay a 3rd party to use their machines as I used to, for $3.95 per month to $50 per month for LOTS of bandwidth and drive space.

An important consideration is that Win 2K Pro and NT and XP Pro only give you 10 simultaneous user connections, with huge fat fees for additional seats (about $100 each for extra), but linux is theoretically unlimited (except by bandwidth and CPU). Also, as stated, the additional tools are included free.

I ran 6 sites on Win32 with a 350MHz 384 MB RAM machine until I upgraded for other reasons. Such a machine is fine for most server applications, unless you're doing high-volume database transactions. Newposter
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment."

 

[linuxpyro]

You might also want to try a server appliance. These are made by HP, Sun, and others. You can configure them through a web browser, and you save energy, as there is less hardware to run. Most of the run Linux with Apache, and let you have access to the configuration files. One that I am looking at is the Sun Cobalt Qube, which would probably work for your application. They're somewhere around $1200 new, but they turn up a lot on eBay. Hope this helps.