Custom built webservers

[Emperior Eric]

I am looking into the webhosting business and have been doing some homework on hardware and software. I am interested in hearing the experience and expertise of other custom webserver owners that have built their own servers from parts they bought seperately. I have been looking into something with Dual 3.8 processors, 4GB of DDR2, two 15000RPM harddrives with a third slower harddrive that can hold loads of data which the first two fast ones would dump into at the end of each day. This is all unset in stone so I am open to suggestions as well as just testimonies on what some others have done or plan to do.

[Soulwatcher]

I noticed you made this thread in home webservers. If you plan on running a server with those specs on a DSL or Cable modem your just throwing your money away. A $449 budget server from Dell would be more than enough to fill your DSL or Cable modems bandwidth. I can move this thread to server hardware if you want.

I custom built the server for this website to handle 300 users browsing the forum at once. The specs are as follows

P4 3.0GHZ 2MB Cache 64Bit HT
2GB of DDR 400 ram
two 80GB SATA 150 Western Digital hard Drives
3ware Raid card, the server is running Raid 1
250GB SATA 150 Western Digital backup hard drive

All of the parts came from New Egg, I have about $1,000 into the server. It should last me a year or two depending on how fast I outgrow the server. When you build the server your self. You hand pick the parts in your server. I am running a Intel mother board, CORSAIR ram, 3ware Raid card, Western Digital Hard Drives, APEX case, Allied 400watt power supply. All the parts were hand picked by me. Not some thrown together server running a cheap mother board, ram, ect. I think I could have used a better power supply but I only plan on running the server until some time early next year.

[Emperior Eric]

If you think the thread should be moved then by all means put it in the right place, very sorry if I posted it in the wrong area.

I plan on running the server on a T1 line. Also it will be a shared hosting server so I would perfer it to be able to hold atleast 500+ users at a time. I am looking to make an extremely fast server so that my clients are very pleased with response times and speed in general even after I have a large amount of clients. I planned on hand picking parts so that later on it would be easier to upgrade and to get the exact same server if I happened to need a second. The server you mentioned is very close to what I am looking for and this site runs very quick for me, however I would like it even faster so that when I have a larger amount of shared clients they won't experience lag or slow loadtime. I am new to this so any advice it gladly accepted.

[Soulwatcher]

I went ahead and move the thread for you. You will probably get more of a response that your looking for in Server Hardware.

I am not trying to discourage your plans on home web hosting. But your going to be paying $450+ per month for a T1 line. Or you could co-locate your server at the Colostore for $49.99 per month for a 1mbps connection. It would only cost you $100 per month for a 2mbps connection at the Colostore. And thats going to be allot faster than a T1. Also don't forget with a T1 you can't burst, your ceiling is 1.5mbps. Also you will not have a UPS or a back up power supply. All of those things are covered when you co-locate. My server is connected to a 100MB port Full Duplex. I can run 100mbps in and a 100mbps out. Which means I am paying for a 1mbps connection but I could burst to 100mbps. Obviously if your server ran at 100mbps 24/7 your bandwidth bill would be through the roof. But the extra bandwidth is there when ever you need it.

[Emperior Eric]

Hmm that is much better. I will definitely consider that for sure. So let me try and make sure I understand this. I would have my server built and run at my house but I would remote connect it to the colostore using colocation?

[Soulwatcher]

Originally Posted by Emperior Eric

Hmm that is much better. I will definitely consider that for sure. So let me try and make sure I understand this. I would have my server built and run at my house but I would remote connect it to the colostore using colocation?

You would build your server, and ship it to the Colostore. And they would give you the space for your server, they would also supply the power, and the bandwidth for your server. They would also be supplying you with a UPS and backup power supply. (generator) If the power went out at the Colostore, your server wouldn't miss a beat. Also they have multi homed bandwidth. So if they dropped a line they could keep providing service through another service provider.

I don't know what type of server you plan on building but there are many service providers that offer co-location. www.colostore.com www.burst.net www.steadfastenetworks.com www.colo4dallas.com Just to name a few. It all depends on what your looking for.

[Emperior Eric]

So which would you recommend for the super server I am planning? As stated it will be a shared webhosting server.

[Soulwatcher]

Well, I would defiantly go with co-location. If you set up your own hosting company and told everyone you were hosting from home. I doubt you would get anyone to sign up. Which provider you use is up to you. You can search for co-location providers on www.webhostingtalk.com. The Colostore meets and exceeds our needs.

[Emperior Eric]

You have definitely opened my eyes. I have been dreading finding a way to get internet for my server. Colocation sounds like the perfect solution.