[K12OSN] Server grade vs Desktop grade hardware

[Julius Szelagiewicz]

> Desktops have become so powerful
>
> Intel Quad core  Q6600 2.4Ghz 8MB cache (1066Mhz FSB) $280
> Gigabyte P35-DS3R $130
>     ICH9R southbridge which has AHCI that supports NCQ
>     Realtek rtl8111b Gigabit NIC
> 4GB DDR2-6400 (800Mhz) Non-Register Non-ECC $200
> (/, /var, /tmp on raid 1) 2 x 36GB WD 10K rpm Raptor HD @ $100 each = $200
> (/home on raid 1) 2 x 250GB Seagate Barracuda ES 7200rpm @ $80 each = $160
> Nice case and PS $140
>
> Add a nice 10/100 NIC for external network ~$30
> Add a cheap PCI-E video card ~$40
> DVD drive ~$30
>
> So for about $1200 one can buy a system that is easily powerful enough
> to run 32 clients.
>
> I wonder about reliability though. How would it compare to my current
> system?
>
> dual Xeon 2.8Ghz 512K cache/cpu (533Mhz FSB) slow and hot Netburst arch
> Top of the line E7505 Intel Server MB (with Adaptec SCSI controller)
> 4GB Registered ECC PC-2100 (266Mhz)
> 2 x 36GB 10K rpm SCSI (raid 1)
>
Robert,
 the biggest differences are ECC memory and redundant power supplies. I
have seen many memory erroors in the logs over the years, but they were
logged without crashing the servers!
 I like to have at least 2 power supplies in every server, each plugged
into a different UPS. Power fails, UPSes fail, servers stay up. My
production critical server has 3 power supplies plugged into 3 UPSes.
julius