[K12OSN] Server grade vs Desktop grade hardware

["Terrell Prudé Jr."]

Julius Szelagiewicz wrote:
>> 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

I'm with Julius.  If this thing's going to be mission-critical, get
something like he describes.  We have thousands of servers in my
district.  The problems that we encounter are mostly with hard disks,
RAID controllers, and the motherboards themselves (not DRAM, though). 
However, if you're looking for something relatively inexpensive (that's
my guess, since you're talking about using a desktop as a server), then
give Penguin Computing a call.  They've got good gear at a good price,
and back when I dealt with them, their service was good, too.

Now, that said, if you're on a budget, then in real life I don't see a
problem with using a desktop as a classroom LTSP server, especially if
you're doing one LTSP server in each computer lab, and you keep one
spare box handy.  I did it for years at a school (not in my district!)
with a dual-AthlonMP box serving 25 clients, and it had nary a problem. 
Yes, I used ECC Registered DRAM (Tyan Tiger MP mobo), but it was a
standard ATX case with 80GB IDE drives.  It also ended up being one of
the school's major file servers (Samba) due to its reliability.  The
kids loved it, and the staff eventually came to really like it as well. 
I've seen others do the same kind of thing.  The only problem it had was
that the Windows-loving (and Linux-fearing) district sysadmin team found
out about it and ripped it out of the school, replacing it with a
Windows server.  This was after 2 years of trouble-free K12LTSP
operation.  I guess they were jealous of the uptime...?

If you're running a central LDAP authentication system, and you have
your LTSP servers authenticating against that, then the LTSP servers
themselves don't need to be so industrial-grade.  The LDAP servers and
NAS servers should be, though!

--TP
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