Recommended Hardware + Where To Buy

contemptx · 23rd February 2008

Hi,

I have recently moved from Dedicated Servers to UK Colocation and now want to expand my UK setup so looking for hardware that will help me connect everything and have more control over everything.

Im looking to purchase:

Remote Reboot (Min. 8port)
KVM (Min. 16 port)
Switch (48 port)
Firewall
Load Balancer or Similar

(£5,000 Available Funds, But can spend more.)

Please if you could provide me some recommended units in the small - medium business range.. and good places to buy.

If it helps:

Current UK Setup (Colocation)

Web Server
Quad Core, 8GB Ram, 250gb HDD Raid 1
Quad Core, 8GB Ram, 250gb HDD Raid 1 (just ordered)

SQL Server
Quad Core, 4GB Ram, 250gb HDD Raid 10

Storage Server
HP StorageWorks NAS 1200s 1TB (just Ordered)
Link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=018

Thanks for your time

othellotech · 24th February 2008

>Remote Reboot (Min. 8port)

APC, which model depends on your power profile

>KVM (Min. 16 port)

Raritan Paragon II - talk to AIT-Partnership or IP-Performance

>Switch (48 port)

What throughput ? Try a Cisco 3750-48-G

> Firewall

Cisco ASA - model depends on your needs and throughput

> Load Balancer or Similar

What do you think is similar to a load balancer ?

>(£5,000 Available Funds, But can spend more.)

You're missing a zero off the end of your budget.

>HP StorageWorks NAS 1200s 1TB (just Ordered)

The perfomance is appaling - mostly down to using cheap IDE disks.

contemptx · 24th February 2008

APC... power profile?
sorry im a newbie when it comes to technical things.

KVM, that was the model I was looking at for about £1,200 odd..
But i was also looking at the one below, any reviews?

LINK: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dell-2161DS-16...QQcmdZViewItem

Switch, I was looking at the one below.. would this be ok?

Link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA:IT&ih=003

Firewall, I have been looking at a Juniper SSG & RedBox or something both about the £1,500 mark.

Load Balancer, I have been looking at the following Load Balancer, But was also advised that 2 servers using LVM or something like that would do the same job.

LINK: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWA:IT

Storage... any suggestions? If the one above will not work very well then I will use it as Backup.

Thanks for your time.

JamesSykes · 25th February 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by contemptx

Switch (48 port)
Firewall
Load Balancer or Similar

Depending on your requirements a switch could set you back from £250-£3000!
Do you want just a basic managed switch or something with L3 capabilities? If you go cisco then it probably starts with the 2960-48 for £800 odd.

As for the firewall I recently picked up a pair of Cisco ASA 5510's and they are working very well.

The Coyote Point load balancers are quite well priced. The base model e250si should be around £2500 if I remember rightly.

aXeR · 25th February 2008

Hi,

Given your budget I would suggest using eBay as your not going to get new, decent quality hardware for your budget!

For switches: Most managed Layer2 HP ProCurve or Cisco or going to be a good option.
For KVM: Assuming you want KVMoIP, go with a Dell 2161DS or similar
Rebooter: APC switched range

Jon-NC · 25th February 2008

I shudder at the thought of buying kit for production off ebay. Just doesn't seem right to me.

Penguin · 25th February 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon-NC

I shudder at the thought of buying kit for production off ebay. Just doesn't seem right to me.

I would agree. Another thing to consider with this is that if the hardware fails, can you obtain a replacement and at what speed and cost? With any owned hardware you either need a warranty/sla from the manufacturer, or have spares on standby or otherwise you're just compromising your customers.

SynergyWorks · 25th February 2008

The new range of Dell switches give decent layer2 performance on a budget from what i've seen so far... and use a Cisco-Like CLI. Try to avoid the older Dell switches they where pretty horrific.

mkhost.co.uk · 3rd March 2008

If your going to buy servers, then I seriouslly reconmend Dell servers, they are the best, I just got off the phone with Dell

.

nitrohosting · 3rd March 2008

And what did you buy?

Jamie- · 3rd March 2008

I'd guess - nothing, well, judging by the penny pinching going on in the requests forum!

JamesSykes · 4th March 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkhost.co.uk

If your going to buy servers, then I seriouslly reconmend Dell servers, they are the best, I just got off the phone with Dell

.

The best because of the price or?

Personally i prefer HP but alot of that is down to the fact they include ILO in every one of their servers which effectively combines a reboot port and out of bounds access.

tema · 4th March 2008

We go for the Sun Fire servers as our standard for the same reason, ILO cards as standard. They're not as expensive as you'd think!

JamieBeeston · 4th March 2008

James,

You realise you can just add the DRAC cards on the Dells to do the same, and still be MUCH cheaper than the HPs?

JamesSykes · 4th March 2008

Yep

Also the HP's are usually better on power, especially on the bigger boxes.
(yes i am aware the r200 is superb but the r200 isn't for everyone!)

I prefer working with them in general. Their rails are better. Man i could go on. It's personal choice

Dell isn't especially cheaper for me, i dont buy thousands a month and so in general i pay what everyone else pays.