Thread: Dedicated server advice

Originally Posted by Denny

Hiya,

With regards to CPanel, not really going to use it for anything else. But not been hands on experienced with general linux I figured it would make general maintainable etc once the box is configured allot easier?

Yes it will make a massive difference if your not that well versed in linux.

If you choose a provider that provides some management services then if you do get stuck at least you can get help.

Stick a post in the requests forum and I'm sure you will get some quotes/prices.

Originally Posted by Denny

But not been hands on experienced with general linux I figured it would make general maintainable etc once the box is configured allot easier?

That's exactly what Jamie was referring to regarding the managed/unmanaged point. Though at the prices mentioned in this thread I don't think you'll achieve a proper managed service on a dedicated server.

Originally Posted by Denny

With regards to CPanel, not really going to use it for anything else. But not been hands on experienced with general linux I figured it would make general maintainable etc once the box is configured allot easier?

It's going to give you a whole loadf of things to point and click at, none of which you need, and at a cost of ~£25/month so ...

RAID can have it's place, although RAID-1 (mirror) often *reduces* performance rather than increasing it - it comesdoen to you having the funds for the hardware vs the business impact of the potential d/time when you sh@g a hard-drive.

If you're not versed in *nix server admin you *will* want management and o/s hardening, or your forum will be a distant memory a week after getting the server, unlike shared hosting where the host looks after the box, you will be expected to take care of everything with your dedi

Personally I think you'll find it difficult to get your needs for that budget from a decent provider, and woudl suggest you try and squeeze another £10 to £20 (+vat) and go for a high-end managed VPS or managed cheap-dedi and expecting to upgrade again relatively soon.

Originally Posted by othellotech

RAID can have it's place, although RAID-1 (mirror) often *reduces* performance rather than increasing it

Pull the other one

Software RAID1 maybe, decent hardware RAID1 from a Reputable vendor.. not on your nelly.

J

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

Pull the other one

Software RAID1 maybe, decent hardware RAID1 from a Reputable vendor.. not on your nelly.

J

Any hardware RAID with half a brain cell has at least the same performance as JBOD.

The only slow-down you get with RAID-1 is when you are running software RAID (including "hardware RAID" on many cheap motherboards, which is really just software RAID). This is because you have to send two separate copies of data across the PCI bus.
Hardware RAID cards only take one copy across the PCI bus and then handle the duplicating on the card itself.

Decent hardware RAID can usually increase disk read performance as well due to the fact that there are two separate disks to read data off, although write performance can be degraded due to the need to verify that the same data was written to both disks. Good algorithms often negate this in practise.

The best set-up is RAID 10 which gets you the increased write speeds of RAID-0 with the increased read speeds and data security of RAID-1.

Dare I add my 2 pence worth.

1) The requirement appears to be for 4000Gb of data transfer, ie circa 20+Mbit, with all due respect, that's not going to happen from a database back end on 1Gb of ram and unlikely at sub £100 a month.

2) If this is the site that was referred to a couple of weeks ago it's pointing to NZB files which everyone wanted to treat with caution after the Piratebay decision.

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

Software RAID1 maybe, decent hardware RAID1 from a Reputable vendor.. not on your nelly.

raid-1 doesnt increase *write* performance and o/s depenadnt can slow it down - at best it simply has to do the same amount of writes, as standard it does the same, plus a bit of "handshaking" clock sync and so-on, at worst it has to do twice the work and then some.

raid-1 may increase *read* performance, dependant on a lot of factors, but is not it's raison-d-etre, and it's an incidental benefit more-by-luck-than-judgement

and at the budget of the OP, if they were going for a decent raid card, that doesnt leave any room for an actual server

It can increase write too by writing asynchronously to both drives, then checking later during an idle cycle.

I also dont think the chap needs 4TB, just thats the package he's seen advertised as a certain vendor close to home!