Okay, don't razz me for having to ask this, because I'm still new to working with servers.

Right now I'm leasing a dedicated server, but what I really want to do is buy my own server and have it co-located. Then I would essentially just be paying for bandwidth (right?).

The question is, do I have to buy a computer that is specifically designed to be a server? My thought is that I ought to be able to buy a typical PC off the shelf, format the drive and install Linux and other needed software, pop in an ethernet card and some extra RAM, and send it off to the data center.

Is there any reason why this wouldn't work, or are there other modifications I would need to do first? Thanks for the help.

The only cost should be rack space and bandwidth.

I don't see why you can't use your pc as a server.

I'd buy an already built 1U server or 2U server. Not only it's built for server .. but also will cut your colocation cost. A lot of companies stop taking tower case server for colocation.

Where would I find this 1U or 2U server? (I'm not familiar with the terms)

You can go to any search engine and search for "1u", "1u server", and etc.

www.cobalt.com (Although I wouldn't reccomend them)
www.dell.com
www.penguincomputing.com
www.racksaver.com
Just to name a few...

Originally posted by Epsilon
Where would I find this 1U or 2U server? (I'm not familiar with the terms)

U is a measurement of rackspace. 1U = 1 3/4" h

Average servers vary in height from 1U to 4U

If you are going to co-locate, rackmount servers are the standard. Using a tower may require that you rent a cabinet, and those can be rather pricey. Facility real-estate is actually the most expensive part of the co-lo equation, then bandwidth.

Space charges for a 1u Rackmount server (1 3/4" h by 17" w) are fairly inexpensive (usually $50-$100/U), whereas the space used by a standard tower (17" h x 8"w) is going to be about 5 times that. Tape drives, UPS's, and other auxilliary devices also take up space.

A few thoughts about using a standard PC as a web server.

A PC such as you buy at CompUSA or Circuit City, is designed for consumer use. It is a consumer-grade machine, with a single IDE hard drive.

A web server with a single IDE hard drive is an accident looking to happen. Whether you use multiple cheap IDE drives, or the more expensive (but faster and more reliable) SCSI drives, you should use a RAID array if you want to protect your customers' data.

Most Consumer-grade PC cases are not designed to support RAID arrays, as you need to have three open fronted bays. Ventilation is also a problem, that one cheap little fan in the back of the machine isn't enough to cool down a machine that's running 24/7, and has three drives running concurrently.

They are pricier, but commercial-grade tower cases, or rackmount cases are made specifically for this type of usage.

Your web server is the foundation on which you are going to grow your business, make sure it's a sturdy one, otherwise, one crashed hard drive, or a failed power supply can bring it all down.

Take Phoenix's advice seriously. Your average home PC is defenitely not designed to handle the load of a commercial web server.

Thanks for the advice, Phoenix. Actually I would not have any customers, as the server is for my own business use rather than hosting virtual sites. But the info you have provided will get me started looking in the right direction. Much appreciated!