Hi All,

Our forums have outgrown the wimpy cobalt raq 4i they were born on. Normally, we've got at least 80 on at a time, most of the times during the day 120-150. Our raq seems ok now, but drags at sometimes, and the server load goes above 10 every now and then, I guess if people perform a lot of searches.

So, I'd like to put it on something with more power than a k6-2 with 64 megs of ram. I'm a fan of the rackshack servers (I know, but they've treated me OK recently with my other three) and so I want to get another server from them to host this on.

Can someone recommend a good server with plenty of "headroom" to grow?

I've learned I need lots of RAM. 512 is the minimum for what I'm searching for,

As far as performing as a bulletin board, how do the celerons compare to the P3s? Going but clock speed the celerons are the fastest...but do they make good servers?

Thanks all,

Garrett

If you only have 64MB currently, this is the first thing I'd increase. If you currently have 512 in the machine, yes it is time to look for something else. How much ram do you currently have?

Hi Chicken,

Thanks for the reply.

We only have 64 in now. It just seemed goofy to pay $149 to upgrade and an additional $29 each month ($128 monthly) to bring the cobalt up to 512 when I can get a "new" server for $99 setup and $99 per month with a P3 1 GHz including 512 MB ram.

I think going with any whitebox server that rackshack offers is fine. The increase in RAM (from 64 to 512) will bring you a huge performance improvement. Since all of Rackshack's whitebox comes with at least 512MG, I don't think you have a problem with any CPU. (This is, of course, based on the situation you described about how your RAQ is currently performing).

Peter

Thanks for the reply Peter.

OK *reveals ignorance* - what is a whitebox ?

I take it a cobalt raq isn't a whitebox... ?

White box is just a generic branded computer. RAQ is not a whitebox as it is produced by Cobalt/Sun. Other servers such as Dell and Compaq are also not white box, since they have a brand.

Peter

Originally posted by Garrett
Thanks for the reply Peter.

OK *reveals ignorance* - what is a whitebox ?

I take it a cobalt raq isn't a whitebox... ?

The "White box" is a reference to a plain (or vanilla, often white cases) pc, which would not be a raq. It would be something like their durons, and may or may not include a panel depending on what you pick, if you're moving off a raq, you'll more then likely need a control panel.

We only have 64 in now. It just seemed goofy to pay $149 to upgrade and an additional $29 each month ($128 monthly) to bring the cobalt up to 512 That's crazy. Buy the RAM for $150yourself and send it to the colo for them to install it; paying for it upfront AND paying by the month is SICK. I'd invest the 150 first before moving to a new server; I'd bet the server is working the disk so hard it's crawling like a drunk dog.

Good luck,

Brandon

Yeah, if you are leasing the server then upgrading can be a toughie. You should always consider things like ram upgrades before getting a server somewhere (especially when you start with 64MB). I'd see if you can send them ram (worth a shot), but if not, then yes, there are other deals out there that make it seem like a 'not so good' thing to do.

..ever thought of going to Vb support forum?
They do have 'Server Configuration' forum there.

If your server load is going up to 10, then you should be looking at something around 10 times as powerfull.

I would go for a 2ghz server minimum and 1GB of ram should be very nice.

Cobalts are about as effiecient as a rack full of briefcases imo :P

Originally posted by hosticle
If your server load is going up to 10, then you should be looking at something around 10 times as powerfull.

I would go for a 2ghz server minimum and 1GB of ram should be very nice.

Cobalts are about as effiecient as a rack full of briefcases imo :P

You think that might be a little overkill? Give the cobalt some RAM, see what happens, if it still is struggling, look for a new server, but pay regards to the load averages *after* the extra RAM is in place.

It will still only be as efficient as a briefcase! :D

Ok ok, I will be more reasonable, at LEAST a 1Ghz chip and 512mb ram :)

It is alright for the load to go up to 3 or 4. According to chicken, webhostingtalk.com also occasionally go up to 4, but for the most part, the performance of the forum is great.

If money is no object, a big and powerful server definitely is the way to go, but since (I am assuming) the poster does have budget, he needs to figure out what is the best solution for him.

Peter

Originally posted by hosticle
It will still only be as efficient as a briefcase! :D

Ok ok, I will be more reasonable, at LEAST a 1Ghz chip and 512mb ram :)


Just remember that some people find briefcases an essential part of their business operation. Don't knock them! :)

OK guys, I've found that my server actually has 256 megs on it. I've also found a way to significantly decrease server load. Good thing too, now we're hovering at about 180-220 on all day. Had 276 on Saturday (but the cobalt died). Load stays 5-9 all day. Sometimes drops to 3.

I've thought about rackshack's celery 1.3 GHz, but they only have 512 megs.

Given the rate of growth (up to like 3000 posts per day after opening it 2 months ago) should I break the bank and get a "fatty" server, or just incrementally increase?

*newbie on the loose*

I suggest you do it somewhere in the middle: get a decent server, but make sure you ask your provider that the motherboard be expandable. For example, it should be duel capable with room for more RAM.

Peter

When you get to 200 or so online it might also be worth looking at SCSI hard drives which will help with large access on the database - it will also be good if you continue growing (say 400 - 500 people) where you might want to get a 2nd server.

Seems like you'll be needing a cluster solution in about a moth, my my. Well, I'd consider something more robust. Server HT is currently on is a dual errrr.... 733 (maybe) with 512-1 gig of ram (I can't recall) and it is time to upgrade that (possibly was time a few months ago). It usually does good, but we get these really heavy spikes which most members notice due to the forum completely floggin up.

Chicken,
I think WHT has actually been better in the last few months than it was when I joined.

"in the last few months" you only joined 2 months ago :D

Wow. Time seems to seem so long on WHT.:D

Thanks for pointing that out porcupine.:)

I must say, I got a lot more of those "Server is too busy" things when I first signed up. The last month has been a lot better.

Originally posted by Chicken
Seems like you'll be needing a cluster solution in about a moth, my my.

Uh oh, now I'm scared. What's a cluster solution?

Update - right now, we've got 122 people on, and 1.5 server load. Seems ok, eh? I'm actually impressed out of the performance of this raq :)

Originally posted by mas3000
Wow. Time seems to seem so long on WHT.:D

Thanks for pointing that out porcupine.:)

I must say, I got a lot more of those "Server is too busy" things when I first signed up. The last month has been a lot better.

I can definatly agree with you on that point. But then again, time must be regular on here, because my memory is terrible (seriously), and i can still remember when i had like 10 posts going "damnit, i want my newbie status to go away!" Of course i post about 5-10x more now (some days i see my "posts per day" average go up by .5, which is a TON considering the number of posts i've made in this short time).

I get tons of those annoying messages though, WHT has tons of little lags of downtime unfortunatly :(.

Originally posted by porcupine


I can definatly agree with you on that point. But then again, time must be regular on here, because my memory is terrible (seriously), and i can still remember when i had like 10 posts going "damnit, i want my newbie status to go away!" Of course i post about 5-10x more now (some days i see my "posts per day" average go up by .5, which is a TON considering the number of posts i've made in this short time).

I get tons of those annoying messages though, WHT has tons of little lags of downtime unfortunatly :(.
I do hate those lags of downtime too.:(

But for a busy forum like this, I think WHT does really well!

Yes, I think WHT is doing very well with how busy it is.:)

No body says WHT is not doing well. It is.

But we do notice the occasional lag.

Peter

I remember in April when I joined I got "Server busy" things all the time and it was quite annoying. I haven't gotten any "Server busy" things in the past few days. And I don't get too much lag. I think they're doing a great job.:)

Actually, this reminds me: It is actually quite anonying even for those small lags. For example, just this past week, I have had three times problem posting to the forum and ended up wasted many minutes of time typing up posts that got lost while submitting to the server.

Peter

Relaly ckpeter?? I haven't had those problems. I guess I'm lucky.:)

Or maybe I am just particularly unfortunate. :)

Peter

I get the same thing, though sometimes you can hit back and the messages are still there :)

Only sometimes, and my IE is not very cooperative sometines.

Peter

Wow. I'm so lucky, I didn't know so many people experienced those problems.:)

I remember sometime last week I had lag and my post would not go through. But I am most fortunate.:D

Only sometimes, and my IE is not very cooperative sometines.

Peter

(actually, as I was submitting this post, another lag just came up, I was quick enough to hit stop before I have to retype everything :) )

OK, apparently the first post did go through.

Peter

I just noticed that lag too. And I couldn't access the site.:)