We are about to buy the hardware to build 9 1U servers. They break down like this:

Two LVS (linux virtual server) load balancers (one will be a hot stand by)

Specs:
PIII 800 (133)
512MB PC133 Micron RAM
(1) 20.0G ATA100 7200RPM 2M cache 75GXP 07N3928
ASUS CUSI-FX mother board
1 Ethernet Card

Five Webservers (Red Hat 7.0 + Apache + PHP) these do alot of php

Specs:
PIII 800 (133)
768MB PC133 Micron RAM
(1) 20.0G ATA100 7200RPM 2M cache 75GXP 07N3928
ASUS CUSI-FX mother board
1 Ethernet Card

Two Database Servers (hot replicated Red Hat 7.0 + MySQL)

Specs:
PIII 800 (133)
1024MB PC133 Micron RAM
(1) 30.0G ATA100 7200RPM 2M cache 75GXP 07N3928
ASUS CUSI-FX mother board


Plus Two 16 port switches.


Any input or recomendations before we go ahead with this? Thanks.

I think I remember Burst saying they don't use the Asus motherboards in 1U servers due to heat problems...

Scott

Originally posted by funkee

ASUS CUSI-FX mother board
1 Ethernet Card


Why do you need an eterhnet card when Asus CUSI-FX has built in ethernet card? Redundancy? Compatibility issue with Red Hat?

cheers,
:beer:

Our topology requires that we have two network cards so that the Web Servers can connect to the database servers on a private lan (ie our database servers won't be connected to the internet)

You might consider using SCSI on your database server, perhaps even RAID mirroring.

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, use ASUS CUSI-FX or CUSI-M boards in 1U cases. We tested 5 of them, in the Enlight 1U standard rackmounts, and they overheated everytime...and it was not our fans or cases, cause they work just fin with the Intel boards...Use Intel, they are only $25 or so more, and there are zero reported problems with them.

This has been an announcement of the public server safety counsel.

Warm Regards,
Sean R.
BurstNET™

Also, if I remember correctly, (trying to forget the boards pissed us off so much) I do not think the ASUS CUSI boards' PCI slot fit most 1U cases...so you couldn't get a PCI card in them.
Intel's CA810AEL boards PCI slots did fit..and their 815 board as well.

Regards,
Sean R.
BurstNET™

Thanks! Going with the intel boards now.

whew it seems we almost made a big mistake...

Originally posted by BurstNET
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, use ASUS CUSI-FX or CUSI-M boards in 1U cases. We tested 5 of them, in the Enlight 1U standard rackmounts, and they overheated everytime...and it was not our fans or cases, cause they work just fin with the Intel boards...Use Intel, they are only $25 or so more, and there are zero reported problems with them.


Can somebody shed a light for me,

With respect to heat generation, why should a motherboard matter? Heats are generated mostly from the CPU and Disk Drives, aren't they?

cheers,
:beer:

I can't give you a technical answer, but I can say that motherboards, esp. the Asus boards, do make a difference in the temperature the CPU operates at. I know many people have reported CPU temperature increases of 10 degrees on certain Asus boards relative to other boards (e.g. see the tomshardware.com forums).

--the CPU is the engine, the MB is the transmission... (if the analogy is this poor, it must be time for bed)

Are you kidding me? Motherboards generate plenty of heat, especially the higher generation ones.

Remember, FSB's run at 133MHz. Modern chipsets often run hot enough to require it's own heatsink! Plus there's the IDE controller, PCI bus, capacators, etc.

Motherboards, by surface area, generate the least amount of heat per unit, that's true. But if you think about it, no other component has so much surface area to dissipate the heat over! :)

Look at it this way -- you know how that wonderful PIII 800 draws 20W of power, right? Well, it draws all that power through the motherboard :) Same for the NIC, Video card, etc. :)

Are you going to be leasing these servers of purchasing?