Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Dedicated Server : need recommendations to choose between two servers

[polarmike]

Hi,

i need your recommendation to choose between two servers .

first server :
2x Quad Core: Xeon E5620, 8x 2.4 GHz (with HyperThreading)
6x 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (Total of 24 GB) ECC-YES
2x 1000 GB harddisks (7200 rpm) + raid1 by default
1000 MB/s port speed

Second server :
1x Hexa Core: Core i7 970, 6x 3.2 GHz (with HyperThreading)
6x 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (Total of 24 GB) ECC-NO
160 GB Intel SSD
1000 MB/s port speed


The server will mainly serve only one big site (wordpress at home page + VBulltien forum at subdomain)
the site gets nearly 150k UV/day & 1.5 million page views/day .

the site consume about 5 TB bandwidth/month .

- So according to the above info what server should i go with ?! ( assuming they are the same price )

- and is it a good idea to downgrade from 1000 MB/S port to 100 MB/s port to save $$ . (will i face any slow browsing or so if i did that ?)

any help will be appreciated .
thanks.

[MikeTrike]

If you're serving that many visitors, you might consider the SSD, and adding a 2nd drive for cross-drive backups. However for that many UV's and page views I'd recommend spec'ing it a bit different.

As for the 100Mbps port speed, what kind of content are you serving? Realistically unless you're pushing tons of images, and media content. You won't be saturating a 100Mbps port. Under normal loads, generally speaking a 10Mb, 100Mb and 1000Mb port all perform the same. It does not become a problem until the port gets saturated. Most sites won't be capable of saturating a 100Mbps port.

Since you're only pushing about 5TB of data per month. You're probably not saturating a 100Mbps port at all, or if so not very much. Do you have access to bandwidth graphs to get some 95th percentile readings to see where you peak? That would be able to help you narrow it down. Plus it's not like you can't start at 100Mbps and request the upgrade to 1000Mbps port speed later.

[polarmike]

thank you MikeTrike for the help,

i don't need much space for my site . and i take daily remote backup for the server (that's why i didn't add 2nd ssd to save $$)

if i added a 2nd SSD drive for raid1, will i get faster disk io reading ?!

about the port speed . yest i do serve many images within the wordpress, the images nearly consumes 60% of the needed bandwidth . (by the way i use nginx and configures it to gzip all content to max)

i'm attaching an image for last weak bandwidth consumption it might be helpful to determine whether i will face problem with the 100 mb/s or not .

[renzuken08]

ill go with xeon if im you..
xeon is better than any core series
and also check the benchmark rank
afaik that 2x xeon 5620 beats the i7
and add ssd hard drives or sas for your database
and serve the static content from your sata

[cabalstudios]

Don't you have an option to add SSD to first server? As that would be the best solution

[polarmike]

hi ,

adding SSD to the exon will cost more (nearly extra 50$ )
and if i did so i think i won't need the sata as the whole site size won't exceed 80 GB

but are you sure that the dual xeon are stronger that the i7 970
i did searched for them and i think the single i7 920 are stronger
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...70+%40+3.20GHz
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=[Dual+CPU]+Intel+Xeon+E5620+%40+2.40GHz

what do you think ?

[MikeTrike]

Originally Posted by polarmike

thank you MikeTrike for the help,

i don't need much space for my site . and i take daily remote backup for the server (that's why i didn't add 2nd ssd to save $$)

if i added a 2nd SSD drive for raid1, will i get faster disk io reading ?!

about the port speed . yest i do serve many images within the wordpress, the images nearly consumes 60% of the needed bandwidth . (by the way i use nginx and configures it to gzip all content to max)

i'm attaching an image for last weak bandwidth consumption it might be helpful to determine whether i will face problem with the 100 mb/s or not .

Looks like your peak on that chart was 37.58Mbps so the 100Mbps port speed should be more than adequate. Just make sure to check with your provider as to how much it will cost to upgrade to a 1000Mbps port speed later (making sure they allow you to upgrade it later is the important part). They should, but it's best to ask first.

Also, what prices are you getting on those servers. If you don't mind me asking of course.

As for the 2nd SSD, I meant just a regular cheap spindle drive. Say 250-500GB regular SATA for storage only. Can't be more than $10/mo with most providers for something like that. That way you have cross-drive backups and off site. I would not worry about RAID1, you might get better reads depending on the controller. But the SSD's speed and IOPS alone should be more than ample.

[polarmike]

that's very comforting i think i will go with the 100Mbps .

and i'm getting those servers for nearly 295$ (unmanaged + Cpanel + 1 ip)

what about the CPU is the benchmark result are realistic ?
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?...70+%40+3.20GHz
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=[Dual+CPU]+Intel+Xeon+E5620+%40+2.40GHz

whats the stronger cpu ?

[MikeTrike]

Raw performance should be similar between the two. The major difference between those would be the Xeon having more enterprise features like ECC capability, etc.

http://ark.intel.com/products/47925/...-GTs-Intel-QPI)
http://ark.intel.com/products/47933/...-GTs-Intel-QPI)

Also the RAM on the i7 maxes at 24GB. Some other minor differences, but probably not big issues for your needs.

[polarmike]

i think now i will go with the following configuration

Dual CPU Xeon E5620, 8x 2.4 GHz (with HyperThreading)
3x 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (Total of 24 GB) ECC
1x 160 GB Intel 320 SSD
100Mbps port

thank you renzuken08, cabalstudios & MikeTrike for the help .
Regards.

[barbus]

i think now i will go with the following configuration

Dual CPU Xeon E5620, 8x 2.4 GHz (with HyperThreading)
3x 8 GB DDR3 1333 MHz (Total of 24 GB) ECC
1x 160 GB Intel 320 SSD
100Mbps por

Please note with 3x8 GB DDR3 you can't use benefits dual-channel architecture. This gives a a boost in performance/ For high-loaded servers it important additional factor.

[renzuken08]

actualy both will be already overkill for your needs trust me
they both powerfull

[deltahost]

Second.

You should mainly have a bottleneck with Disk IO. Look for SSD or SAS.