Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Colocation and Data Centers : P4 server 1U or 2U

[spiderman]

Hi

I am currently looking to buy a few P4 servers for colo. I am just wondering what case size(1U or 2U) do people use for their P4 servers nowdays. Is overheating a common problem with 1U servers?

[spiderman]

Just one other question. How many Watt do you use for your P4 server power supply?? 200W, 250W, 300W??

[Mfjp]

1U is probably the best bet. If they're from Dell or correctly build, there won't be any overheating issues.

200Watt PSU would be enough if you only run one drive.

[Potsie]

If you go 1U, don't skimp on the case. The better ones include fans that don't die after three months and are engineered for air flow. Also, many of your cheaper motherboards place the RAM perpindiclar to the CPU effectively blocking airflow across the CPU. If yours is like this, be sure to route air across the CPU somehow.

[snickn]

I think a good SuperMicro 1U would work well.

[randomname]

Originally posted by snickn
I think a good SuperMicro 1U would work well.

SuperMicro SC811 is a decent case. They have a nice ribbon cable for the front panel that plugs right into super micro boards so you don't have to mess with power button, reset, speaker, etc.

[takiman]

I would get a 1U with a Racklogic case. The racklogic cases are much cooler then others such as superMicro.

[2Grumpy]

I much prefer 2U, that way I can use the factory heatsink/fan and a standard atx powersupply. That still allows me to put 16 servers + 2 apcs + 1 cisco 2924 in each rack with some room to spare. Oh and minimum 300W powersupply.

[Kx-2]

I give it either a 250W or 300W PSU just incase you need to add some parts later on or replacing parts with ones that draw greater power.

[Potsie]

Originally posted by Dixiesys
I much prefer 2U, that way I can use the factory heatsink/fan and a standard atx powersupply. That still allows me to put 16 servers + 2 apcs + 1 cisco 2924 in each rack with some room to spare. Oh and minimum 300W powersupply.

This is true if you own the whole cabinet, but some people want to minimize their monthly expenses when they rent by the rack unit.
That said, you can get a reasonable 2U case for about $100, whereas a good 1U would run $300. Depending on the per U charges you pay, it could take quite a while to recoup that additional expense.

[spiderman]

thanks for all the valuable comments.

[bizness]

I run 35 of my servers on a 1U with 300W, each machine has P4 2.4ghz 533bus, 2x120gig westerndigital with 8meg cache and Hardware Raid.... no problems here... you should be fine as long as you get a good case that has good air flow and powefull fans.

[LinuxRigs]

I also prefer 2U cases. Gives me more room to work around in, better airflow, can use standard parts, etc. I usually get aluminum ones; they seem to dissipate heat better, and are much lighter weight.

Personally, I use 400-500watt power supplies in all the servers I build. Really depends what all you're putting in there. If you have onboard-everything (video, lan, etc.), and one drive, then you could quite possibly get away with a small power supply (150-200watt for example). Before anyone flames me for that...a "good" 150watt power supply will probably output as much power as a generic 250watt. But to be realistic, I wouldn't want anything less than a 250watt, preferably 300watt or higher.

[centrahost]

Before you run off to Dell,
You might want to check with these guys.

http://californiadigital.com/systems/1620ts.shtml