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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    140

    What hardware specs do I really need?

    I have today about 60 domains hosted. Almost all of them are SOHO or private webpages. None of them are what I call CPU or memory hogs. Max average total bandwith has been about 14Gb/month. Harddrive space that has been used is about 6Gb.

    Today I have my domains spread out on both shared servers and on a VPS. Acctually the shared servers has been my best experiece so fare. However I hate it when my host suddenly desides to not use for example Spamassain or any other feature that I have sold out to my customers, so I once thought that a VPS would be great. How wrong could I be? Very wrong. It's sometimes so slow that I could think it's been run on a old 286. 256Mb mem Burstable to 1Gb. But I guess someone else also shares and needs/uses this memory. I never moved my shared customers to my VPS. The few that I did move there has complained, but they are freeloaders (friends) and doesn't want to quit anyhow ;-) After reading in this forum I have found out that I am not the only one with a slooooow VPS. So a VPS is for shure out of the question.

    Then I am left with Shared or a Dedicated. The last alternative is what I wonder most about. Don't have much Linux experience and will probably need help to manage ordinary maintance of the server. Prefer, and can live with a standard setup I guess. My users have already CPanel/Fantastico so I have to include that. That includes WHM for me. Have been looking at the low cost range of servers. I guess that is the AMD servers? But since I have no hardware server experience, I really do not know what I need. So refering to my information mentioned above, what do You think that I need?

    Would some IDE harddrives do the job?
    Do I need a raid solution?
    Could I survive nicely with a 10Mb uplink?
    Is a AMD Sempron 2600-3300 good enough?
    Could a smaller CPU and more Memory do the same job?
    What Linux Distro to use? (different taste I know, but I have to choose...)
    How much memory do I need?
    Today I have all clients located inside The Planet, are other datasenters just as good?


    Anything else I haven't though about that You would suggest..?
    I am also happy to be suggested some good hosts that could feed my needs.

    Sammy

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Jersey
    Posts
    2,971
    1) Yes, since the websites you use dont really use alot of resources and they run just fine, I would say you go with IDE.

    2) Get a RAID solution IF you want to keep up your uptime guarantee, if you have one. If not, atleast try to get a 10gb backup JUST to backup the files and database of your clients.

    3) yea, you could survive on a 10mbps link.

    4) Yea, AMD is good enough, but if you find something cheaper, go for it since your customers do not really use alot of resources.

    5) Again, since your clients dont really use alot of resources AND since this is going to be your first TRUELY dedicated server, buy the cheapest server from a GOOD and REPUTABLE host (search for reviews). Do not go with those unrealistic hosts which give xeon, 2 gb ram and 4500gb bandwidth for $49/mo. Thats unrealistic, u know what I mean?

    6) Since you do not have experience with Linux, go with Fedora with outsourced management, like from PlatinumServerManagement.

    7) I think 512 MB is good enough. GOOD and REPUTABLE hosts do not give memory less than 512 MB for a dedicated server, well, MOST good and reputable hosts.

    8) Not ALL other datacenters are good. But you have look for a Tier 1 datacenter, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tier_1_carrier and 24/7 technical staffed datacenter.

    I dont know your budget, but I would suggest getting a server from LayeredTech (LT) or Servstra and get management from platinumservermanagement.
    Email: info ///at/// honelive.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,495
    1) I never trust IDE anymore. SATA can go for around the same price so see if you can find that
    2) Just take your own backups everynight, raid costs more and isn't an exact science.
    3) Odds are yes, just start off with it and if you need to upgrade its a very simple procedure that can be done near instantaneously.
    4) The semp should do the job, just don't get a celeron
    5) A 2600 sempron is about as low cpu as I would consider going...but I doubt you need much more than it
    5) CentOS is generally the best for beginners.
    6)512mb-1gb. Start with 512 and see how much memory the sites are using, only upgrade if you need it...


    There are many DC's out there that can suit your needs, and ThePlanet may be well known, but IMO they are definitely not the best.
    GeeksGather - Undergoing redevelopment. Stand by.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,355
    iWEB.ca or SteadfastNetworks.com and fastnetsupport.com for management services!
    ServerTag Technologies - Everything you need for hosting activity
    A Canadian company providing top notch site hosting, servers and colocation services

  5. #5
    Um, go to layered tech and get the $65/month AMD sempron 2600 solution. Comes with 512MB and 80GB I think. You only do 15GB/month? I'm sure you could barter with them to give you 1GB and/or a 2nd 80GB drive (for backup reaons) and leave you with 100GB in prepaid transfer.

    I love layered tech for cheap, reliable, fast servers. You should check them out. I have three servers there now, all under $100 /month.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    140
    Thank You all for the feedbacks. I will evaluate all before I jump into a new deal.
    I signed up for a full year last time on my VPS. My mistake...
    This time I will test everything out on monthly basis before I even consider a 12months deal.


    Quote Originally Posted by PixelManual
    1) I never trust IDE anymore. SATA can go for around the same price so see if you can find that

    2) Just take your own backups everynight, raid costs more and isn't an exact science.

    There are many DC's out there that can suit your needs, and ThePlanet may be well known, but IMO they are definitely not the best.
    Re1. Have You had any bad experience with IDE or is it because of speed?

    Re2. I guess a second drive offered by many will be a nice addon.

    I also guess that there are other and better datasenter solutions,
    since most of my customers are located in Europe.
    However - ThePlanet has served my websites well.

    Quote Originally Posted by ushdlew
    iWEB.ca or SteadfastNetworks.com and fastnetsupport.com for management services!
    Have You tried any of these?
    Will chek them out - thanks..


    Quote Originally Posted by LxMxFxD
    Um, go to layered tech and get the $65/month AMD sempron 2600 solution. Comes with 512MB and 80GB I think. You only do 15GB/month? I'm sure you could barter with them to give you 1GB and/or a 2nd 80GB drive (for backup reaons) and leave you with 100GB in prepaid transfer.

    I love layered tech for cheap, reliable, fast servers. You should check them out. I have three servers there now, all under $100 /month.
    Yes my sites has never been higher than 15GB/month.
    Most of them only uses mail and their websites are only for an display on the net.
    Phonenumber, who works there etc. HTML pages.
    However You never know how the next customer will be....

    Have allready been on Layredtech's website. They sure are one of the alternatives....


    Sammy

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    2,495
    Re1. Have You had any bad experience with IDE or is it because of speed?
    More IDE's have died on me than SATA's and personally, I find them becoming obsolete. Get a SATA if possible.

    Re2. I guess a second drive offered by many will be a nice addon.
    Sure, a second drive is great, but at least backup your data to another server or your home computer ever 3-5 days at least just so you don't have to worry about it...It'll save you a lot of headaches.

    I also guess that there are other and better datasenter solutions,
    since most of my customers are located in Europe.
    However - ThePlanet has served my websites well.

    If the planet works for you, then thats great. You have dealt with them you know what to expect.

    Regarding the other quote in there, SteadFast is a very reliable company with a great premium and even value network. I've only heard good things about them and they are on my list of server providers to test out.

    Regards,
    GeeksGather - Undergoing redevelopment. Stand by.

  8. #8
    Re1. Have You had any bad experience with IDE or is it because of speed?
    More IDE's have died on me than SATA's and personally, I find them becoming obsolete. Get a SATA if possible.
    IDEs work fine for us, and we have had less failures on IDE drives than SATA. We use a large number of both, and found that we have more SATA failures than IDE. I think if you look at drive failures overall you will find that IDE and SATA are pretty much the same. Although SATA drives are faster, IDE drives are not far behind (unless you are comparing with 10k raptors).
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