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Thread: Large Server Order - Advice?
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12-26-2006, 06:28 PM #1Newbie
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Large Server Order - Advice?
Hi community,
I've got a large project in the works, and am going to need quite the configuration to go with it. My first year budget is roughly £200,000, including all and any start-up fees.
I need a minimum of 16TB of storage, 2GBIT of connectivity, and high availability. I need for the machine to be located either in the UK, or the US. Quality of bandwidth also needs to be high - I want to be able to max out my 2GBIT 24/7 if I so desire.
I'm also open to the option of a couple of machines with a NAS, this is essentially a large "media streaming project" - to be blunt.
So, any ideas?kanashimi internet services - Launching Q1, 2007.
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12-26-2006, 06:32 PM #2Junior Guru Wannabe
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I'm clear on the 16TB of storage and 2Gbps of connectivity. What kind of front-end machines are you going to need? What is your total hardware footprint? Do you need loadbalancers?
Obviously the hardware you need will have a big influence on your MRC, but you should remember that you bandwidth alone might use up over 1/2 your budget.Caro.Net: Support is everything
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12-26-2006, 06:34 PM #3Web Hosting Master
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Originally Posted by KanashimiGigeNET
Dedicated Servers + Cloud Servers + Colocation + DDOS Protection + IP Transit with FCP optimized routing
Locations in Chicago Los Angeles and Ashburn
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12-26-2006, 06:59 PM #4Aspiring Evangelist
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Just get 400 low end machines with 80 GB drives and 1500 GB transfer @ $83 each. That will give you a massive parallel system with lots of fault tolerance. 32TB of data + 600 TB of transfer (almost a 2GBit connection maxed, but better imho) + 400 GB ram for around $400k / year
I was using https://order.layeredtech.com/order/...y&productId=13
as an example. You might be able to swing a deal w/ that many machines.
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12-26-2006, 07:24 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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If you have a "project in the works", you do not need 16tb storage and 2gbit connectivity right off the bat.. Instead, I would start small and expand as needed. This way, you will save a LOT of money if this project does not turn out to be as big as you thought it was going to be.
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12-26-2006, 07:43 PM #6THE Web Hosting Master
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Originally Posted by FR-AlexKarl Zimmerman - Founder & CEO of Steadfast
VMware Virtual Data Center Platform
karl @ steadfast.net - Sales/Support: 312-602-2689
Cloud Hosting, Managed Dedicated Servers, Chicago Colocation, and New Jersey Colocation
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12-26-2006, 07:49 PM #7Web Hosting Master
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Originally Posted by digdugdog
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12-26-2006, 07:59 PM #8Registered User
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If you can demonstrate to the Data Center that you are serious and have the financial resources to pay for it then you should have no problem starting small and expanding. You probably want to discuss the specifics of how the Data Center is going to accommodate the growth. Likewise, you will need to provide a time frame for ramping up.
Last edited by music; 12-26-2006 at 08:13 PM.
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12-26-2006, 08:08 PM #9Retired Moderator
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Originally Posted by FR-Alex
I suggest that you go for your second option of a couple of machines connected to a NAS. Look to colocation at a site that you can get to yourself for support or can hire local talent to manage it. If you do go with a rented dedicated server option you need to try a multihomed established host.
Forget the 400 smaller machines the administrative overhead in managing that will cost > 200k / year.
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12-26-2006, 08:35 PM #10Junior Guru
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16TB of storage isn't hard. You can get a 5U case with 24 750GB drives and run RAID-6 if you need it as a single volume, which will cost you something like $20,000. Or you can build multiple smaller volumes using cheaper drives. Or use SAN storage, FC or iSCSI. No problem.
2Gb of dedicated Cogent bandwidth will run you something like $20,000 per month.
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12-26-2006, 10:52 PM #11Managed Service Provider
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Originally Posted by PixyMisa
The i/o performance on a 24 disk raid-6 set with an areca or 3ware controller will suck.
I doubt it'll be able to handle the load he'd be looking for.
If you want cheap SATA storage you could pickup a number of Sivvy raidweb units which have quite good performance (16 x 750GB SATA Raid-6, 1GB cache on controller ~10.25TB at R-6 or take it to R-10 and net about 5.5TB)
We have a client that does something similar and they utilize 2TB storage units and distribute the load so you get better overall i/o performance and better fault tolerance as your data is not only raid protected but further distributed on your network.
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12-27-2006, 07:03 AM #12Newbie
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Originally Posted by FR-Alex
Our budget is essentially $400,000 per year. Although this is just want we want it to be, we can cover up to double this per year if it is needed.kanashimi internet services - Launching Q1, 2007.
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12-27-2006, 08:40 AM #13Newbie
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Oh, another thing that is essential.
Before I throw large amounts of money at a company, it'd be useful to have a trial server to test for 7 - 10 days with between 10MBIT and 100MBIT of connectivity (to test sustained speeds and stability).
I've spent over $4,000 in the past 2 months testing, and I'm not willing to spend anymore only to be disappointed. I'm sure any SERIOUS provider can understand this, and will be willing to come to an agreement of some sort.
If anyone has some useful information on this past point, please feel free to PM me.kanashimi internet services - Launching Q1, 2007.
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12-27-2006, 10:53 AM #14Newbie
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I am open to suggestions as to the infrastructure of the setup itself.
kanashimi internet services - Launching Q1, 2007.
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12-27-2006, 10:59 AM #15Managed Service Provider
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Originally Posted by Kanashimi
If you dont' want to say anything more than "streaming media" feel free to PM me more details as to what type of streaming media, os, bitrates, etc you'll be using and I'll see what direction I could point you in. In terms of infrastructure.
What is your target audience? What is the geographic location of said audience?
Keep in mind in the delivery of certain kinds of streaming media proximity to the viewer is a key element. This is why many companies opt for the use of a CDN.
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12-27-2006, 11:48 AM #16Account Suspended
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We have a client with a slightliy smaller streaming media requirement that is using multiple Dell 2950 servers with 6x500 GB SATA drives in RAID 10 for a net of 0.9 TB per server. With Quad GigE nics and 16 GB of ram per server it is a nicely matched system, with high reliability. They are connected with a Cisco 4948-10GE switch with a 10 gig uplink. Thus they have high 'head room' for large spikes in bandwidth; and a scalable solution for storage. We looked at several NAS solutions and determined that for a combination of speed and reliability it was better to go with multiple servers rather then a central storage. This is especially true with random access of random files for streaming media. Also, the software is setup to preference loading the most commonly used files into RAM.
As pointed out previously you want to have the content in multiple locations and do geoIP to connect the users to the closest server
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12-27-2006, 11:50 AM #17Newbie
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Hi WireSix,
The geographic location of my target audience includes the US, Canada, UK and part of Europe. We also have a minimal base located over in Japan.
The system is custom developed for use on Linux systems (Includes Ruby, Python, and a bit of PHP), all tied into a mySQL database backend.
Bitrates vary greatly, from YouTube FLV quality to 2000kbit. This system will also serve on-demand archived downloads of content, and more besides.kanashimi internet services - Launching Q1, 2007.
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12-27-2006, 02:14 PM #18Newbie
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I've setup a Gmail account to discuss my requirements more fully, without disclosing everything to the public.
<<snipped>>Last edited by anon-e-mouse; 12-28-2006 at 02:50 AM.
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12-27-2006, 02:30 PM #19Disabled
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Originally Posted by Kanashimi
Best Regards,Last edited by anon-e-mouse; 12-28-2006 at 02:51 AM.
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12-27-2006, 05:20 PM #20Managed Service Provider
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Originally Posted by Kanashimi
Ryan,
It would be worth your time talking to Dennis (see posts above) they have a good deal of experience in this area and they have the type of infrastructure already in place to handle exactly the type of things you are looking to do.Last edited by anon-e-mouse; 12-28-2006 at 02:51 AM.
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12-27-2006, 06:26 PM #21Newbie
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Originally Posted by WireSix
Now, backup solutions for this much data - any ideas?kanashimi internet services - Launching Q1, 2007.
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12-27-2006, 08:05 PM #22Registered User
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How long do you plan to store the back up material?
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12-27-2006, 08:23 PM #23Newbie
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12-27-2006, 08:25 PM #24Web Hosting Master
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WireSIX would be a great company to handle this sort of load.
Also, because his bandwidth includes Telia, you would have great connection internationally.Last edited by JordanJ; 12-27-2006 at 08:38 PM.
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12-27-2006, 08:28 PM #25Invented the Internet
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I strongly suggest you email Ryan (WireSix) with your requirements. We have dozens of servers with them and have been 110% satisfied with not only his services...but his ongoing advice and suggestions are something we really appreciate.
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