Building a server

[TheGoatMan]

I recently got a dual slot one board with both ide and scsi. I have never put together a server. I want to run dual P3 600mhz processors and scsi hard drives. But finding the processors for a decent price is hard. And also is it even worth putting a server together thats that old? Also I was offered $80 for the board by a local computer shop. That seemed unusually high considering they would only give me $30 for my PII 450 system.Are they still valuable? And whats the benefits of having a server? (The board is an Intel but I can't find a model number.)

 

[TheGoatMan]

Also I have to find a manual but seeing as how I can't find a model number anywere, where might I find one?

 

[Sival]

You could perhaps e-mail Intel support and tell them your problem. They may be able to help you identify the board, which would allow you to probably get the manual.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

The thing about servers is that CPU is of less importance than other aspects, such as RAM, Hard Disk subsystem and redundant components.

However, any server O/S worth its salt will utilise SMP (Symmetric MultiProcessing) to its advantage, where possible, and services such as Databases come alive on such platforms.

A Dual PIII 600 would make a more than adequate business class server for just about any purpose. Some things would benefit from more and/or faster processors, such as a medium to large database. Other things would be overkill - you do not need dual CPUs for a Domain Controller, Name Server or Web Server (as opposed to a Web Site Host server!).

You could, if you had enough RAM, make it a Terminal Server, and potentially have 50 or so users running applications simultaneously.

That's why the board is still worth something - Servers still have a relatively high value compared to PCs of a similar spec, because the components tend to be of a higher quality and are better matched for quality rather than quantity of performance. So they're not really any good for gaming.

Slot One processors are fairly hard to come by - but I have seen them for sale on eBay quite frequently (Be careful who you buy from, though! - caveat emptor). You'll probably find that then necessary ECC RAM is expensive too - but if you have a requirement for a server (maybe you want to practice for MCSE exams), then it's worth it. On a home network, there's no real advantage in a server over a PC - unless you're hosting a website, in which case you'll find that you may need to upgrade in time - depending on how popular your website is.

Hope this helps

 

[ANFPS26]

You can get CPUs here:

http://www.compgeeks.com/products.asp?cat=CPU

or on

http://www.pricewatch.com

Remember the two CPUs have to be identical.

Jim

 

[TheGoatMan]

Yeah I figured out the board. I also found Pentium III 550's for $35 each. And a 37 gb scsi drive for about $90. I just want to run it for experience reasons like tinkering with linux and such. This project is a minimum $300. I'm having trouble choosing between that or dual SATA raptors and an extra 512mb of RAM for my Athlon. Which do you think outweighs the other?