[olug] Server Motherboard Recomendations.

[Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T]

On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 9:52 PM, Phil Brutsche <phil at brutsche.us> wrote:
> Will Langford wrote:
>> Dell perc4/dc's are relatively cheap (being a few generations old), get
>> around 20mb/sec write speed sustained or so, 128mb bbu.
>
> Caveat: those are SCSI RAID controllers.
>
> Used SCSI drives can be iffy, new SCSI drives - if you can find them -
> are $$$$.
>
> Incidentally those controllers are identical to a LSI Logic MegaRAID 320-2.
>
> --
>
> Phil Brutsche
> phil at brutsche.us
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Now I'm not arguing against what has been said here but most of it is
conventional wisdom.  However, If I had to support a server that far
away and possibly out in the sticks of a foreign country -- I'd be
leaning towards a machine that can easily be replaced or re-parted
locally.  High end parts with big $$ values are going to be expensive
to get in to Brazil.  No,  I never lived there but I work for a
company that ships products there.  If the total invoice is above X,
you pay a hefty sum for bringing it in to the country.

This is a samba server and I haven't seen any one ask how many clients
it was going to be serving.  Only the OP knows that currently -- but
really, does it really take a high end RAID card, SCSI drives and a
bad a$$ server board to serve smb to 5 - 10 people.  A desktop with a
gig and software mirrored sata drives might be all that is required
but most of the specs floated seem more appropriate for conagra or
first data then for a small missionary radio set up.  The flash drive
for boot, with a second that can be used as a fall back for a failed
upgrade might be just the ticket.

Along that line, something like FreeNAS or the like might be more
appropriate -- they are already set up to boot from flash or cd and
store settings on flash.  Sending down a new boot cd is a lot less
hassle when upgrading.

Also, if bugs and dust are a real concern, building a box out of cheap
furnace filters and duct tape works pretty well too and can be easily
maintained by remote users.  Each filter is a side of the box, duct
tape them together.  They don't even need to crack the box open to
change filtering mechanism.

Just thinking out loud...

Regards,

Jeff