Guys, I need help. . .building server for 1st time

[jeremyrailton]

Hey guys. I really need your help on this one. I have a friend who wants me to build a computer that will handle traffic for auto-dialers (~200 lines on gigabit network). I tried to make it sound like I knew what to do, but I am really lost. I can build the crap out of a gaming system, but got nothing on this.

The main function, like I said, will be handling traffic and database functions. He said MySQL is the program he uses.

So here's what I'm thinking:

Case (rackmount)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811219004

CPU: Q6600 should I do this or something else?

RAM: Patriot 4gigs DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000170147+1052315794+1052108080+4801&name=Mail+In+Rebate

Mobo: here's a HUGE question. I haven't the foggiest idea. will a standard ATX mobo do, or do I need something else?
Will having dual gigabit ethernet on the board help? should I look for a PCI card to handle the ethernet?

HDD: probably 750 gig western digital. Should I go with a raptor instead? What is the best HD for this type of application?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I don't even know if I'm asking the right questions.

 

[njalterio]

What kind of budget are we looking at?

 

[alfrido]

Wow this server is going to get pricey.

 

[jeremyrailton]

ummm, well probably about 1k or so. he's willing to pay for performance

 

[jeremyrailton]

the motherboard and hard drive questions are the biggest ones to me. If i need a server motherboard, I'll obviously have to look for a different processor.

will regular desktop SATA 7200rpm hard drives work well for this purpose? if so, should i get at least two for a RAID 0? if not, should I go with a raptor, or even a 15k scsi drive?

i have to plead ignorance, as i've never done servers, and don't really know where they need power and speed. CPU? HDD? Memory?

 

[Zorg]

I have a friend who wants me to build a computer that will handle traffic for auto-dialers (~200 lines on gigabit network).

What exactly is he doing?

 

[jeremyrailton]

it's a computer that manages traffic for auto-dialers, which are making VOIP calls to customers. it will manage the database and distribute work to the dialers, to the best of my understanding anyway.

 

[DXRick]

What OS will he use? You need a mobo that has the drivers for that OS. The same goes for the other parts.

Then you need to find out what his projected traffic/load will be. What will the database hit look like?

This kind of thing takes planning to develop, and then monitoring and performance profiling to get right.

 

[jeremyrailton]

thanks for the help, guys, you sound like you know what you're talking about. will xp pro work, or do we need to use something else?

i didn't know that mobos had drivers for os's

i built him a system a year ago, it was only running an AMD x2 3600 @2.4ghz, that's become too slow now, so we're going quad-core. it was running xp pro.

i figured the q6600 would be a huge step up from where he is, but wasn't sure if there is another bottleneck i should be looking for (hdd, os, memory)

please forgive my ignorance, but what exactly does database hit mean, and how would I monitor the performance of this type of setup? I can monitor cpu usage, but what would you use to monitor hdd performance?

 

[Zorg]

Whoever he is buying the software from should have recommended hardware requirements. Just curious could you post a link to whatever he is going to use. Have him email the link to you.

 

[jeremyrailton]

good idea, i'll check to see if the software gives hardware requirements.