Home Server Setup

[MetalIsMarty]

Hello,

I have been set a college task to write a report which contains the minimum requirements to build a server.

I have a few questions:

-What hardware components are needed to create a headless server?

-What is a sufficient amount of RAM (while the server is getting about 1000 hits weekly)

- What sort of motherboard would suit the RAM?

All of the hardware has to total around £1000.

Thanks.

 

[COLGeek]

Microsoft makes a product "Windows Home Server" that can operate as a headless server. The following link has the minimum requirements for WHS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Home_Server

Your question, however, is too broad to answer easily. First, what kind of server are you asking about (web server, apps server, file server, multimedia, etc). Also, how many users would the serving need to support (not the number of hits)?

You need a bit more meat here to make a meaningful answer possible. Please clarify.

 

[MetalIsMarty]

Hi,

Thanks for your extremely quick and helpful reply mate.

You included some great ideas in there and a brilliant link so thanks for that.

I should of been more clear: It's a web server and it would probably have up to about fifty people online at one time.

- Metalismarty

 

[kureme]

If you're looking for server specs and requirements, google it. We are not here to do your homework for you. Try this.

Protip: Any PC can be a server (even a smart phone).

1000 hits a week is nothing, that's about 6 hits an hour assuming they're all spaced out. The major limiting factors in home servers is bandwidth, or to be more specific the upload speed. Most people can't afford big upload speeds and most broadband companies offer something along the lines of 6mbps down/768kbps up.

 

[COLGeek]

Depending on the type and amount of content to be provided, a simple linux based webserver, with the modest specs listed in the WHS article I linked in my previous post, "could" do what you are describing. There is also the question of the type of internet connectivity the server would have (T1, T3, cable, fiber, etc). How fat a data pipe would said server have?

Interesting topic. I suggest you flesh out the details of your server. Here is what you do have:
Number of simultaneous users: 50
Type server: web server
Type content: ?
Internet connectivity: ?

See what I mean. Good initial question, but the true answer is "it depends". Define the boundaries and you'll get a better response from the masses of Tom's.

HOOAH!!!

 

[MetalIsMarty]

Thanks both of you for your replies.

The content of the website would be mainly text based with a few images and the connectivity would be around 10mbs.

-Marty

 

[COLGeek]

Thanks both of you for your replies.

The content of the website would be mainly text based with a few images and the connectivity would be around 10mbs.

-Marty

This could be done on the most measily of systems. Any old P4/Athlon 64 with 512MB memory running linux with Apache could do what you are describing (pretty much anything going back to the old Intel 386/486 or AMD K5/K6 could do this).

Several years ago, my office purchased a dual processor Dell server to act as our web server. The system showed up DOA. My boss had commited to conducting a web demo to another office, so we had a problem. The solution was to go into our lab, where we configured an old Cyrix x86 (old 486 clone cpu) with 512MB memory and a 20GB HD with Redhat and Apache. We ran the demo to great success. The Dell was returned and the old piece of poo box we configured ran for many months with piles of users (greater than you described) with no one the wiser.

The bottom line, you could recycle darn near any old office PC to serve as a server, per your previous answers, for virtually no additional costs (except time) to get up and running AND to meet your expected demand requirements.

 

[MetalIsMarty]

Thanks mate, you've been a brilliant help, and if i ever actually build a server i'll recycle it all Dunno how much of the techy side i can manage though lol. I'm not used to the technical side - i mainly do the website design side (and that's only at HND level - so i'm pretty bad ).

Thanks so much for your help mate.

- Marty