Ubuntu webserver

[tomcat7810]

Hello,

I want to build a basic webserver to host a joomla website for my dads small business. It will be basic 5 to 7 page layout with nothing special. It won't generate a lot of traffic or anything. Can someone share with me what to build? I thought about using the intel atom platform or amd sempron. Let me know?

 

[popatim]

I think either would be fine for a small, lightly used web server.
I would look into an old laptop also. I'get get intel over AMD in a laptop as the old AMD ones had plenty of 'GPU killing the motherboard' issues.

 

[tomcat7810]

Yea so anyone want to help with a quick super cheap build, case, power supply, mobo, etc???

 

[amuffin]

Core i3-2100???

 

[tomcat7810]

I was trying to stay a little cheaper then that. I would love to have an i3 but that's a little out of my budget.

 

[amdfangirl]

Just remember to buy a motherboard without EFI.

EFI is a pain to get working under Linux.

 

[tomcat7810]

Really what are the issues and how do you get it to work. I haven't heard of that yet, but I am glad you told me.

 

[amdfangirl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2aq5M3Q76U

Matthew Garett on EFI and Linux.

Very long and technical.

Me summing it up: EFI sucks on Linux.

 

[tomcat7810]

Yea I see. Well I will definitely steer clear. So do you think a atom or sempron will be a good processor?

 

[amdfangirl]

Well I would recommend a Celeron/Pentium or Athlon. Well worth the premium, because Atoms are really slow and Semprons/Celeron (single core ed.) consume about as much power as the dual-core variant.

I would probably buy an AMD motherboard without EFI, as most Intel motherboards have EFI. Perhaps check if there is an option to not enable it. My motherboard will cause a kernel panic with EFI enabled, but I can use BIOS emulator legacy boot.

 

[amuffin]

Stay away from gigabyte boards then

 

[tomcat7810]

Yea I could prolly do one of those cpu's. Whats the cheapest you think I could spend? To do a server build?

 

[amuffin]

Well what is your entire budget? 1U server with everything except for os are around $120-$200 they come with dual xeons 4gb of ram and a reasonable amount of hard drive space.

 

[tomcat7810]

Yea I mean that's definitely in my budget. Where did you see that?

 

[popatim]

probably ebay

 

[amuffin]

Many to choose from: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=1u+server&_sacat=See-All-Categories

 

[amuffin]

probably ebay

Nah I use weirdstuff.com it is local and they have many servers http://weirdstuff.com/

 

[tomcat7810]

Now with something like that do I need a rack to mount it or can it sit freely?

 

[amuffin]

You can have it sit freely or mount it in a server rack.

 

[amuffin]

Keep in mind that they will be loud...

 

[tomcat7810]

Really? What from the fans? Yea sorry for all the questions, I only have experience building desktops, so this is all new to me.

 

[amuffin]

I actually have no idea why, my dad brought me to his work and in this room they have a 1u server and it is very loud and keeps the whole room very warm.

 

[tomcat7810]

Yea I visited the server room at my school and it had its own ac and sounded like a dishwasher lol. But that was a huge setup

 

[amdfangirl]

For a small server you could just buy a massive tower heatsink if you don't mind having it as a desktop form factor.

 

[tomcat7810]

Yea that's what I was thinking. When I was originally looking I was looking at the desktop form factor