Server Hardware cost estimate

[joeqnguyen]

I am a BI software developer. This is my first time looking to price the hardware portion of a system.
The initial requirement is:

OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
Processor Speed/type = 64 Bit
CPU = 32
Cores/CPU = 8
RAM = 196 GB

Also, would it be cheaper to meet the above requirement by breaking it up in clusters like below

3 clusters of:
OS: Windows Server 2008 R2 x64
Processor Speed/type = 64 Bit
CPU = 8
Cores/CPU = 8
RAM = 64GB

Some rough dollars estimates would be great.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[noidea_77]

That's a very specific configuration and a cost driver is missing: the storage. I recommend calling DELL, IBM or HP and request an offer. The cluster will be more expensive, but may provide high availability.

 

[faalin]

our work picked up a new hp server a year ago

HP Proliant DL360 G7
Dual Xeon E5649 6core so 12 cores 24 threads
16gb for ram
win server 2008 r2 x64
4 500gb 3G sata drives

total $5940

 

[joeqnguyen]

That's a very specific configuration and a cost driver is missing: the storage. I recommend calling DELL, IBM or HP and request an offer. The cluster will be more expensive, but may provide high availability.

I am sizing up the servers for the network/hardware folks in a company. For the original requirement, they claimed the price was too expensive, around $500K. I am not at all familiar with this area, so I just wanted to have some sanity checks.
The main storage will be a separate NAS/SAN, so the servers do not need huge disks.

 

[joeqnguyen]

our work picked up a new hp server a year ago

HP Proliant DL360 G7
Dual Xeon E5649 6core so 12 cores 24 threads
16gb for ram
win server 2008 r2 x64
4 500gb 3G sata drives

total $5940

I wonder if the cost would increase in a linear or exponential fashion if this system were scaled up to my requirement?

 

[noidea_77]

Well, i'm not aware of any 32-socket x86-server, that supports a single windows server instance. Beside that i have no idea why anyone should need something like this beside number crunching. The price will sure not increase linear, but exponential for this configuration. http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/hardware/largescale/cluster/specs.html

 

[joeqnguyen]

Well, i'm not aware of any 32-socket x86-server, that supports a single windows server instance. Beside that i have no idea why anyone should need something like this beside number crunching. The price will sure not increase linear, but exponential for this configuration. http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/x/hardware/largescale/cluster/specs.html

It's for heavy data crunching, an in memory BI product called Qlikview.
The servers don't need clustering software or hardware from the manufacturer. As long as an individual server can handle the biggest application with all of its concurrent users, I can group a bunch of them to meet the total CPU processing time and RAM for all applications.

So if I understand your post correctly, it would be much cheaper to get 4 servers with the follow specs
(beside the fact that the big serve for Windows might not exist)

8 CPU
8 cores/CPU
64 GB RAM

Any idea how much one of these costs?

 

[noidea_77]

A HP ProLiant DL585 G7 starts at €7000,-

 

[Praxeology]

It's for heavy data crunching, an in memory BI product called Qlikview.
The servers don't need clustering software or hardware from the manufacturer. As long as an individual server can handle the biggest application with all of its concurrent users, I can group a bunch of them to meet the total CPU processing time and RAM for all applications.

So if I understand your post correctly, it would be much cheaper to get 4 servers with the follow specs
(beside the fact that the big serve for Windows might not exist)

8 CPU
8 cores/CPU
64 GB RAM

Any idea how much one of these costs?

Can you custom build the server? I think it will be cheaper to have 1 server over the cluster route. I am confused though if this is a small business where, lots of times the owner, can custom build, then you will be better off bang for buck, but if this is a big company that wants to grease hp/dells pocket for a shittier server then we need to go to www.dell.com lol?

 

[joeqnguyen]

Best answer selected by joeqnguyen.

 

[joeqnguyen]

Can you custom build the server? I think it will be cheaper to have 1 server over the cluster route. I am confused though if this is a small business where, lots of times the owner, can custom build, then you will be better off bang for buck, but if this is a big company that wants to grease hp/dells pocket for a shittier server then we need to go to www.dell.com lol?

It's for a good size business, and I don't get to choose the vendor or the brand. My job is to recommend a configuration that works with the software deployment without breaking the bank.