Building a dedicated server

[Switch-Renn]

Hi again. :v

In my last thread concerning overclocking a Dell, I was suggested to start a new topic since I had also inquired about building my own PC to use as a dedicated server.

I want to run four servers (TF2, L4D, L4D2 and Killing Floor) with a total of 32 connections. I don't plan on using the machine for anything else, just running the servers  24/7. Not sure what kind of specs I should be looking for when purchasing parts for this, though.

- I'm pretty sure I can't purchase from Newegg. IIRC they only ship to America, whereas I live in glorious home land of Ireland. This place looks pretty nice, though.

- I'd like to spend as little as possible on this as I can, but if necessary (and even though it's way outside of how much I earn a week, which is pretty much €20 since I live off of delivering leaflets) I'd be willing to save up for parts over €1000.

Not really sure what else to write down, so if I've been too vague just tell me and I'll try clarify. :D

[kureshii]

Well, you'l have to do some googling on "minimum" requirements for such a machine then. Google results turn up a wide variety of answers, some involving dual Xeons (definitely way out of your budget), others saying a quad-core should be enough.

So here're some things you can do to help yourself. Try hosting the servers one-by-one on whatever you have at the moment. The games might be somewhat slow; just ask your friends to be patient and cooperate. Note how much memory the game servers are using (let them run for a while), which should give you an idea of how much RAM you need. Then open task manager or a hardware monitoring app, and look at CPU usage as the game is running. Note the rough average CPU usage %, and peak (maximum) usage. Do this for all four servers.

With these numbers, as well as your current hardware specs, you can begin to get some idea of what hardware you'll require.

[Wintereise]

Any decent Quad should be enough for that. Forget the Xeons, they're in no way needed for what you plan to do.

[vuzedome]

You're gonna need a beefy build, but Xeons are just too much.

[Southrop]

A few other websites worth checking out for computer parts and such. Dunno if they ship to Ireland. They should, since they're all UK/EU sites.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/
http://www.dabs.com/
http://www.scan.co.uk/
http://www.computeruniverse.net/default_english.asp
http://www.ebuyer.com/

[fohfoh]

Try building an AMD workstation for fun? Last I checked, it was about 300-400 bucks for a nice Supermicro Mobo that supports dual processors. The procs themselves that I was looking to buy were around 2.4Ghz quad cores or something at around 180-220 each. All in all though, it still looks like it's around 1100-1300 dollar build. There's probably places you can skimp out on like audio cards, video cards etc.

Note: I checked this stuff out like over a year ago, so it should be much cheaper to play with.

[kitamesume]

servers = numbers to crunch and a huge amount of ram is needed.
more cores = more numbers can be crunched in parallel.

so find a multi core that fits your budget, hyper-threading would help as well. the problem is how much ram would you require to support them, the number of people counts as well.
consumer boards only has more or less than 6slots of ram, server boards on the other hand, has tons, specifically more than a dozen BUT theres one problem, server boards requires a different kind of ram, way more expensive than desktop ram.

the AMD Phenom II x6 1055t 2.8ghz should work well for your need, just find a board with 6-8slots and fill them up with 4gbs of ram. an i7 with hyper-threading would make a good cruncher too, 6slots would be standard for rams and they are on triple channel as well(old LGA1366 socket).

server builds on the other hand, is good, but costs alot so you know what i mean~

[NaRu]

servers = numbers to crunch and a huge amount of ram is needed.
more cores = more numbers can be crunched in parallel.

so find a multi core that fits your budget, hyper-threading would help as well. the problem is how much ram would you require to support them, the number of people counts as well.
consumer boards only has more or less than 6slots of ram, server boards on the other hand, has tons, specifically more than a dozen BUT theres one problem, server boards requires a different kind of ram, way more expensive than desktop ram.

the AMD Phenom II x6 1055t 2.8ghz should work well for your need, just find a board with 6-8slots and fill them up with 4gbs of ram. an i7 with hyper-threading would make a good cruncher too, 6slots would be standard for rams and they are on triple channel as well(old LGA1366 socket).

server builds on the other hand, is good, but costs alot so you know what i mean~

You dont have to get ECC ram if you dont want to. It's nice to have when running a server though.

[Lupin]

Any decent Quad should be enough for that. Forget the Xeons, they're in no way needed for what you plan to do.

+1

It's best to follow kureshii's advise. Check your processor/memory loads first.

[Wintereise]

servers = numbers to crunch and a huge amount of ram is needed.
more cores = more numbers can be crunched in parallel.

so find a multi core that fits your budget, hyper-threading would help as well. the problem is how much ram would you require to support them, the number of people counts as well.
consumer boards only has more or less than 6slots of ram, server boards on the other hand, has tons, specifically more than a dozen BUT theres one problem, server boards requires a different kind of ram, way more expensive than desktop ram.

the AMD Phenom II x6 1055t 2.8ghz should work well for your need, just find a board with 6-8slots and fill them up with 4gbs of ram. an i7 with hyper-threading would make a good cruncher too, 6slots would be standard for rams and they are on triple channel as well(old LGA1366 socket).

server builds on the other hand, is good, but costs alot so you know what i mean~

You dont have to get ECC ram if you dont want to. It's nice to have when running a server though.

They're nice to have if you're running mission critical database or likewise applications where a mismatch of a byte can cost you 'millions'. Otherwise, no, not really.

[Pentium100]

They're nice to have if you're running mission critical database or likewise applications where a mismatch of a byte can cost you 'millions'. Otherwise, no, not really.

They are also nice if you want your server to run 24/7 for a long time and not crash.

As I have two actual servers and a workstation, I have to use ECC and Registered memory, so I may be biased

[Wintereise]

They're nice to have if you're running mission critical database or likewise applications where a mismatch of a byte can cost you 'millions'. Otherwise, no, not really.

They are also nice if you want your server to run 24/7 for a long time and not crash.

As I have two actual servers and a workstation, I have to use ECC and Registered memory, so I may be biased

True. Though, normal memory holds out fine enough if you know how to control your stuff.

My actual server runs 16GB of ECC goodness, still yet to have that one crash.