In case you were going to ask....

[Sangye]

being a total geek I'm currently scoping a new server and ooooohhhhh boy she's a beaut!!! mmmmmm.....delicious....should last us until the year 3000 and make me coffee

Chapter One: "How Geeks Fall in Love"

[andrew]

Haha exactly. Who needs a woman when you have a nice shiny web server

While I make up my mind, for those that give a rip, I am getting the server software changed to Litespeed (www.litespeedtech.com). Should be faster and more efficient so the spiel tells me....

[jola57]

OOOh Andrew you are speaking my language. I am looking for a server and software for my company, but the program we will put on it needs Microsoft server. Do you use offsite server on the internet or actually have one of your own. It hat case what kind, memory etc. I am drooling with anticipation of your answers. One of my staff too, we need to get a server pronto. It is a property management/real estate company

[andrew]

What are you using that needs Windows?

I currently lease a virtual server hosted in Chicago. It runs on Linux (not Windows) and specs are:

• Intel Dual Xeon Gainestown
• 512MB Guaranteed SLM RAM
• 40GB RAID-10 Disk Space
• 1000GB Bandwidth
• 4 Dedicated IPs
• cPanel / WHM
• Virtuozzo 4 with Power Panel

The server I'm looking at to replace this one is:

• Intel Dual Xeon Harpertown
• 1 Xeon CPU Core
• 1024MB Memory
• 80 GB RAID-10 Disk Space
• Fully Managed
• cPanel/WHM Included
• 2000GB Premium Bandwidth
• 8 Dedicated IP Addresses
• Nightly Backups Included
• Virtuozzo 4 with Power Panel

The new one is called 'hybrid' which essentially means that it's a virtual server but hosted on hardware with only a few other virtual servers rather than many as is currently the case. This means less competition for resources and thus better performance....at least on paper

Now you've got me going....

I bought half a dozen second hand servers from a local auction house. I have a full size server rack on the way too. I'm going to set up a server room in my house and hack stuff to pieces :-) I'm going to cluster three or four of them and run my own virtual server 'farm' just for fun. Might host file storage for friends but would never host any real websites out of home, the connection is too slow to do that with any real vigor.

[jola57]

We are stuck, the management program provider told us that we must have a server, at first we understood that we can have an off site server but now it seems that this program is on a usb stick and physically has to be transferred to the server. unless I am reading it wrong, can you realy have only 512 to 1024 of RAM? we were told that a minimum requirement is 4. Now I am scrambling to find a server but the prices are crazy. We have been mauling it over for the past 2 months, and still don't know what we will do.

[elephant]

Andrew do you have a degree in computer science? You guys are way over my head.

[Sangye]

LOL-- I'm with you, Elephant. To me it just sounds like the teacher in Charlie Brown. "Wa wa wa wa... wa wa. Wa wa, wa wa."

[andrew]

We are stuck, the management program provider told us that we must have a server, at first we understood that we can have an off site server but now it seems that this program is on a usb stick and physically has to be transferred to the server. unless I am reading it wrong, can you realy have only 512 to 1024 of RAM? we were told that a minimum requirement is 4. Now I am scrambling to find a server but the prices are crazy. We have been mauling it over for the past 2 months, and still don't know what we will do.

Hey Jola, give me the name of the program, you might be able to get away with a decent-sized PC onsite at the office (assuming you have an office) depending on how many people are using it and how it's going to be used. If I can take a look at the specs of the program I might be able to find you something.

Andrew do you have a degree in computer science? You guys are way over my head.

Nope! I tried University once and never passed the bar.....if you get what I mean....was chucked out after the first Semester.

[jola57]

InfoTracker by NetIntegrity. Very proprietary so you will not get much info on it.

[andrew]

Wow. Their 'sample recommended system requirements' will certainly not be all that cheap. You'll certainly need a server class box if those specs are anything to go by. As for installing the application on the server itself it's easy enough to lease a server like I do, upload the application, remote connect to the server and install the application remotely just like sitting in front of your computer. If you lease an actual 'physical' server rather than a virtual, at most places you get a certain time per month of 'remote hands' meaning that you get to use someone at the data centre to reboot, press buttons etc if you can't do it remotely. The trick is finding the right server.

They have the recommended specs on their website but what are the specs recommended for your installation? They might be different (as in less therefore cheaper) and it might also pay to ask if they'll support the application on a virtual server rather than a physical one which will also save cash.

In my view it's better to lease than to buy because then (depending on the package you choose) maintenance is someone else's problem

I use these guys ( Crucial Paradigm) from their Sydney office but they also host out of Dallas (I think). You should be able to talk to them about a solution for you once you find out if (a) the specs for the server are for YOU or just generic and (b) if you can use a virtual or not.

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