Thanks for the feedback Jake. That sounds very nice... I've often thought of just hosting with you, but in this case, you responde= d 2 hours after I pulled the trigger and ordered the ASUS server below. Oh well. -- James Newton 1-970-462-7764 -----Original Message----- From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Jake Anderson Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 17:02 To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. Subject: Re: [OT] New server comming, Request For Comment I know I mention linux here but its not internet facing so I hope it meets your requirements its also something of a mind dump. Any single computer system will fail in the case of that computer failing which is still depressingly common, thats below the SLA my clients need. My current "mission critical" system base is a pair of dell R210 IIs http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=3Dbect122d&c=3Dus&l= =3Den&s=3Db sd&cs=3D04&model_id=3Dpoweredge-r210-2 looks like about $1200 gets you quad xeon xeon, 8gb ram and 2x 500gb hdds (i'd look at getting the system without the hdd's, dell charge obscene amounts for them). I run linux (ubuntu) as the virtual machine host using ganeti for the hypervisor managment and KVM for the hypervisor itself. It takes care of mirroring the disks over the network with DRBD so even a physical machine dying isn't a big deal. live migrating all the virtual machines from one host to another is a 1 liner if i want to say upgrade the ram/os/whatever on one of the hosts. similar case when recovering from a dead machine. (there is also a web interface to ganeti, but i havent used it much) I don't raid the disks inside the machines i get better seek times this way (i have 2x disk io intensive VM's and i run one on each disk, but i run them on different hosts), policy is to replace the disks yearly as a preventative measure. live migration is nice, I have a pbx running in a VM, i've moved the PBX to the other server whilst it was running about 4 calls through it and nobody noticed. hardware raid is bad in my eyes, if stuff goes pearshaped you are dependant on getting that same raid controller in order to get your data back. This setup is nice, I have all the features you get with a high price VMware setup with an expensive SAN for ~$2000 in hardware, they also come with a BMC that lets you get a serial console over lan to them. For you I'd stick your iis into one VM and run sqlserver in another, give each of them 3.5Gb ram (or whatever seems good) and have them running by default on different physical hosts. In case of dell being dell live migrate if you can to the working machine, if not then fail the first machine and boot everything again on the second. Get the first machine fixed then migrate stuff back onto it, business interruption can be 0 in a good case, and a bad case is as long as it takes you to diagnose a machine is dead and then get it started on the other one. I like also that its not like having a "spare" machine, in that most of the time its hardware is wasted, this way your getting the performance of 2 machines when both are working, and then you just get degraded when one breaks. If hdd failures are your issue, then set up raid1 under it, all your data is then on 4 hdd's spread over 2 computers it should be safe from most physical failures ;-> A general observation, most of your page serving time is going to be seek time for your drives, have you looked at SSDs? They are soooo much faster for most stuff, get the intel ones though for line of business and make sure to backup. On 18/02/2012 8:52 AM, James Newton wrote: > The server is dying, long live the server! > > SUMMARY: I'm looking for review, and advice from those with M$ server > experience, and am willing to pay a fair amount (e.g. $100) for qualified > professionals who are willing to spend a few minutes looking this over an= d > offering suggestions. This is (another) big investment, and we just can't > afford to screw it up. > > BACKGROUND/SERVER RAID FAIL: So we appear to have a busted server due to = a > "punctured stripe" issue on our raid array. Nate said this is Dell for "w= e > sold you a cheap-assed RAID controller with awful firmware" and I'm inclined > to agree. Google "RAID punctured stripe" if you care to know more. If you > know how to fix that without downing the server and reformatting / > reinstalling, we would pay good money for a solution. > > SERVER REPLACEMENT: According to Dell, fixing it would mean downing the > server for many days (at the speed I could rebuild it) so we have no choice > but to purchase a new server. Obviously, it ain't gonna be Dell! We've ha= d > good luck with ASUS, HP, and IBM machines in the past, so those are my > current preferences, but I'm open to other suggestions. I hear HP overheats, > and IBM is way over priced. We love our ASUS laptops and workstations. No > problems. > > M$ ONLY: The machine must run SBS 2k8 pro with Exchange 7 and IIS 7 as that > is what we have licensed and what I know. Just to be clear: NO! *nix is NOT > an option. Period. Thank you, but no. > > Here is the current setup I'm looking at: > > ASUS TS500-E6/PS4 Pedestal Server Barebone > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=3DN82E16816110045 > > 2x Intel Xeon E5520 2.26GHz LGA 1366 80W Quad-Core Server Processor > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=3DN82E16819117185 > > Patriot Signature 12GB (3 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Server Memory Model > PS312G13ER3K-E > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=3DN82E16820220423 > > 2x Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 3.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive > -Bare Drive > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=3DN82E16822136929 > > Total price just over $2200. ...which is pretty good... but still painful= .. > ,o) > > Concerns: > > -- RAID: Concern has been expressed about the RAID system. The SATA > Controller is an IntelR ICH10R with 6 SATA2 300MB/s ports and IntelR Matrix > Storage support for software RAID 0, 1, 10& 5. I would be running RAID 1= .. > The current server with less processing power never exceeds 20% and averages > under 10. Any advice? > > -- RAM: Concern has also been expressed about the memory. The server says it > supports: > Total Slots: 6 (3-channel per CPU, 3 DIMM per CPU) > Capacity: Maximum up to 48GB (RDIMM); Maximum up to 24GB (UDIMM) > Memory Type: DDR3 1066/1333 Reg DIMM/ Unbuffered DIMM with ECC > Memory Size: 1GB 2GB 4GB 8GB (RDIMM); 1GB 2GB 4GB (UDIMM) > > The memory is: 240-Pin Dual in-line memory module 2 Rank Double-sided module > 7.8US Refresh Interval (8192 CYCLES/64MS) Auto and self refresh capabilit= y > Serial Presence-Detect (SPD) PCB height: 1181(mil) RoHS Compliant JEDEC > Compliant Compatible Server board: Asus Z8NA-D6C Tyan S7025AGM2NR Intel > S5520HC Tyan S7002G2NR-LE Intel S3420GPLC. > > Customers have reported success with several ASUS systems including the > TS500 and the RS700. If you can see a problem, please speak up. > > -- DRIVES: Concern has been expressed about the Western Digital drives. > Apparently they have a reputation for running hot? This model appears to be > made to address those problems: "The 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor is enclosed in > a backplane-ready 3.5-inch enterprise-class mounting frame with a built-i= n > heat sink that keeps this powerful little drive extra cool when installed in > high-performance desktop chassis." It's also the only drive I could find > with a 5 year warranty... But I'm very open to switching to a different > drive, but I want an ultra fast drive as the HD's are almost always the > major bottleneck in any system, and more so in a server. > > ACTION: Your input is valued and appreciated. Anyone with any comment wil= l > be welcomed. Please pass this on if you know someone who has experience with > this stuff. If you are a server professional, or know one, who would like to > get paid to advise us, please send a link to your online CV or Resume. > > > -- > James Newton > jamesnewton@piclist.com > 1-970-462-7764 > > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .