I need to know some more professional opinions on this. I don't completely understand computer hardware right now, and I would like to hear what others have to say.
I have a chance to buy this for dirt cheap, I figure it's got to be worth something more than $30...
[url]http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/2600_specs.pdf[/url]
Dell Poweredge 2600 Server
My goal is to find a dirt cheap server to run a(or 2) steam server(s) on. I know about the bandwidth they need, just not sure about the hardware necessary.
It's going to be a powerhog compared to it's actual performance.
And most likely also noisy as hell.
Should I be worried about that? Bahaha. Planned on leaving it at a friends house on his fiber optic line ;)
Steam servers? Do you mean a content provider?
Put dual 3.2's in it and you should be okay but yeah it will sound like a jet enine. You'll be stuck with Ultra320 SCSI though unless you have some external SATA RAID going on.
Steam gameservers...
Does anyone know how to quiet it down? Read that nexus(i think) has some fans that can quiet it down. Probably not a way to tackle power consumption though, is there?
What games?
None specific at the moment. What would it suit? I just assumed given a large amount of bandwidth, it would run at least one gameserver fine.
[QUOTE=Mini`;35224639]None specific at the moment. What would it suit? I just assumed given a large amount of bandwidth, it would run at least one gameserver fine.[/QUOTE]
The best you're probably going to get on a P3 Xeon is Source engine games. Probably something like CSS 16 players (Probably more) Maybe TF2.
That's the series of games I was considering. Source Engine and older...
This would be my first physical server to toy with. I have the option to either sell it, or play with it and see if I can't add some things to it. I know how to get rid of the noise, but I doubt reducing the power consumption is easy.
[QUOTE=Mini`;35224697]That's the series of games I was considering. Source Engine and older...
This would be my first physical server to toy with. I have the option to either sell it, or play with it and see if I can't add some things to it. I know how to get rid of the noise, but I doubt reducing the power consumption is easy.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it wouldn't sell for much and power consumption wouldn't be something easy to fix. Just keep it as a toy server, use it to learn.
[QUOTE=wingless;35224740]Yeah, it wouldn't sell for much and power consumption wouldn't be something easy to fix. Just keep it as a toy server, use it to learn.[/QUOTE]
That sounds like a good plan. The local university has a surplus store, they said they get multiple servers in a month. This being one of the lower end ones. But it's on a pallet of 5 computers for $40... I'd rather have a smaller, rack server to actually use.
[QUOTE=wingless;35224672]The best you're probably going to get on a P3 Xeon is Source engine games. Probably something like CSS 16 players (Probably more) Maybe TF2.[/QUOTE]
They're Pentium 4 Xeons. Also, you won't be running any sort of decent Source server on that, even if you had dual 3.2 GHz Xeons (the fastest it supports) in the machine.
I have a Super Micro server with dual 3.2 GHz Xeons and 8 GB of DDR-2100 and 6 x 36GB RAID0 SCSI320 drives. Both processors pull a constant 300W (150W a piece) and all six drives pull another staggering amount of power. The machine pulls enough juice that I had to get an 850W PSU for it because a 550W would keep shutting down from overload.
The Netburst architecture is so inefficient that even with HT turned off, an 8-12 man source server will chew up 70-90% CPU time on stock settings.
The reason those monster P4 Xeon servers are so cheap is because they consume so much power and are so computationally inefficient. About the only two things they can really do decently are run corporate web services and databases. Game servers require too much complex math, something which the P4 falls flat on its face on.
-snap-
[QUOTE=bohb;35226544]They're Pentium 4 Xeons. Also, you won't be running any sort of decent Source server on that, even if you had dual 3.2 GHz Xeons (the fastest it supports) in the machine.
I have a Super Micro server with dual 3.2 GHz Xeons and 8 GB of DDR-2100 and 6 x 36GB RAID0 SCSI320 drives. Both processors pull a constant 300W (150W a piece) and all six drives pull another staggering amount of power. The machine pulls enough juice that I had to get an 850W PSU for it because a 550W would keep shutting down from overload.
The Netburst architecture is so inefficient that even with HT turned off, an 8-12 man source server will chew up 70-90% CPU time on stock settings.
The reason those monster P4 Xeon servers are so cheap is because they consume so much power and are so computationally inefficient. About the only two things they can really do decently are run corporate web services and databases. Game servers require too much complex math, something which the P4 falls flat on its face on.[/QUOTE]
Great information. I don't suppose you could recommend something I keep watch for?
IE: What CPU I should set a goal to look for?
Lucky for me, I've been outbid on the lot. And this place gets new servers/computers in constantly.
For example, they have probably 20 computers with Core2Duos in them, multiple gb of ram, etc for around $100.
I just wanted something to start a small server on, just for fun really. Hook it up on a fiber optic line, and let it sit.
Why don't you just save up some more money and build a budget system or buy a vps? I don't think you understand how hot and noisy an old server rack will be. The electricity costs won't be too bad around 75 cents a day, but the amount of heat it puts out will put a load on the air conditioner which will bring the daily cost up even more.
Even just with the cost of a ~600 watt system @ .05$ kwh (.75$ a day) you can get a vps for cheaper that will be faster and will be just as easy to tinker around with. (Well software side, but why would you want to tinker with the hardware? Server parts are not cheap.)
It is kind of fun to have an old system to screw around with and I won't lie that I have an old Athlon Xp system in my attic right above my room. The thing is I barely turn it on nowadays because I have an external 2tb set up to house all of my virtualized Os' I just plug it into my desktop or laptop and I can test things out faster then I would have been able to on my Athlon system.
[QUOTE=Bonzai11;35230804]Why don't you just save up some more money and build a budget system or buy a vps? I don't think you understand how hot and noisy an old server rack will be. The electricity costs won't be too bad around 75 cents a day, but the amount of heat it puts out will put a load on the air conditioner which will bring the daily cost up even more.
Even just with the cost of a ~600 watt system @ .05$ kwh (.75$ a day) you can get a vps for cheaper that will be faster and will be just as easy to tinker around with. (Well software side, but why would you want to tinker with the hardware? Server parts are not cheap.)
It is kind of fun to have an old system to screw around with and I won't lie that I have an old Athlon Xp system in my attic right above my room. The thing is I barely turn it on nowadays because I have an external 2tb set up to house all of my virtualized Os' I just plug it into my desktop or laptop and I can test things out faster then I would have been able to on my Athlon system.[/QUOTE]
Ahh I appreciate your help! I just thought it would be a new experience to throw a little money into a physical server and see if I can't stick it in my friends huge house. He wouldn't care xD and he's on extremely fast internet. His electric bill is already triple mine I'm sure, and his parents wouldn't notice.
I have a small VPS for fun right now, I just wanted to toy with a server "at home"... I find the hardware interesting.
I think I'll wait it out, find a system at this store and play with it. The PowerEdge doesn't seem worth it at this point, as it only had 1 cpu and no hard drives, which would be too expensive to mess with. Maybe I'll pick up a cheaper computer from the place, instead of a server. What's an Intel processor I should look for to host CSS or other lower servers on? Maybe even a minecraft server(that only needs RAM right?). I'm not looking to host a specific game, with huge amounts of slots, on a 24/7 line... I just remember the old days when my friends could start up a HLDS on their extra computers, and it would suit us fine on any Source or lower game.
I know RAM is important when hosting a gameserver, I just don't know which CPU's are preferred. And I don't think a huge HD is necessary, right?
[QUOTE=Mini`;35234056]Ahh I appreciate your help! I just thought it would be a new experience to throw a little money into a physical server and see if I can't stick it in my friends huge house. He wouldn't care xD and he's on extremely fast internet. His electric bill is already triple mine I'm sure, and his parents wouldn't notice.
I have a small VPS for fun right now, I just wanted to toy with a server "at home"... I find the hardware interesting.
I think I'll wait it out, find a system at this store and play with it. The PowerEdge doesn't seem worth it at this point, as it only had 1 cpu and no hard drives, which would be too expensive to mess with. Maybe I'll pick up a cheaper computer from the place, instead of a server. What's an Intel processor I should look for to host CSS or other lower servers on? Maybe even a minecraft server(that only needs RAM right?). I'm not looking to host a specific game, with huge amounts of slots, on a 24/7 line... I just remember the old days when my friends could start up a HLDS on their extra computers, and it would suit us fine on any Source or lower game.
I know RAM is important when hosting a gameserver, I just don't know which CPU's are preferred. And I don't think a huge HD is necessary, right?[/QUOTE]
If you want a personal server to host games, here are the minimums you want to go with:
Intel:
Any Core 2 Duo E2xxx or above, bar the Celerons as they have crap cache and usually are single core only. The E2xxx line has similar performance to the fastest 3 GHz range Pentium 4s, and slightly better in some areas (like heavy math.)
Newegg still sells E5xxx and E6xxx chips for pretty cheap, though they are based on the new Wolfdale core and aren't compatible with older C2D boards that use the 945/955/965P chipset. If you use one of those, you'll need at least a board with a P35 chipset.
AMD:
Any socket 939 Athlon 64 will still run circles around a Pentium 4, and they can be had pretty cheap. The 3500+ and 3700+ were a sweet spot for buyers back in the day, so those will likely be the cheapest. If you want a dual core, the x2 4200 will also likely be the cheapest.
The only problem with the Socket 939 is that it was stuck on DDR, so memory bandwidth will be a problem, especially since the speciality DDR with low CAS latencies is no longer available.
Hard Drive speed is important on game servers that have heavy disk I/O, like Minecraft. For Source/HL1 servers, the drive speed really isn't too important. It will make loading levels somewhat faster, but most people won't notice. For games like Minecraft, you have two options. You could use a SSD, or a RAM Drive backed by a lossless storage medium (mechanical drive or SSD)
-snip-
Wrong thread.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.