On 9/24/2010 6:27 AM, Frank Middleton wrote:
On 09/23/10 19:08, Peter Jeremy wrote:
The downsides are generally that it'll be slower and less power-
efficient that a current generation server and the I/O interfaces will
be also be last generation (so you are more likely to be stuck with
parallel SCSI and PCI or PCIx rather than SAS/SATA and PCIe). And
when something fails (fan, PSU, ...), it's more likely to be customised
in some way that makes it more difficult/expensive to repair/replace.
Sometimes the bargains on E-Bay are such that you can afford to get
2 or even a 3rd machine for spares, and a PCI-X SAS card has more
than adequate performance for SOHO use. But, I agree, repair is
probably impossible unless you can simply swap in a spare part from
another box. However server class machines are pretty tough. My used
Sun hardware has yet to drop a beat and they've been running 24*7
for years - well, I cycle the spares since they were never needed for
parts, so it's less than that. But they are noisy...
Surely the issue about repairs extends to current generation hardware.
It gets obsolete so quickly that finding certain parts (especially mobos)
may be next to impossible. So what's the difference other than lots of
$$$?
Cheers -- Frank
Most certainly, but remember that even 2- generations old hardware at
this point means either a 2200-series Opteron or a 5100-series Xeon
system, which come with a minimum of PCI-E 1.0 slots, DDR2 RAM, and
usually SAS controllers. I've a dual-socket Barcelona (Opteron 2354)
system here under my desk, and it's so overkill for a SOHO server it's
not even funny.
Also, if you get OEM (name-brand) equipment from a used seller, that
means you get the ability to search eBay (or your favorite local
recycler) for the FRU part that goes bad. There's a *ton* of spare
parts floating around the used market for anything less than 5 years
old, and even the 5-8 year-old parts are commonplace. HP, Sun, IBM,
and Dell all have the FRU/Option part label *on the part itself*, so if
something dies, it's idiot simple to figure out what to get to replace
it. And, the used parts prices are, well, *nice*.
Honestly, I've said it before, and I'll say it (yet) again: unless you
have very stringent power requirement (or some other unusual
requirement, like very, very low noise), used (or even new-in-box,
previous generation excess inventory) OEM stuff is far superior to any
build-it-yourself rig you can come up with. So much so, in fact, that we
should really consider the reference recommendation for a ZFS fileserver
to be certain configs of brand-name hardware, and NOT try to recommend
other things to folks.
--
Erik Trimble
Java System Support
Mailstop: usca22-123
Phone: x17195
Santa Clara, CA
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