RE: Quad processor / server - recommendation ?

["Marcus Warrington" <marcus.warrington@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Jon,



Thanks for the reply,



Yes, I initially considered the AMD EE +SSF models but after reading
some reviews I decided that the Intel chips offered a better performance
advantage. Currently the 2 machines (PIII600 & Duron800) seem to be
pulling around 40W a piece.



At the moment I use 2.5" laptop drives in the 2 machines as these use
far less energy.. not sure what to do on the new machine but may well do
the same. The drive is only for the OS etc since all "real" data
will be
stored on the NAS - looking at a 500gig Seagate to start with



Interesting that a EE PSU saved 20W .. that's quite a lot.. the new
machine will definitely use on of those as I acquired one of eBay a few
weeks ago. :-)



Marcus

________________________________

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Jon Payne
Sent: 26 October 2007 10:35
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Quad processor / server - recommendation ?



Hi Marcus,

I don't have any recommendations I'm afraid because I'm running an
Athlon CPU:

65W Athlon X2 (I couldn't get hold of the 35 or 45W versions at the
time) which levels off at ~90W consumpation at the socket with four HDDs
(1 x 200gig boot drive, 2 x 300gig data disks, 1 x 80gig VM HD image
drive).

Running WHS host OS, 1 x Windows XP VM for remote desktop (on a
Viewsonic Airpanel) running on Virtual Server (so available 24/7) and 1
x Windows XP VM for HA development running on Virtual PC (because I want
sound)

Note that I replaced the original PSU with a 80%+ efficient model
(30quid from ebuyer) which shaved 20W off the power consumption and is a
lot quieter.

Cheers,
Jon

----- Original Message ----
From: Marcus Warrington <marcus.warrington@xxxxxxx
<mailto:marcus.warrington%40mis-es.com>
>
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx <mailto:ukha_d%40yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 26 October, 2007 10:16:03 AM
Subject: [ukha_d] Quad processor / server - recommendation ?

I'm beginning the process of combining the 2 PC's that I have running
24x7 into Virtual Machines running on a single more powerful PC.

The current 24x7 machines are ;

PIII 600 - handles reverese proxy access to TiVo + Torrent /MiRC/P2P
downloads

Duron800 - Touchscreen jjukebox running Xlobby - feeding music from a
NSLU2 NAS

My plan is to build a single PC probably based around a Quadcore (Energy
Efficient 95w GO) E6600 , and then use VMWare to have virtual machines ;

VM1 : External facing : P2P stuff running on own subnet - (imaged to
allow quick restore if infected or attacked)

VM2 : External facing : Reverse proxy / FTP access / Website to house

VM3 : Internal facing : HA software / Xap Hub etc

Xlobby running on host machine (I don't think I can VM this as because
of the display / touchscreen) - 2 soundbalster cards running as 8 stereo
Zones

GB-PVR running from a dual freeview tuner (PCI-E). (I don't think I can
run in a VM since it needs access to the DVBT cards. Although I wonder
if USB based DVBT might be do-able in VM)

I'm hoping this will provide better resilience from attacks,/ virus' -
allowing quick restore of image instead of complete reinstalls, and also
may provide more efficient power consumption since I'll only be using
one power supply (EE) , fan. chipset, harddisc etc

ATM I'm looking at a Quadcore processor running 4gig on a Gigbyte
GA965P-DS3 board (intel chipset), running XP professional as host and
guest O/S'

Has anyone gone down this route.. anyone have any advice or
recommendations on motherbards etc.

Marcus

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