AnandTech Hardware Upgrade - four is better than two
by Jason Clark on August 22, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
The Database Upgrade
For the past two years, we've been using two APPRO 1124 AMD Athlon MP 1U machines as our database servers; one ran the main site and the AD database, and the other ran the Forums database. They have worked very well for us, with an up-time of over 99%. Our only hardware failure with those machines was a couple of dead drives. We've been using two database servers in total to run the backend of AnandTech, mostly for redundancy. For this upgrade, we decided to go to one database server, which lessens the administration burden and keep one of the old APPRO servers as a cold backup if required. If you read our recent article on the Quad Opteron vs. Quad Xeon, you can probably guess which platform we chose.We selected the Quad AMD Opteron 848 Server , and outfitted it with 8GB of memory, running Windows 2003 Enterprise. Why Windows? We chose Windows because we run Microsoft SQL Server. The choice of the Opteron wasn't difficult; it was the fastest platform in our review under 32 bit, and it is ready for 64 bit when we are.
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ariafrost - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
Impressive upgrades :) Nice work, AT! BTW, I'm going to have to be a spelling nazi and recommend that "NOC factility" be corrected to "NOC facility" on the home page...Ecmaster76 - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
#1 Just a guess, but that could be a memory expansion slot for the raid controller or some other integrated device.sprockkets - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition? Isn't that alone cost thousands of dollars? Is it 64 bit, or more importantly, can it support 8GB on a 32 bit mode processor?Around $3700 time four for processors, around what $1000 for the board, $300 time 8 for the hdds, around what $100 ? for the raid controller, $1800 for Windows Server 2003 with 25 CALs, around $250 times 8 for PC3200 1GB ECC Registered ram sticks, assuming $300 for other stuff, that's what close to $20,000 HOLY $$$$ and that's not including the firewall and other stuff!!!
How much did it cost you, really?
Reflex - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
#2: A lot. This is the type of equipment you install in a temperature controlled server room, not a bedroom. It is not designed with heat or noise as primary concerns. Reliabilty is the number one issue, the number two is performance. Chances are it sounds similiar to a jet taking off but at a bit lower a level, I have a Compaq Proliant Xeon quad proc system at my house just for messing around and WOW is it loud.Jeff7181 - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
I love these articles... too bad we probably won't see one for quite some time now that you've got all this brand new stuff :)skunkbuster - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
i'm curious how much heat and noise does all of this produce?Chuckles - Sunday, August 22, 2004 - link
In this picture;http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/it/behindscene...
(Page 1 top image)
The forward right RAM bank appears to have an extra slot just forward of the main bank. Given its slot configuration it kinda looks like a 168-pin SDRAM slot. What is it, and what is its purpose?
gmailsupport - Monday, March 19, 2018 - link
Firewall is just like a wall which protects your PC from external useless things. You can restrict the website if you want to not to open on your PC. Hardware and Software firewall do same work but in a different manner. I also have a website which provides <a href=" https://mailhelp.net/"> Amazon Webmail Support </a> to solve your email related problems.gmailsupport - Monday, March 19, 2018 - link
Firewall is just like a wall which protects your PC from external useless things. You can restrict the website if you want to not to open on your PC. Hardware and Software firewall do same work but in a different manner. I also have a website which provides Amazon Webmail Support to solve your email related problems.https://mailhelp.net/