Best Hardware Recommendation for Ubuntu Server 12.04

[Liam Proven]

On 24 September 2012 14:26, Phil Dobbin <bukowskiscat at gmail.com> wrote:
> Amichai Rotman wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> I have a small LAN with a File Server running an old version of Linux
>> (which I did not install). The current server is very old and about to
>> "die"....
>>
>> The server serves 4 WinXP machines and a network printer, and is used to
>> share a few document folders and an application data folder.
>>
>> I want to provide an alternative to this server, with a look ahead, to
>> last a few years.  I was thinking of installing Ubuntu Server 12.04 on a
>> Core i3 Intel, 2Gb RAM and 2x500 Gb HDDs set up as RAID1. A friend of
>> mine suggested replacing the CPU with an Intel Pentium G620 to save up
>> ion cost. Is the Core i3 an overkill?
>>
>> Will appreciate your input on the best cost/productivity ratio for the
>> job...
>
> You can pick up nowadays Dell PowerEdge 2950s for about £100 on eBay at
> reputable sellers (i.e. small businesses who do clearances) that are
> more than adequate (for £100 you'd probably get dual-core Xeons & 4GB's
> of RAM).

This sounds like a good idea to me. Yes, such older servers are noisy,
but you can get a lot of power for very little money!

I use a relatively ancient HP Proliant ML110 G1 - P3/3.06GHz - which I
was given free. For a server it has abundant power for my small home
network & it's more robust than a desktop machine would be.

> I'd say Core i3 is certainly overkill for what you're proposing to use
> it for but don't let me put you off ;-)

Agreed.

But mainly, you would be better off with an older, slower,
actual-purpose-built server than a workstation.

There is a maxim:

Buying desktop hardware and installing a server OS doesn't make a
server-class system any more than sitting in a puddle makes you a duck.
[Cipher in a.s.r]

-- 
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