[K12OSN] New Building's LTSP Server

[Joseph Bishay]

Hello John and Jeff.

I do certainly agree that there is a difference between server
hardware and desktop hardware, but with that difference comes a
substantial price increase.  I am on a very limited budget of around
$1400 Canadian for the server and with the different components going
into it, it is unlikely I could afford any server-level hardware.

I am reassured by the fact that our previous LTSP "server" was a
souped-up desktop that lasted 8 years of non-stop work and it's from
the same shop.

The factors such as component redundancy (power supplies, NICs,
drives, CPUs, drives, etc.) would push the cost WAY above what I can
get.  I will be having another LTSP server that I am syncing  /home to
so theoretically if something goes down I do have a spare (it won't
fail over automatically but that's not an issue).

Hence why I'm looking to choose from between those motherboards. At
least one of the boards does support ECC memory so that's
"server-ish!"

Thanks!
Joseph

On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Jeff Siddall <news at siddall.name> wrote:
> On 05/04/2011 10:31 AM, John Oligario wrote:
>> I myself have never been inclined to use a non-server board for anything
>> other than a workstation. This system will be in the background however
>> it will be a workhorse needing to be alive at any and all times around
>> the clock. It does not have to be a powerful processor, just solid. The
>> case should have removable cooling fans and dual power supplies each
>> attached to a separate ups.
>> Just my preference. a few hundred dollars can save thousands later.
>
> Agreed with John, you want a solid machine, and to some extent the more
> you spend the better your uptime will be.  Just keep in mind though that
> using server-grade hardware will not make things bullet proof.  ECC RAM
> does not guarantee your memory won't be corrupted, and almost every
> component is a single point of failure (RAM, CPU, motherboard etc.).
> You really need to have a standby server if you don't want an extended
> outage at some point in your life.  If you are using server grade
> hardware now you probably looking at thousands more dollars than desktop
> grade.
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