Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 19:26:57 -0800 From: stephen <schan_ca@geocities.com> To: Mikel <mikel@ocsny.com> Cc: FreeBSD-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Recommended Hardware Message-ID: <38585C01.CE3D4207@geocities.com> References: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9912152134131.54982-100000@apollo.ocsny.com>
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Hello Mikel: Care to describe your AMD systems and how you tweaked them? Regards Stephen ================================================== Mikel wrote: > I have a couple of AMD k6450's right now and all of them are pretty > stable...but it took some kernel tweaking to get them right...My first > attempt using a minimal conf...yeilded some pretty flaky results...finally > I beefed up my conf and thing are aok. > > On a side note: I've two sister machines...both are dual pii400's (Asus > mlb's) one is 1/2 gb ram, the other is 390Mish...both have 10k rpm drives > and uw3 dual channel cntrlrs..alas for some readon we are only using one > channel right now..both also have 12/24 dds3 tapes..absolutely essential > in my book...When I started at this place they had two drive among > something like 20 srvrs...now we've scalled down and put a drive in almost > every srvr...believe me it took one crash for them to see that light...;) > > both machines have 400-500 users...and are only pulling 3-7% of cpu cycles > max....added DNS (on both) and Apache on one...(still below 15% duty) The > Apache is a bit higher but only during pek hits.. > > hope that helps... > > Cheers, > mikel > > On Thu, 16 Dec 1999, Olaf Hoyer wrote: > > > At 12:31 15.12.99 -0500, you wrote: > > >I need to build two new mail servers and am seeking feedback as to > > >recommended hardware, in particular, compatible motherboards. > > > > > >As I see it I have two choices, Pentium III 500 and the new AMD Athelon, I > > >have always used AMD in the past but have had repeated problems with their > > >450 MHz K6 processors which I clocked down in order to gain stability. > > > > > >Our (now) typical mail server uses AMD K6 300 - 400 CPUS, 256 MB RAM, > > >single SCSI LVD boot drive, Adaptec 2940U2W and is NFS mounted to our RAID > > >arrays where mail is spooled/delivered. > > Hi! > > > > First question is: Does the mail server app/demon take advantage of dual > > CPU config? > > If so, you can therefore use cheaper CPUs and upgrade later easily... > > > > OK, for a single CPU config I'd use nowadays an AMD Athlon with 600 MHZ > > (most bang for buck), preferrably on the ASUS K7M, which is really cool. > > There have been reports of AMD's new stepping of their chipset, question is > > , when will it be available. (Fester, I think they call that board). Brings > > a real performance gain. > > > > RAM of course as much as possible, where I'd prefer standard PC 100/133 > > from a good manufacturer, such as micron, corsair etc... > > > > The extended costs of RAMBUS will not bring a corresponding increase in > > speed... > > > > HDD subsystem: OK, here it is the question how many users with which volume > > it shall serve, and inhowfar the mail server app takes advantage of the > > memory as a cache, or do every mail has to be written (for security > > purposes) directly to HDD? > > > > If it has a low volume to handle, any good IDE drive (like IBM, or Quantum) > > should do the job. Especially the answer times of IDE drives are a bit > > better than that of SCSI. > > > > (In -Chat there is curently a discussion raging which RAID/HDD subsystem is > > best) > > > > For medium stress, I'd take some good SCSI drives, like IBM DDRS/DRVS or > > Quantum Atlas, and hook them up to a single controller, configured in a way > > that swap goes to multiple drives. (If ya really crazy, take two SCSI > > controllers to have more bandwidth) > > Also the drives where mail data will be stored and the logging files will > > reside, should be different. > > > > For more stress, and data security, a RAID solution is recommended. Take a > > look at -Chat, there they offer some IDE RAIDs, which also look pretty good. > > > > For "standard and old-fashoined" RAIDs, one would take a good > > SCSI-controller, hook up some 10000 rpm SCSI drives, and do a corresponding > > config. > > > > Ok, all other components are obvious: Good server casing, best with > > redundant Power supply, metal HDD frames with cooling, el cheapo Vid card > > from a quality manufacturer (image is not important, but it mustn't fail) > > > > You also should take a look at Tyan, they offer with the Thunder series > > some excellent boards designated for small/medium servers. > > > > They have the BX/GX chipsets, (up to 2 GB RAM), dual PIII capable, Adaptec > > RAID capable controller (the 3940, I think,with additional card) onboard, > > as well as lots of slots... > > Others have a U2W onboard... > > Have an old Tomcat myself, and I'm very content with the > > mechanical/electrical stability of it, and with some details of the design. > > > > Here in Germany the biggest costs about US$ 800 (1500 DM) > > > > Regards > > Olaf Hoyer > > ------ > > Olaf Hoyer ICQ: 22838075 mailto: Olaf.Hoyer@nightfire.de > > home: www.nightfire.de (The home of the burning CPU) > > > > Death be my master, my soul and saviour... (The book of inferno, chapter II) > > "There is no justice, there is just me", said the Reaper (Terry Pratchett) > > > > Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, > > daß er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. > > Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund > > auch in dich hinein. > > (Friedrich Nietzsche, Jenseits von Gut und Böse) > > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message
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