Need help setting up a server

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by coleProtocol, Dec 31, 2004.

  1. coleProtocol

    coleProtocol Private E-2

    I'm new to running servers, and my dad and I are trying to build one. I don't need a real powerful one, just something that can smoothly run a website without being incredibly slow. Anyways, my dad went to CompUSA to look at some stuff while I was home, and he talked to someone and he wrote down a list for us that he suggests, which was a little more than I was prepared to buy:

    Pentium 4 Processor 2.8 or Greater
    1 GB RAM 2700 or Greater
    200 GB Hard Drive
    Windows XP Pro/Server 200
    MSI/DFI/ASUS Motherboard

    I'm all about software--I barely know anything about computer hardware. Is this stuff all necessary for a simple type of server I need to run? It's nothing too proffesional, just a simple community site, and maybe running some game servers as well, but is this all required for a decent server?
     
  2. Omegamerc

    Omegamerc MajorGeek

    If it gives you any idea those were the stats to run 1-2 game servers back when halflife1 was only about 3-4yrs old.
     
  3. ~Pyrate~

    ~Pyrate~ MajorGeek

    i think goldfish has a tut on how to do this ... it's in a thread in the lounge somewhere
     
  4. NeoNemesis

    NeoNemesis Moutharrhea

  5. spaz

    spaz Specialist

    ...and if you can get your hands on a copy of win2K3 you'll be a happy camper. Practically sets itself up...

    Also, after building the server, be sure to go into add/remove windows components and make sure you've got IIS installed. Oddly, it doesn't install every time you build a server and you'll need it.

    Good luck... servers are very easy to set up these days. They used to be a real bugger to get to serve up a web page, but there are so many wizards now that the server OS is intuitive enough to walk you right through it.

    Post back here if you have any bumps in the road... I've set up a bunch of servers and will be glad to help you. You can write me at mike@emray-enterprises.com, if you like.

    sp/\z
     
  6. spaz

    spaz Specialist

    Also... and oh yeah, folks who posted are right about the hardware... the processor is not vital and you don't need a lot of space, either (unless you'll be feeding video). However, I recommend a speedy hard drive... something in the 7200rpm range at least. Also, if you're going to be serving up any vital info you might want to set up a little mirrored RAID for some fault tolerance. But then again, if you have a LAN you can always just back up to a work station over the network to take care of data safety. And if you have an extra drive to toss in there, I would recommend putting your swap file over on that.. if not another physical drive, create a partition dedicated to paging.

    Are you going to run a database? Another thing to think about before you build it.
     
  7. coleProtocol

    coleProtocol Private E-2

    Wow, all that is really helpful, especiallys Goldfish's Tutorial. I do want to run databases, and support for PHP, ASP, and all that. How would I configure it to do this?
     
  8. spaz

    spaz Specialist

    Well, first you have to decide which database app you want to run. I'm a big supporter of SQL and can help out with that, if you're going that way. If you're using ASP, I highly recommend going that direction. You can easily run your database on the same box as your web server.
     
  9. coleProtocol

    coleProtocol Private E-2

    Well I'm not familiar with ASP, so SQL is the way for me to go; I've used MySQL in some free servers with CPanel, and I'm amlmost used to that, so SQL it is.
     
  10. spaz

    spaz Specialist

    Oh, you mentioned a couple posts ago that you wanted to code in ASP and that's what I was referring to in my reply. I, personally, really enjoy working with SQL... but one thing to remember. If you think you may EVER have to take your site out to have it hosted somewhere else, you may have a problem finding a company that will host your SQL database. They don't mind mySQL and (euww) Access, but SQL usually gets a "no."

    Have you ever used Coldfusion? I used to really think it was a lame technology, until I worked at Visa International for a few years and their entire Intranet is built with it... The reason I ask is that CF Server utilizes an administration application that makes creating datasources and managing debugging, etc, a real breeze. You can, practically, administer your entire site from the CF admin GUI. You still have to set up the DSNs on your server, but once that's done you can take care of it from the CF GUI. Also, CF processes SUPER fast. It's just a tag-based language, kind of a cross between ASP and HTML, but (in my experience) it processes about 3X as fast at an ASP page written to do the same thing. And it's a breeze to learn.

    Just some things to think about..
     
  11. coleProtocol

    coleProtocol Private E-2

    I don't know ColdFusion, but I have Macromedia ColdFusion, so maybe that'll help...? What's the difference between SQL and MySQL? I thought SQL was the whole database thing and MySQL is what you use to store them...am I right?
     
  12. goldfish

    goldfish Lt. Sushi.DC

    MySQL is a particular databaase server, which provides applications access to databases. SQL Server is another, made by Microsoft. I know of very few small websites that use SQL Server, that is generally saved for the more complex bussiness applications.

    MySQL works just the same as SQL server. You connect to it, send it a request and it gives you results. The both run on a machine which is accessable by the web server (or on the webserver, usually, but preferably not).

    ColdFusion was developed by Macromedia, and, as said earlier, is tag based. Its a great bit of software, but its not very portable (or it wasn't last time I looked) and theres much less support for it than with ASP or PHP. Thats the main reason why I didn't learn how to code it. :)

    PHP has a huge user base, hundreds of scripters and universial portability (well, nearly), and is quick to compile too, and that makes it my language of choice. But its totally up to you.

    I'm glad you found my tutorial useful :)
     

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