Askraker

[HTM~ZenEye]

Assraker or anyone with server exp.,

I'm thinking of building a dual cpu server for virtualization, but i'm not really up on server motherboard manufacturers. Who makes reasonably priced dual boards? Who do you like? What should i look for? etc...

Ideal system specs:

2 pentium4 or amd opt.
3-4 gb ram
agp8x graphics card w/ two monitors
Will be running MS virtual machine on it
Must play nice with linux

This is similar to the setup i use @ school, it works well. I will ask them the same questions to see what board they use or reccomend.

Your Thoughts?

[HTM|Assraker]

You won't build a "cheap" 2-CPU machine that you can count on being reliable.

Motherboard recommendations:
Tyan
Supermicro

The above are the 2 most reliable multi-CPU MB's on the market. Have been for years. I use Tyan myself. Be ready to drop $350 minimum on just a MB (that will be low end at that).

CPU recommendations:
AMD Opteron chips (better at crunching numbers, cheaper than intel, uses less power)

As for RAM, if you will be running 64bit binaries, get as much as you can afford. More is better (except for windows, but that is another technical story). I highly recommend Corsair RAM. It will depend on your MB type as to what type of RAM you will need (ECC Registered or not). Running 64bit *nix you can run a metric fook-load of RAM.

You might find a MB that has agp8, but remember, most will have PCI-Express slots, or a lowly onboard graphics processor. Remember, most 2-CPU (or more) MB's are built for server applications, so graphics requirements are generally low.

Also be aware, most 2-CPU MB's are not ATX, but larger E-ATX to accommodate 2 dies for the CPUs.

Hard Drives:
Use SATA2 drives. Anything with a lower data transfer rate will bottle neck the machine. I like Seagate drives, I've had lower failure rates with them. They have a 5yr warranty too.

What you want will be cheap, but at the same time very expensive compared to building a PC like you would expect. Be ready to drop 2k or more. That is cheap, trust me.

The machine that hosts Minion's server is ~5k.

[HTM~ZenEye]

I priced some Asus dual boards and they were like $300+ so I'm prepared for that. Priced corsair value @ $160-200 ddr400 non-ecc. Hopefully i can find a board that uses that memory. PCI-x, AGP whatever the flavor is as long as it support 2 monitors for bigger desktop area. i have a 256mb agp card already.

I just wanted to know what mainboards you liked. Thnx for the input dood

[HTM|Assraker]

The ASUS boards for mulit-CPU applications have issues. They make some really great stuff, but I would avoid those like crotch critters.

ASUS is a great company, don't get me wrong. It's just that they are just getting their feet wet in the multi-CPU market. They don't have as much experience there as the others.

They do not have the reliability as the other ASUS products do. Give them a couple more years in that area.

I do use exclusively ASUS MB's for my home PC's & gaming rigs. great stuff they make there.

[HTM~ZenEye]

yeah I use asus boards for gaming too, love 'em for that stuff. I figured they weren't so hot in server boards. They are expanding rapidly tho, asus makes everything now pda's, notebooks, yeah few more ice cream seasons and they should have a good server board.

I'll prolly poke around and see what tyan and supermicro duals cost v. features they have.

I think i'm gonna dual boot, have fedora core 4 or 6 running and XP, maybe with removable disks too. I'm undecided whether i want MSVM or VMware tho. I'll have to check if the new version of MSVM runs linux.

***EDIT: OMFG!!! These boards are sick! 4 cpu opteron boards 64gb ram!!! <deep breath> Found a tyan tiger k8we ATX $259.00 newegg.com

[HTM~ZenEye]

Dammit Asus just came out with a new dual board and FX-74 chips..... ooooo man i am sorely tempted.... damn.