Next year, I want to build a server. It will have several virtual machines on it, and it needs lots of RAM. But finding a motherboard with more than 4 DDR3 slots is proving difficult. I was thinking of using an AMD rig but seeing as I might need extra cores - hyperthreading would be useful. The server will be on software RAID 5, and will (hopefully) run the following things on different VMs: - Samba VM for filesharing and user logon - Apache server for web hosting (mainly testing) - Email server? I'm still toying with this idea - Minecraft server. This won't be on all the time though - SSH gateway. This could in theory be linked with the Samba server (for user logons), or the proxy. - Proxy server. If linked with the SSH gateway this would be the only access to the internet. Also could turn the machine into a router - this would be dealing with both NICs. Somewhere on there there will be a MySQL server, I could link it with the Apache machine but the Minecraft server will use it, so another VM for that? This is where you see the benefits of more threads and more RAM. The entire thing will run on OpenVZ. It uses container-based virtualization, so only about 3% performance loss. Also, can a system boot on RAID 5? I have heard that it can't - in which case there will be a RAID 1 or RAID 0 boot partition across the drives.
Around £500, if I can get away with it. Update on the RAM though - I found a kit on scan that has 2 x 4GB modules, so I could potentially fit 16GB in a standard 4 slot mobo. Which is plenty. So returning to the original question, should I get a hyperthreaded CPU? If not, then would it be sensible to get a dual core Athlon or Phenom then try unlocking it? Or have the batches become worse? The current build stands at this: - AMD Phenom II x4 840 - Asus M4A88T-M - 8GB (2x4GB) Corsair XMS3 1333MHz - 3x Western Digital Blue 1TB SATA III (SATA II is more expensive) - Corsair CX500 (500W) Case will be commandeered from an old Compaq, but I will change out the fans to quieten it down. I understand that this is a very bad case but money is quite tight and I don't have room for another £70 case. And anyways - this is a server, so it can't make that much noise... Will the PSU be enough? Also, if I were to set this up as an intermediate gateway between the internet and the network (a router) then it would be good to have a second NIC. A network card is possible, but are there any mobos out there with 2 LAN ports and support for the rest of the hardware? The mobo doesn't need to support SATA III, I just selected those HDDs because they are cheaper than their SATA II counterparts. I was recommended the Western Digitals through another thread 6 months back, as the poster claimed that they were quieter than equivalent Samsungs. Any opinions on this? The WDs are £7 more expensive than the Samsungs.
If it's not till next year then there isnt much point in specing the rig now You should wait for AMDs line up.
