On Monday 24 January 2005 21:33, Minnie Lau wrote: > Hi! > > I am trying to buy a PC (rack mount) to work as a server, and I am planning > to install Linux Kernel 2.6 on it. Does anyone know if the following > hardware (if so, what brand name) will work with Linux Kernel 2.6: > > 1. Hard Drive: SCSI Raid 1 Why scsi? You can get a 3ware 4port controller and 4 sata disks for the same price as a hardware scsi raid controller - more capacity, virtually same speed for small accesses, better speed for large volume... Unless you're pushing the limits of a server to the max, its usually a waste. 10+ drives and it might be worthwhile but then you might as well go to fibre... > 2. USB 2.0 pretty much standard - so any should work. So far haven't had any issues. > 3. Video Adapter (what type?) If its really a server then you'll most likely get a server board that has most likely an ATI Rage 8MB integrated. Otherwise, get the cheapest ati, nvidia or whatever card - in a server it doesn't matter :-) > 4. Network Adapter (what type?) We usually use Intel without any issues, but others are out there too. Many recommend staying away from BMC (Broadcom) as they refuse to support opensource linux driver development (they have proprietary ones that seem pretty outdated). > 5. Processor (what type?) That's more of a religious question than anything else... Single CPU you got a choice between athlon64 or P4.. if you want dual (or see the need to upgrade soon) opteron or xeon. P4 and athlon64 have similar performance - depending on what you do one might lead or the other... P4 is usually a little more expensive. Opteron usually wins over a xeon but while you can find a Xeon board with normal unbuffered dimms, the opteron's integrated memory controller requires registered memory - therefore pricier. Of course both AMD solutions give you 64bit capability which is always geeky and fun to play with but might or might not give you advantages depending on your apps. Either way it doesn't really matter for the stability and compatibility point of view - they both work just fine. Peter.
