[Hcoop-discuss] Server pricing

[Justin S. Leitgeb]

Adam Chlipala wrote:

>Justin S. Leitgeb wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Machine A (fileserver): AFSd (or whatever the AFS server process is 
>>called), sshd (but only for admin login), kerberos server?
>>
>>Machine B ("public" services): Cyrus IMAP, httpd (perhaps multiple 
>>copies running to avoid service disruption in case one user needs to 
>>load modules), smtpd (exim), sshd (but only for admin login)
>>
>>Machine C (login server): sshd for normal user access, program 
>>compilation and common shell use
>> 
>>
>>    
>>
>A large part of the benefit from separating Machines B and C comes from 
>not allowing rank-and-file members to run any code on Machine B.  For 
>this reason, I think C needs an Apache as well, for serving dynamic web 
>sites.  Member sites with static content only could be hosted on either 
>B or C.
>
>  
>

Agreed.  Preliminarily I am guessing that this would also help to more 
evenly distribute the processor load over our machines.

>The rest sounds good, modulo my lack of experience with network 
>administration.
>
>  
>

Seems like you're doing a good job so far! :)

>>According to the hardware pricing examples I sent out previously, I 
>>would imagine that machines B and C are something like the Dell 1850's I 
>>suggested, with RAID 1 and 73 GB available space on each.  Machine A 
>>could be ordered without hard disks, and loaded by one of us with SATA 
>>RAID and a bunch of disks.  A hardware SATA RAID controller for this 
>>box, like the 3Com Escalade would be good.  There are 4, 8, and 12 port 
>>options available for this card, so we can talk about which one would be 
>>best for us.
>>
>>    
>>
>We're going to want to have a hardware support contract with our 
>colocation providers, since at this stage we can't afford to have our 
>own techs on hand 24/7 ready to go fix hardware problems.  For that 
>reason, I'm thinking that it will probably make the most sense to choose 
>our hardware in consultation with our provider and have them order and 
>install it.  We don't want to host any hardware that they wouldn't be 
>familiar with.  It's also likely that companies in this space get 
>discounts for bulk ordering.
>
>  
>
I agree that we should consult with the hosting provider before we send 
them particular machines.  We'll have to see how the hosting provider we 
choose handles this, though, as some of the shops I've seen have the 
user configure the box and send it to the colo provider.  Then they 
basically just plug it in and make sure it's ping-able before handing it 
over to the user.

We'll have to talk about this as we get closer to setting up machines.  
Everything else sounds good!