[Hcoop-discuss] Next hardware configuration

[ntk at hcoop.net]

>>Why do you think that we can't set multiple servers up at once?
>>
> I just thought that it would be too costly.  If we can afford to have a
> more robust setup from the start, I'm all for it.

I think if we're setting a target of about a year to have a new setup up
and running, it is realistic to have enough money to do it all in a go. 
Besides existing resources and setting dues above costs to save money for
the coop, another possibility is that members who are able can loan the
coop money by putting in a big balances, of say a few hundred dollars.

The nice thing about collocation is that we can host three servers on a
rack much cheaper than renting three separate dedicated servers.  For
instance, Simpli charges $595 for 4U with *unmetered* 10Mbps
bandwidth--vastly more than we're using now.  If they really did give us a
20=30% discount, that might be around $450/month.  If we doubled our
membership, (and I expect we can do better than that), that would cost no
more per person than we pay now, with a setup that kicks fyodor and
abulafia's asses.  Of course we would also have to invest in hardware to
fill up those U.  So we would have the fun task of figuring out the ideal
hardware configurations for each server.  However I would advise not to
skimp on the hardware, because in the long run hosting charges will cost
much more.  So we should use reliable, solid components, and huge disks
(ideally with hardware RAID mirroring), to prevent downtime and to allow
for growth.

Just throwing this out there, but what do you tech folks think about using
alternate architectures, say Sun Fire servers?  At least for the main
static web/mail server, perhaps for the file server, and then some solid
Intel server for the login node?

-ntk