implementing RAID on WEB server

unearthed · 12-07-2007, 12:56 PM

Hello,

So I'm planning to build a WEB server on Debian, and currently having in mind only these specs:
CPU - 2xXeon 5335 S771 (1333/8MB)
RAM - 4GB FBDIMM ECC
MB - not yet decided, but smth between Supermicro and Intel on S771.
HDDs - 4 x SAS 15k 73GB
RAID - that's where the uncertainty starts.
The server will run Apache+PHP+MySQL+email+ftp(private)+dns and some other services. Of course 'reading' will have bigger privilege. And of course I'm in need of an effective RAID array. There are several questions that disturb me. Should I use RAID5 or RAID10 considering my 4 HDDs? I have been told that RAID10 is slightly faster and RAID5 is very slow in writing. If I decide to use RAID5 it's much better having separate RAID controller, having it's own cache and XOR processor. I can't waste more than $400 for it, so I have been advised to use Adaptec 3405 SAS 4port controller with 128MB cache. But maybe it's just a waste of money and it will be enough to use RAID10 on built-in(aka fakeRAID) SAS controller, since RAID10 doesn't need heavy calculations? RAID5 logical disk will be bigger than RAID10's but I'm not running for a disk-space(140GB is enough for me). Or maybe I SHOULD use separate controller with RAID10, cause I will have monitoring & diagnostic possibilities etc. How Debian will react on all of these issues or maybe he evenly supports everything mentioned in this topic? I'm lost at this point and seek for a suggestion or maybe someone can share his experience? What linux users prefer?

P.S. I remember Apache2 had problems with PHP extensions, due to it's thread nature, but since I will have 8 cores I think Apache2 will get an advantage of it over Apache1.3, is it right?

P.P.S. Intel released new 45nm processors lately, maybe it's worth to wait?

Thanks to everyone in advance!

dyasny · 12-07-2007, 01:26 PM

a proper raid controller beats fakeraid on any level. though for linux I'd go for 3ware and not adaptec.
anyhow, why are you thinking so much when there are excellent dell and hp servers stacked with everything out there?

unearthed · 12-07-2007, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyasny

a proper raid controller beats fakeraid on any level. though for linux I'd go for 3ware and not adaptec.
anyhow, why are you thinking so much when there are excellent dell and hp servers stacked with everything out there?

Well it's not always true about fakeraid (in some occasions it doesn't lose that much at least). In what criteria 3ware is better than adaptec? But I guess you mean driver support. In my opinion self-build servers gives you some knowledge and experience and are much cheaper than branded servers, and I economy about 30% of it's price.

dyasny · 12-07-2007, 02:15 PM

yeah, driver support especially.

and as for self built servers - I've been doing that for a very long time, until I started working at the more serious companies. maybe it's just my experience, but the brand is usually worth it in TCO, and the difference isn't that enormous

unearthed · 12-07-2007, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyasny

as for self built servers - I've been doing that for a very long time, until I started working at the more serious companies. maybe it's just my experience, but the brand is usually worth it in TCO, and the difference isn't that enormous

Just have taken as an example:

Code:

HP DL380R05 E5335 QC 1P/8M 2G P400	        $ 3301.64
---------------------------------------------------------
Intel XEON 5335	                                 $ 386.56
2GB 667MHZ DDR2 ECC FULLY BUFFERED CL5 D	 $ 115.16
INTEL SERVER BOARD S5000PSLSATA INT.6 	         $ 571.36
HP SMART ARRAY P400/256 CONTROLLER	         $ 576.78

The difference is 1651$ , its 50% of the price. Well I havent included server case, but I dont think it can cost so much. I have a feeling that I'm paying over 1k bucks for the brand and my lazyness - that's why I'm dropping these ideas.