Choosing your Hardware

    The first step in a long line of choices that you will need to make, this is the most important choice to make (and most expensive).  Well, for a single server, there are a few things to know that can make that choice easier.  First off, if you plan on running a database on the same server, plan on AT LEAST 2gb of RAM (4gb would be nice).  Next, for a live server, ALWAYS use SCSI and hardware RAID 1 (mirroring).  It's worth the extra expense for the reliability and speed that SCSI and RAID provide.  Also, make sure that your server supports hot swapping the hard drives (so you can swap a bad hard drive while the server is running).   As far as processing power goes, my recommendation is this: Get more than you need now, and more than you plan on needing in a year.  If coming from a shared environment, you'll want to look at a P4 or greater as your minimum processor requirements.  If coming from a VPS, where you maxed out the CPU (like me), definitely look for dual processors, preferably dual - dual core processors.  

Choosing your Operating System

    This is another tricky choice.  At first glance it may seem straight forward and easy.  Keep this in mind before making the choice:   If you are using hardware RAID, does your OS have drivers for it. or do you need proprietary drivers?  The x335 series uses proprietary drivers, which are only available for RHEL, and SUSE.  Now both of those distributions cost over $300 for a license.  So, I found CentOS, which is basically a free and compatible version of RHEL.  the other thing to consider, is the kernel version.  Do not use a kernel version less than 2.6 for a web server.  When using Lighttpd, the 2.6 kernel adds some extreme speed and efficiency gains.  

Choosing your Host

    When looking for collocation options, they are as vaired as cars.  There are a few things to consider before making the choice.  First off, is the bandwidth.  Are they using multiple providers for their high speed bandwidth?  Will they provide you with redundant Ethernet feeds (separate routers and providers)?  How much bandwidth (both base and burstable) will they give you?  Next you need to think about power.  Do they provide you with a UPS protected outlet?  Do they have generator backup?  There are a couple of other things to consider.  Do they have redundant Air Conditioning systems?  Is their datacenter secured?  Do they provide Halon (or similar) Fire protection? Do they have a downtime guarantee?  Will they provide you with 24/7 access to your server?  If the answer to any of these questions is NO (except the how much bandwidth one), find somewhere else to host your server.  Also, look into how much their remote hands service costs (so you don't need to drive out there to restart your server).

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Comments (1)

burstable??? what kind of species is that?
written by bobthebob01, May 19, 2007

Hi ircmaxell

Could you explain what "burstable" mean? you see that word associated with bandwidth and ram on hosting service tech spec.
Does it mean the bandwidth or amount of ram can go up to that value only if needed?

thanks
julien

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