14-03-2014, 08:05 AM
1
Marvellous Server Technology
I have in my possession 5 servers but only one is active at the moment. This active beast is a HP DL380G5 - 2x QC 2.66GHZ (X5355) - 4GB RAM - P400 256MB BBWC. This server has at least 2 of most things - 2 power supplies - 2 processors and so on, plus a lot of cooling fans. What is remarkable about this server is the ability to swap components whilst the server is STILL RUNNING.I became aware of a problem on Wednesday and on inspecting the server 2 hard drives were flickering green and red. Apparently this is a warning that they were on their way out - as in faulty but not yet packed in. This gave me time to back up all the data, which I did.
This server has 4 easily accessible 72GB 15000 RPM SAS hard drives which slot into the front. I had another spare server so I had 4 spare hard drives in caddies to hand. All I had to do was remove one faulty hard drive at a time and replace with a good one WHILST THE SERVER WAS RUNNING! This is allowed as these hard drives are HOT SWAPPABLE. Once the new hard drive is in place the Raid system built into the server rebuilds the data. Once that process was complete I swapped the other faulty hard drive over. No disruption to my websites at all whilst this was going on.
These servers are meant to be on all the time so not only are the hard drives hot swappable but so are the power supplies and internal fans - you just pull them out and replace whilst the server is running.
Quite amazing really when you consider I only paid £150 for it off Ebay
. Mind you they cost £1000s new.Front View
There are 3 hard drives in use on the server above whereas mine has 4. They are on the right where a total of 8 can be fitted.
Internal View
Notice all the fans in a bank at the front and behind the hard drives ensuring a lot of air circulates throughout. These spin up to a high speed when required as they are high quality 7,200 rpm fans.
14-03-2014, 08:42 AM
3
Re: Marvellous Server Technology
Originally Posted by Alan Cooke
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You've lost me Mark old buddy.
A hard drive failure on a home computer requires a lot of work to fix. You have to dismantle the computer to get at the hard drive, which is bad enough, but after that you have to reinstall everything which can take a considerable amount of time, whereas my server was fixed in just minutes.
You could, of course, have a home computer that uses Raid (hard drive control) but these are few and far between; bit of a custom job really.
I suppose it all comes down to cost at the end of the day.
14-03-2014, 11:34 AM
4
Re: Marvellous Server Technology
Originally Posted by MKJ
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Well the point I was trying to make, in my rather long winded way, was how very similar servers and home computers are yet not so similar in how they operate or are built. A hard drive failure on a home computer requires a lot of work to fix. You have to dismantle the computer to get at the hard drive, which is bad enough, but after that you have to reinstall everything which can take a considerable amount of time, whereas my server was fixed in just minutes.
You could, of course, have a home computer that uses Raid (hard drive control) but these are few and far between; bit of a custom job really.
I suppose it all comes down to cost at the end of the day.
All modern servers and NAS has hard drives set up in a RAID mode (depending on how many drives) but for a home computer that is totally unnecessary, slow and wasteful.
These days new servers and NAS can be bought for a few hundred dollars because the operating systems are effectively free and there is no need for accessories; there are even HD specifically designed for that use eg WD Red HD drives.
That's my NAS it has four 3TB drives several USB 3 ports and sits in a cupboard, it even turns itself on and off but the drives are behind the front door in cassettes so they can be removed 'live' It reports the temperature of all the components and varies the fans speed accordingly
14-03-2014, 12:07 PM
5
Re: Marvellous Server Technology
You might have installed a hard drive in minutes but how long to get the operating system back on?I have to look after my own and family computers and the hard drive access on some is a pain in the rear. I suspect all your gear is state of the art but that isn't the case with many computer owners where I live.
Raid maybe wasteful but it sure isn't slow. In fact many of the configurations allow data to be accessed much faster than IDE. Wasteful I grant you as 2 of my server drives are just mirroring the other 2 but for data security this is a godsend.
That NAS looks a cracking bit of kit though I can't see that costing just a few hundred dollars?
The 'old' servers I have are marvellous computers and well built, though very heavy. Amazes me how cheap such stuff is on Ebay. Configuring it though is where people fail as it can take a bit of doing to install software such as ubuntu server, which is totally command line driven, but having done so a number of times I can handle it and fix problems when, or if, they arise, though I generally leave well alone; 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' type of approach.
14-03-2014, 11:37 PM
9
Re: Marvellous Server Technology
Originally Posted by MKJ
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You might have installed a hard drive in minutes but how long to get the operating system back on?That NAS looks a cracking bit of kit though I can't see that costing just a few hundred dollars?
The NAS was under $500
15-03-2014, 08:31 AM
10
Re: Marvellous Server Technology
Originally Posted by Azz
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Yes 
I had a massive video site at one time with a huge amount of traffic - something like 3-5 million page loads a month - something silly anyway and I had to move to a dedictated server and it wasn't cheap. My HOME server on the other hand is more or less totally FREE
, though I don't run that video site on it but it would run it if required.
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