Colocation FAQ
Ok, so you've clicked this link because your thinking of colocating
a server but your not sure of what to expect or the questions you
should be asking yourself to ensure things go smoothly. Below we've
done our best to ask and answer those questions for you. Some of
you may be aware of various issues, however we recommend you at
least skim through this document.
Hardware
Other
What case can I put in a rack?
While looking for a host for your Internet server you may of seen
many mentions of Us, such as prices charged per U of rack space
taken. A server rack is an enclosure that has 4 vertical supports
that equipment may be bolted to. A U (Universal measurement) is
roughly 1.75 inches. You usually use rackmount cases for servers
going into a rack. The typical rackmount case is roughly 19 inches
wide, 19 inches in depth, then the height is measured in Us. The
height of a case affects what you can put in the case in terms of
hard disk drives and expansion cards.
In our experience 1U servers can be more problematic to build,
perhaps you should consider buying a pre built server if you
want a 1U case. We recommend Dell systems which we can supply
at a very competitive price, please
contact us.
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What motherboards can I use in a rackmount
case?
We recommend you stick to either mico or Flex ATX mother boards.
It is literally guaranteed they will not cause any complications
when building a server. If you are building a 1U server we recommend
you get a board with everything on-board including graphics and
network. The only all in one motherboard that is of any use tends
to be those of the Intel range. Other all in one motherboards seem
to be a little slow in our experience.
Alternatively if your not using RAID etc get any motherboard with
just graphics and/or sound built in. Then buy a nice D-Link network
card that has four ports. They are a little expensive but at the
end of the day you have plenty of network connections. (see "Network
adapters" in "Special considerations" below).
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Special considerations for rackmount cases.
1U Case
Usually hold one PCI expansion card, some hold two at a squeeze,
its usually hit or miss depending on how high the components are
on the card. The cards are put on a special riser card that slots
in the first PCI slot on the mother board.
Can house two hard disk drives.
Must have a low profile copper CPU heat sink. Best ask the case
retailer about this.
2U Case
Usually hold two PCI expansion cards or three at a squeeze. The
cards are put on a special riser card that slots in the first PCI
slot on the mother board, hence the PCI cards are at 90 degrees,
parallel with the motherboard. BEWARE, if you wish to use the maximum
three expansion cards in this case check with the mother board retailer
that the first PCI slot can take three PCI cards (has three interrupts).
The problem is the first PCI slot was often used for the graphics
card. E.G., if the mother board has 5 PCI slots then the first two
would be on one PCI bus while the remaining three PCI slots were
on a second PCI bus. This was done to give the graphics card as
much bandwidth as possible.
Usually holds two hard disk drives
Most heat sinks are ok, watch out for the oversized heat sinks
on the latest processors, especially Athlons, it may not fit.
3U Case
This case is not so common as its a bit of a limbo size. Its capabilities
are much the same as a two U case except you need not worry about
the CPU heat-sink and it often holds more hard disk drives.
4U Case
Believe it or not, this case is about the same size as your typical
desktop case. This means there are no special considerations other
than those when building your own desktop PC.
If you wish to use a desktop case on its side remember the host
may or may not charge you for 5U of rack space used as the case
may have to sit on its own shelf. The shelf takes one U of rack
space.
Hard Disks
I know buying a high speed disk drive may be too much of
a temptation but remember one thing, HEAT. A server that runs
day in day out without being switched off will enjoy a life
much longer than your typical desktop PC. However heat is
a killer. 15,000 RPM hard disk drives get very hot. We tend
to use 10,000 RPM hard disk drives in our servers as the speed
is just not needed nor worth it.
Network Adapters
Its best your server have two network adapters. If one goes down
then it would not take long to simply have the network connector
plugged into the other card. You may have a connection to our private
LAN within the rack which is free to use. Perhaps in the future,
you will have two servers in the rack, it would then be possible
to let them talk to each other for free. I.E. backup to each other.
Also you may choose to use the backup service provided by the owners
of the facility our rack resides in.
Processors
The only real consideration regarding processors is heat.
Take a look at the various benchmarks. Remember, most CPU
fans are cheap, tatty and most certainly not designed to run
much more than twelve months, although in a low dust rack
environment its more likely they will function for around
two years.
If your building an application server or perhaps a site with an
extensive database then a pentium would be best, however don't be
tempted to buy the fastest available simply because you can! Many
branded servers such as Dell and IBM do not use the fastest processors
available. Many satellites and space bound equipment even today
only use P2 equivalent processors as they are more robust and reliable
than the latest cutting-edge range.
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What is the maximum depth of a server in your
racks?
We have full Dell standard racks.
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What is the term of your contract?
With our "Pay as you go" price plan we ask for one full
month's notice (28 days) when you wish to leave. All our other price
plans have a three month notice period.
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Please contact us if you require
further information or sugest additional faqs that we could
add to this section.
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