Suggestion about a new server

[davis143]

Hi friends,
I am a beginner webmaster. I plan to host a website on my own server. Since, I am a beginner, I need some help from you. What I need is some suggestions on the following things:

1. Which model server (brand, model etc) do you suggest?
2. What should be the minimum connection speed of the internet connection?
3. Which Operating System is considered to be the best to use?
4. Additional suggestions, if any!

Hope you will help me!

 

[davis143]

Why no reply???? Nobody likes to help me????

 

[zeocyteweb50]

I suggest using IBM servers. Their reliable and packed with heavy-duty performance. Even only considering IBM's good reputation instantly fills up the list.

 

[Smith6612]

Hi friends,
I am a beginner webmaster. I plan to host a website on my own server. Since, I am a beginner, I need some help from you. What I need is some suggestions on the following things:

1. Which model server (brand, model etc) do you suggest?
2. What should be the minimum connection speed of the internet connection?
3. Which Operating System is considered to be the best to use?
4. Additional suggestions, if any!

Hope you will help me!

I can only answer 2 and 3 by getting information on what you are wanting to do. Brand doesn't really matter honestly in my view, as for the most part you don't need something that's going to be bulletproof since it's going to be in a data center anyhow, even though IBM does make some very nice servers. Many Datacenters these days if they aren't buying Dell PowerEdge, HP, or IBM servers are generally building their own from scratch. For number 2, most data centers when you co-locate your server give you an option of what speed of connectivity you want your server to get. Generally, 10Mbps in/out is minimum and can go to Gigabit connectivity if your server supports it (most servers should do Gigabit these days anyhow). For a small site, 10Mbps is probably all you need. 100Mbps would be a good spot to start off with though, considering how fast connections are getting these days. Heck my DSL is fast enough to max a 10Mbps port any day.

Option 3 is dependent on what you want to run on the server too. Linux is the most widely used operating system for servers on the Internet; RedHat and CentOS tend to be the names that pop up a lot for distributions. For the most part, unless you absolutely need to pay for Windows Server 2003/2008 for running ASP code or special EXE files that won't run nicely on Linux, just stick with Linux. Preferably, if you know what you're doing you can build the Server Operating system from scratch, starting with the Kernel and installing only what is needed to run your server. Keeps resource usage low and also cuts down on the amount of work needed to go in to maintain excess software.

 

[cybrax]

Any old PC can function as a web server, in the past I've used old Pentium II and III machines with as little as 128Mb of RAM on 1MB broadband. Some have even had success on dial up connections and 3G mobile internet dongles. The newer range of android smart phones also have the capability to become basic HTML web site servers. More recently we had a trio of iMac G3's running several sites from domestic broadband, we liked these a lot as being convection cooled with no noisy fans made them ideal for leaving on all the time at home. Picked them up through the Freecycle network so did not cost us a penny to get them.

As for operating systems, some flavour of Linux running the Apache server software would probably give the best all round performance and stability. You might want to look at Ubuntu as it's completely free. The macs did come with their own web server software (all have it by default) but it's not overly good so installed Abyss web server software. Abyss and Apache can also be installed onto machines running windows.

Power consumption also becomes an issue when running 24/7 , if the motherboard supports booting from USB or CD then you may wish to consider running the OS and web site in the RAM with USB stoarage for the database if you're using one.

How come the desire to run home server?

 

[davis143]

Thanks for the support and suggestions!
As a beginner, I am with a very little knowledge of servers. Anyway, Thank you guys!

 

[hairinvegas93]

1. The minimum connection speed of the internet connection should be at least 10 to 15mb down or higher if you could afford it.
2. The best OS would be eather windows 7, or something called centOS Linux.
3. The best computer brand would be Dell at Dell.com

Hope this helps I am a pro at these things.

 

[benleeder16]

You dont need to spend a lot an a specialised server. I have run a 2Ghz AMD athon xp with 1gb of ram and a 80gb hd from my home broadband and it worked flawlessly. I reccommend Ubuntu server 10.04 LTS as it is very easy to install and configure. Here is a link of some simple ways to get up and running http://www.server-world.info/en/note?os=Ubuntu_10.04&p=install.

This is how i set up my email server. http://www.howtoforge.com/virtual-users-domains-postfix-courier-mysql-squirrelmail-ubuntu-10.04 It uses mysql to hold users and domains. and your ISPs SMTP server to send mail out if you set the relayhost option in /etc/postfix/main.conf so that your mail doesn't get rejected by other mail servers.

 

[conzone]

Depends on how much to want to do but Dell makes nice servers