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Posted to modperl@perl.apache.org by Bill Moseley <mo...@hank.org> on 2000/08/01 23:01:55 UTC
[OT] The $64K question/server hardware
Hi,
I'm not sure why, but someone asked me to review a bid they received for a
server to run their site. That's where the $64,000 USD part comes from.
Whew!
This is not a commerce site (it's a .org), and unlikely to get slashdotted.
24/7 is nice, but it's not the end of the world if the server is down for
12 hours. The server is normally running about 1.5 hits/second with about
30 10MB mod_perl processes. Low database activity. So I imagine an $800
PC running linux could do the job -- saving $63,200 in the process ;).
Anyway, I've read the Guide on this issue again, and I've looked over the
High-Availability Linux Project, but I was wondering if anyone knew of
links or had experience with building a nice small inexpensive and reliable
server for running mod_perl. Frankly, A single CPU P550 running Linux with
1G RAM and a couple fast SCSI drives (and some decent ISP connectivity)
would more than do the job. But what do I know! Do mod_perl programmers
know hardware?
So, I'm not looking for any specific advice, or do I want to discuss the
maintenance issues, but just some basic ideas on hardware, or pointers to
links you might have found useful.
Like: "I'm running a P550 with 1G, ultra-wide SCSI and 10 hits/second and
never see any load problem."
or "Check out this link and see how to run two inexpensive boxes in
parallel to maintain 100% uptime and you even don't have to worry about
tape backup."
or "No, it's worth running RAID with hot-swappable disks and power supplies."
or "I'll set up that server for $64,000!!" (no, sorry, I'm first in line
for that job...)
Thanks,
Bill Moseley
mailto:moseley@hank.org
Re: [OT] The $64K question/server hardware
Posted by "Erich L. Markert" <em...@pace.edu>.
I've been using a dual processor, PIII 400+ Mhz Dell PowerEdge server
that has 512MB RAM 2 9GB SCSI drives running Redhat Linux, Apache,
mod_perl, HTML::Embperl and it's been working like a champ.
Price tag: $8000
Not to plug Dell but they have some really nice server offerings and now
fully support Linux as well...
___cliff rayman___ wrote:
>
> i am running a PII 350 w/128mg ram and SCSI-2 7200rpm harddrives.
> i put out as many at 12K page views a day, nothing compared to Ask at Valueclick,
> although my pages are kind of big - about 60K worth.
> all of my pages have dynamic content rendered with mod_perl and Embperl and I
> suppress browser caching anytime the customer has an active cart. only the gifs
> and jpegs are static.
> the checkout process is all SSL of course.
>
> i have not yet set-up the reverse proxying etc. on the tuits list.
>
> unless i am running some kind of maintenance (log analysis) etc., this system is
> always over 90% idle and never uses the swap space.
>
> keystone was trying to sell me their monitoring and testing service and they
> pounded on the machine for a couple of weeks, and it came through with flying
> colors. always showing very small error rates and responses rates in the 90th
> percentile.
>
> so, i intended this as a starter system, and i was expecting have to upgrade.
> but, it looks like it will make another season before it becomes another
> firewall, honeypot or internal server.
>
> --
> ___cliff rayman___cliff@genwax.com___http://www.genwax.com/
> Bill Moseley wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm not sure why, but someone asked me to review a bid they received for a
> > server to run their site. That's where the $64,000 USD part comes from.
> > Whew!
> >
> > This is not a commerce site (it's a .org), and unlikely to get slashdotted.
> > 24/7 is nice, but it's not the end of the world if the server is down for
> > 12 hours. The server is normally running about 1.5 hits/second with about
> > 30 10MB mod_perl processes. Low database activity. So I imagine an $800
> > PC running linux could do the job -- saving $63,200 in the process ;).
> >
> > Anyway, I've read the Guide on this issue again, and I've looked over the
> > High-Availability Linux Project, but I was wondering if anyone knew of
> > links or had experience with building a nice small inexpensive and reliable
> > server for running mod_perl. Frankly, A single CPU P550 running Linux with
> > 1G RAM and a couple fast SCSI drives (and some decent ISP connectivity)
> > would more than do the job. But what do I know! Do mod_perl programmers
> > know hardware?
> >
> > So, I'm not looking for any specific advice, or do I want to discuss the
> > maintenance issues, but just some basic ideas on hardware, or pointers to
> > links you might have found useful.
> >
> > Like: "I'm running a P550 with 1G, ultra-wide SCSI and 10 hits/second and
> > never see any load problem."
> >
> > or "Check out this link and see how to run two inexpensive boxes in
> > parallel to maintain 100% uptime and you even don't have to worry about
> > tape backup."
> >
> > or "No, it's worth running RAID with hot-swappable disks and power supplies."
> >
> > or "I'll set up that server for $64,000!!" (no, sorry, I'm first in line
> > for that job...)
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Bill Moseley
> > mailto:moseley@hank.org
--
__________________________________________________________
Mr. Erich L. Markert emarkert@pace.edu
Computer Learning Center TEL (914)422-4328
Pace University
1 Martine Ave
White Plains, New York 10606-1932
Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.
-- Henry Spencer
Re: [OT] The $64K question/server hardware
Posted by Ajit Deshpande <aj...@skycorp.net>.
On Tue, Aug 01, 2000 at 02:32:52PM -0700, ___cliff rayman___ wrote:
> [ .. snip .. ]
Since this has potential for becoming another long thread with people
posting their stories and some other people flaming for not doing things
in a certain way, I have suggestions for this monster thread in the
making:
1. Everyone post information in the format at the end of this mail
2. Send it in a private e-mail to me if confidentiality is a problem
(or pick someone you trust, more than me, and have them e-mail it
to me :)
3. I will consolidate the information and dash it off to Ask or whoever
maintains the perl.apache.org
What do ye think?
Ajit
Format for posting information:
1. Setup :
for example:
- Single modperl server on one host, apache 1.3.12, mod_proxy
- One modperl, one front-end proxy on one host, apache 1.3.12,
mod_perl 1.24
- Multiple modperl and multiple hosts
2. Average hits/day . Peak hits/second.
3. CPU details
for example:
- Front end proxy on PII 333
- Modperl-enabled httpd on PIII 550
- MySql/Oracle DB on Quad Xeon PIII 550 (Wow! :)
4. Memory details:
for example:
- Front end proxy with 128 Mb
- Modperl-enabled httpd with 256 Mb
- MySql/Oracle DB with 2Gb
5. Storage details:
for example:
- 10,000 RPM Ultra-wide SCSI discs on all hosts
- Root partition for each server on 1.2 Gb IDE
- Session stuff on NFS mounted NetApp (!)
- D/B disk on EMC sub-system (!)
6. Kind of content:
- 70% dynamic, d/b driven, 20% static, 10% images
- All dynamic except images
7. Publication of the site:
- http://www.foo.com OR Author does not wish to divulge
- Intranet site, not accessible from public internet
- In production since Aug-99
- Primary contact : foo@bazz.org OR Author does not wish to divulge
Re: [OT] The $64K question/server hardware
Posted by ___cliff rayman___ <cl...@genwax.com>.
i am running a PII 350 w/128mg ram and SCSI-2 7200rpm harddrives.
i put out as many at 12K page views a day, nothing compared to Ask at Valueclick,
although my pages are kind of big - about 60K worth.
all of my pages have dynamic content rendered with mod_perl and Embperl and I
suppress browser caching anytime the customer has an active cart. only the gifs
and jpegs are static.
the checkout process is all SSL of course.
i have not yet set-up the reverse proxying etc. on the tuits list.
unless i am running some kind of maintenance (log analysis) etc., this system is
always over 90% idle and never uses the swap space.
keystone was trying to sell me their monitoring and testing service and they
pounded on the machine for a couple of weeks, and it came through with flying
colors. always showing very small error rates and responses rates in the 90th
percentile.
so, i intended this as a starter system, and i was expecting have to upgrade.
but, it looks like it will make another season before it becomes another
firewall, honeypot or internal server.
--
___cliff rayman___cliff@genwax.com___http://www.genwax.com/
Bill Moseley wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm not sure why, but someone asked me to review a bid they received for a
> server to run their site. That's where the $64,000 USD part comes from.
> Whew!
>
> This is not a commerce site (it's a .org), and unlikely to get slashdotted.
> 24/7 is nice, but it's not the end of the world if the server is down for
> 12 hours. The server is normally running about 1.5 hits/second with about
> 30 10MB mod_perl processes. Low database activity. So I imagine an $800
> PC running linux could do the job -- saving $63,200 in the process ;).
>
> Anyway, I've read the Guide on this issue again, and I've looked over the
> High-Availability Linux Project, but I was wondering if anyone knew of
> links or had experience with building a nice small inexpensive and reliable
> server for running mod_perl. Frankly, A single CPU P550 running Linux with
> 1G RAM and a couple fast SCSI drives (and some decent ISP connectivity)
> would more than do the job. But what do I know! Do mod_perl programmers
> know hardware?
>
> So, I'm not looking for any specific advice, or do I want to discuss the
> maintenance issues, but just some basic ideas on hardware, or pointers to
> links you might have found useful.
>
> Like: "I'm running a P550 with 1G, ultra-wide SCSI and 10 hits/second and
> never see any load problem."
>
> or "Check out this link and see how to run two inexpensive boxes in
> parallel to maintain 100% uptime and you even don't have to worry about
> tape backup."
>
> or "No, it's worth running RAID with hot-swappable disks and power supplies."
>
> or "I'll set up that server for $64,000!!" (no, sorry, I'm first in line
> for that job...)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Moseley
> mailto:moseley@hank.org
Re: [OT] The $64K question/server hardware
Posted by Matt Sergeant <ma...@sergeant.org>.
On Tue, 1 Aug 2000, Bill Moseley wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm not sure why, but someone asked me to review a bid they received for a
> server to run their site. That's where the $64,000 USD part comes from.
> Whew!
>
> This is not a commerce site (it's a .org), and unlikely to get slashdotted.
> 24/7 is nice, but it's not the end of the world if the server is down for
> 12 hours. The server is normally running about 1.5 hits/second with about
> 30 10MB mod_perl processes. Low database activity. So I imagine an $800
> PC running linux could do the job -- saving $63,200 in the process ;).
>
> Anyway, I've read the Guide on this issue again, and I've looked over the
> High-Availability Linux Project, but I was wondering if anyone knew of
> links or had experience with building a nice small inexpensive and reliable
> server for running mod_perl. Frankly, A single CPU P550 running Linux with
> 1G RAM and a couple fast SCSI drives (and some decent ISP connectivity)
> would more than do the job. But what do I know! Do mod_perl programmers
> know hardware?
>
> So, I'm not looking for any specific advice, or do I want to discuss the
> maintenance issues, but just some basic ideas on hardware, or pointers to
> links you might have found useful.
>
> Like: "I'm running a P550 with 1G, ultra-wide SCSI and 10 hits/second and
> never see any load problem."
I'm running a P550 with 256M, IDE and 1.5 hits/second behind a 64Kbit
leased line and I never see any load problem... ;-)
I run 3 httpds. And Sybase.
--
<Matt/>
Fastnet Software Ltd. High Performance Web Specialists
Providing mod_perl, XML, Sybase and Oracle solutions
Email for training and consultancy availability.
http://sergeant.org | AxKit: http://axkit.org