Should we update/change our dedicated server?

[Sonnie]

We are considering upgrading our dedicated server for www.hometheatershack.com/forums (http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums) that we have through Liquid Web. We generally like to stay just a little ahead of the game (so to speak) when they offer certain specials. Note also that System 1 appears to be far superior to what we have now and the monthly fee is less.

We currently have the following:


Current System
Processor: 2 x Dual-Core AMD Opteron 2212 Processors
Memory: 8GB DDR2 SDRAM
Hd1: 160GB SATA
Hd2: 160GB SATA
RemoteBackup: Guardian Continuous Data Protection (+100GB Storage) (+Guardian MySQL Plugin) (+Guardian CPanel Plugin)
OS: Linux - CentOS 5 (+32 Bit)
ControlPanel: CPanel / Web Host Manager (+ServerSecure) (+Fantastico/XController)
Monthly Fee: $397 /month


We are somewhat slow at the moment (x-mas):

Server Load Averages 0.83 0.47 0.45 | 1,086 Users Online (63 members and 1,023 guests)

http://www.hometheatershack.com/images/serverprochd.gif


We think we have narrowed it down to two systems:


System 1
Processor: Intel Q9400 QUAD CORE
Memory: 8GB DDR2 SDRAM
Hd1: Dual 500GB SATA / Hardware Raid 1
Hd2: 500GB 7200RPM SATA / 8MB Cache
RemoteBackup: Guardian Continuous Data Protection (+100GB Storage) (+Guardian MySQL Plugin) (+Guardian CPanel Plugin)
OS: Linux - CentOS 5 (+32 Bit)
ControlPanel: CPanel / Web Host Manager (+ServerSecure) (+Fantastico/XController)
SetupFee: $350 Setup Fee
Monthly Fee: $384 /month


OR


System 2
Processor: Dual Xeon E5504 Quad Core (Gainstown)
Memory: 8GB DDR RAM
Hd1: 250GB 7200RPM SATA / 8MB Cache
Hd2: 250GB 7200RPM SATA / 8MB Cache
RemoteBackup: Guardian Continuous Data Protection (+100GB Storage) (+Guardian MySQL Plugin) (+Guardian CPanel Plugin)
OS: Linux - CentOS 5 (+64 Bit)
ControlPanel: CPanel / Web Host Manager (+ServerSecure)
Bandwidth: 10000GB Monthly Transfer (5000 in + 5000 out)
SetupFee: $350 Setup Fee
Monthly Fee: $454 /month


I definitely do not see us needing the 500GB Hard Drives in System 1.

I am curious if the Xeon E5504 processor with the 64-bit OS in System 2 will be faster for us than what we have and/or System 1.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

[Joeychgo]

Have you considered buying your server and having it managed? Those prices you quoted seem awfully high.

Thats what I do now. I own my servers and have them managed by www.asmallorange.com (http://www.asmallorange.com)

I buy my servers from Apaq Digital because they are inexpensive and have a good working relationship with ASO. You can see their servers here: http://www.apaqdigital.com/ -- You want a 1U server.

I dont know what they charge new customers for server hosting / management - but I can tell you that your prices look very expensive to me. Your looking at spending $5k for the first year and you dont own anything. I would spend $3k on a server, $150 a month to have it managed and own the server myself.

[Sonnie]

It sounds nice on the surface, but every time I have checked into getting managed support like I get right now, it always comes out to be a LOT more than $150 per month or a LOT less management than what I get now. I want it "FULLY" managed, with me not having to worry about one little thing, because I know absolutely zilch about it, much less have the time to worry with it.

Keep in mind that included in that price is Guardian with continuous backup of the server including MySQL... and I can tell you that came in very handy the other day after a miserably failed attempt to upgrade to vB4. I was able to restore to within minutes of just prior to when the upgrade started. And all I had to do was shoot a message to LW support to restore the backup on xyz site to as close to 10:27pm CST as possible and in 5 minutes is was restored to 10:12pm CST.

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Heroic Support® provides our clients confidence and peace of mind through complete reliability, engineer accessibility and proactive service restoration.

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Our average support request phone call is answered within 20 seconds, with an average electronic support response time of 10 minutes.

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*****************************

At any rate, back to the original topic... if anyone has any thoughts on which system would be best.

Thanks!

[Sonnie]

I did check with several companies on buying and colocating with full management, but the least I could find was $225-$250 per month... and that did not include R1Soft CDP backup, which we really like. None the less, I appreciate the recommendation you made. LiquidWeb ended up giving us a stellar deal for the same we are paying now.

Dual Intel Xeon E5504 Quad Core Processors
12GB DDR3 RAM
Dual 250GB 7,200 RPM SATA II / 8MB Cache (Raid 1) - For server files
Quad 73GB SCSI SAS 15,000 RPM (Hardware Raid 5) - For databases
Linux CentOS 5 (64-bit)
cPanel/WHM w/ ServerSecure and Fantastico/XController
8000GB Tier 1 Bandwidth (4000 in + 4000 out) 100Mbps Port
Guardian Continuous Backup (MySQL Plugin)

By the time I figured the cost over a 24 month period, it worked to be about the same... and with LiquidWeb, we got everything under one roof with no concerns about equipment failure expense.

We feel more comfortable about our system now... and for three years LW has been excellent with support. It is truly hard to give that up.

[kotq8]

Thank you