Server...

[.Simon.]

ok guys, me and my mate have decided we want to build a server computer (turn a desktop into a server).

we are gonna start from scratch, so could someone give me a list of parts and software that we WILL DEFINENTLY need?

cheers in advance if someone can come up with somthing.

[NaughtyPerry]

What is it for?

[Steve]

yeah most important piece of info

[.Simon.]

umm well my mate wants to use it to host games servers like black hawk down, counterstrike etc.

it would mainly be used to host counterstrike, maybe we would sell parts off for webhosting or somthing of the like

[zaitsev]

also depeneds what space its going to go into, 1u? 2u? 3u? mini? midi? full? also game servers and website servers dont go together, when the games server is full your websites will load extremelly slow especially if they are mysql driven. also we will need a budget for what you are willing to spend?

[-Tigger-]

also your internet connection is vital, you cant run a decent server on a 256k upload .

[.Simon.]

lol i think im at least 500+k

and i didnt understand the other post so im thinking i shouldnt do what i want too coz ill get really confused.

doubt it will go ahead anyway, coz we aint got that much money, we wud just save for it.

[-Tigger-]

500+k upload ? where u live?

[Hellfighter]

you will need a really fast connection speed to start with ADSL highist speed connection for it.

windows 2003 and a graphic card for it.
a lot of RAM and a high speed CPU 2.8 or higher. dual CPU be even better. $$$$.CC

think panther can give you more tip on this area making a host server up.

[i move it to hardware area, reason you like to build a server]

[zaitsev]

like i said before it really depeneds what you want to do, here are your options;

1. you just host your own website on the server, all you'll need is a 1Ghz celeron with 512mb ram, with your choice of operating system, best would be a version on linux your connection will be ok if the site doesnt get too much traffic

2. you just host the one game from home, get windows xp pro, 2.6GHz Pentium 4 (or amd equivalent) 1Gb RAM

3. you want to host more than one game, you'll need at least a T1 connection, daul CPU (daul xeon or dual opteron) 2Gb RAM

(you will not need a dedicated graphics card for games or webhosting, your onboard graphics is all you need if its just going be serving, and you wont need a sound card either)

all above is if you do it from home. now you have the choice to send your server to a data centre, this is called collocating, first you will need to find a data centre that does this, (would be best if its in driving range) you'll need to find out from them what sort of case's they will take, either rack mount cases (1u 2U 3U) or if they will take towers (mini, micro, midi, full) this then opens up more options, as to what you can fit in the case

you really need to make your mind up before anyone can give detailed help, use google and find webhosting forums and games hosting forums, get some ideas and something to aim for