[thelist] Co-Location: What do I need?

[Daniel J. Cody]

jeff wrote:


> more specifically you'll want to use win2k.  however, with cf4.5 you do have
> the option of running linux.  however, unless you have a really savvy linux
> sysadmin i wouldn't recommend it.

conversely, i wouldn't run NT unless you have a savy NT admin either. 
Further, linux is probably easier and more secure to remotly administrate.

> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> :   An intel PC of some sort. Ram? HD space? Specs?
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> i would recommend nothing less than a dual 800 p3.  hd space will depend on
> what you're using it for.  at a minimum i'd put in two 15g scsi drives in a
> raid configuration.  the ram will depend on what other software you're
> putting on this box, but at a minimum i'd recommend 256 megs.  if you're
> putting a good database server (sybase ase, ms sql, etc.)(access doesn't
> count) on this box as well, then the minimum ram you'd want would be 512
> megs.  a gig would be better.

naturally more is always better, but if this is *just* a webserver, 
concentrate more on RAM than CPU cycles - that is, a pentiumII300 with 
1GB of RAM will kick the shit out of a PentiumIII 1Ghz 256MB RAM.

If you're really serious about things, you shouldn't even use Intel 
chips at all. AMD would be a better choice because of their large amount 
of L2 cache(typically 1Mb or more, whereas a pentiumIII only has 
256k-512k of L2 cache) which is the 2nd or 3rd biggest bottleneck on a 
webserver.  You could go with Intel Xeon chips which are basically 
pentiumIII's with more L2 cache, but they run a couple grand a chip, but 
I digress...

If its botha webserver and DB server, get as much as you can afford, 
with RAM being a priority over CPU cycles.


> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> :   Coldfusion 4.5 or better
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> cf 4.51 sp2 (i think it's also up to two.  djc?  judah?)

ya, cf4.51 service pack 2 is the latest in a series of buggy service 
packs from allaire.. *duck*  ;) (no harm meant Raymond)

 
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> :   ASP
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> part of iis5

if you're developing with cold fusion, theres no point in even having 
ASP 'turned on' if you go with NT/2000


> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> :   MySQL? (What varieties of SQL should I be
> : thinking about?)
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> it depends on what the machine is going to be used for.  i personally would
> recommend against mysql simply because it lacks some very basic things like
> foreign keys, triggers, subselects within queries, transactions, etc.

a good open source alternative is Postgres. free and fast, its 
comparable to Oracle 7.2 in terms of stability and features.

> however, what you choose depends on your budget.  if you have cash to burn i
> would suggest looking at sybase adaptive server anywhere.  it's a seriously
> rocking product at a reasonable price (not affiliated, just a happy
> customer).

if you have cash to burn, Oracle is always a clear choice.


> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> :   An ftp server?
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> serv-u
> 
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> :   A source control/project management server?
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i'd recommend keeping any kind of development code off your production 
server.. if you're co'lo'ing a server, you're somewhat serious about its 
performance and availability. running development code on a production 
box like that is counter-intuitive.

> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> : Is there anything that I've missed?
> :~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ask the provider how they're going to handle your backups. get *hard* 
details on this. also find out if they run off generators 100% of the 
time or are backed up by UPS units. also, DC or AC power? this will 
affect what kind of power supplies you get for the box.

umm.. disaster planning and procedures they have. what kind of physical 
access you have to the machine(most allow limited access, making remote 
managment a must)? do you have to schedule visits to the machine, and 
how far in advance? what kind of enviornmental control mechanisms do 
they have in place? what capacity is their generator(in terms of 
Kwatts/hour)? and how long can the generator stay running with on site 
fuel reserves?

umm....... what kind of network setup do they have? will you have your 
own subnet? switched network is assumed, at what 
speed?(100/10/1000Mbits) and what physical form? will you need 100BaseT 
network cards or something else? lots more questions i'm sure i could 
come up with, but those should do ya for now. :)

.djc.