What off-the-shelf PC to buy setup a home UNIX web server?

O

orestesdd

I want to buy an off-the-shelf PC to turn it into a UNIX web server. What can people here recommend?

Requirements:
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Budget: no more than $800 USD
System Usage: run UNIX, tomcat, apache server, struts
Country: USA

Additional comments:
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  • I want to simulate my old job environment (I got laid off). I was a UNIX user developing software for a web app using apache, tomcat, struts, JSP, HTML and other stuff.
  • At my old job, I was able to log in to a UNIX box from my Windows PC as I did all my programming development using a Windows version of Eclipse IDE. (Now I may have to learn how to be my own UNIX administrator)
  • I want to build my UNIX skills from the ground up so that I can get another job similar to the one I have or better.
  • I would like to have a small case system to use exclusively as a UNIX box since I don't have lots of room on my desk.
Thanks.
 
To do what you want you don't need much. $800 will get you a very long way, you can probably buy 2 machines to do what you want.

My fairly old Core2 Dual (4GB RAM) does all that easily. Depending on the state of your workstation you could probably use Virtualbox too. For starters I'd use that, no need for a graphical environment, just set up a virtual machine with a basic FreeBSD and secure shell to it from your windows environment.

Things like this, for home/personal use, don't need much power. It may be a little slower than a "proper" server but it'll work nonetheless. Good enough to test things and hone your skills.
 
SirDice said:
To do what you want you don't need much. $800 will get you a very long way, you can probably buy 2 machines to do what you want.

My fairly old Core2 Dual (4GB RAM) does all that easily. Depending on the state of your workstation you could probably use Virtualbox too. For starters I'd use that, no need for a graphical environment, just set up a virtual machine with a basic FreeBSD and secure shell to it from your windows environment.

Things like this, for home/personal use, don't need much power. It may be a little slower than a "proper" server but it'll work nonetheless. Good enough to test things and hone your skills.
Click to expand...
Let me add here that as a UNIX user I have been a web developer for 10 years, and used UNIX as a user for those 10 years; thus, I don't consider myself a rookie in this area; however, at my old job, I was just a user and not a UNIX admin, and for what I see if I want to do all these things, I will have to learn to be a UNIX admin.

Anyhow, I was looking at other threads here, and I saw someone mentioned the following hardware server:

HP ProLiant ML110 G7 Server, which retails for $519 and other similar server retails for $539. Here is the link to these servers: HP ProLiant ML110 G7 Server series - Models

At any rate, I would like any opinion/comments about these boxes before I buy one of them and if FreeBSD actually supports the hardware for the boxes with Intel® Core™ i3 2120 (2 core, 3.3 GHz, 3MB, 65W, 1333/t) and/or Intel® Xeon® E3-1220 (4 core, 3.1 GHz, 8MB, 80W, 1333/t). I am incline to buy the server with Intel® Core™ i3 2120 since I don't know the other CPU. Just remember that my needs are still the same as I stated in my initial post. I'd appreciate any help here, and thanks.
 
The processors aren't the issue, the rest of the machine might. The chipsets used for the disk controllers, network cards etc. are more important (support-wise).
 
SirDice said:
The processors aren't the issue, the rest of the machine might. The chipsets used for the disk controllers, network cards etc. are more important (support-wise).
Click to expand...
So how do I know if all these "more important" things are supported by FreeBSD? Sorry if I don't get it. At any rate, thanks.
 
orestesdd said:
So how do I know if all these "more important" things are supported by FreeBSD? Sorry if I don't get it. At any rate, thanks.
Click to expand...

Look at my link above. If you get unsupported hardware you are out of luck.

SirDice is right. You don't need a lot of money to set up a home server. I got a barebones running FreeBSD right now. Had the drive and RAM laying around so it cost me less than a $100 bucks.

I have worked on larger computers (dual physical processors). Fancy 3Ware controllers and what not.

If you plan on doing zfs or having a large amount of data consider putting your own machine together and make sure you can put 10+ drives in it.

BTW my first server was a hand me down 250mhz Pentium with either 128 or 256MB RAM. You should try it on an old box first before making an investment. Your needs may change as your skills grow.

Also if you're going to get a NIC, go for Intel. em()(4) or the newer one igb()(4). Very nice hardware and drivers for your web services and LAN needs.

My 2 bits anyways.

~
 
For now, I have decided to use virtualbox to install freebsd FreeBSD, but now I need to decide what distribution to download. Are there any video tutorials to install FreBSD using virtualbox on a Windows 7 Pro 64-bit OS? I will look for it myself, but I want to be sure to pick the correct distribution. Thanks for all inputs.
 
The machine you picked (HP Proliant) is a real server. If you're going to put that in your home be prepared, it's a rather noisy bugger. Most servers are quite noisy.

If you want to learn to be a unix admin treat servers like a box of iron. It's nothing more really. It's been years since I physically touched a server. I only order a new server when we need one and some other team on the other end of the world puts in a rack and makes sure I can access it. From my workplace they all look the same even though the hardware is sometimes completely different.
 
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