From owner-freebsd-isp Tue Feb 20 06:55:03 1996 Return-Path: owner-isp Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id GAA15805 for isp-outgoing; Tue, 20 Feb 1996 06:55:03 -0800 (PST) Received: from time.cdrom.com (time.cdrom.com [192.216.222.226]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id GAA15798 for ; Tue, 20 Feb 1996 06:55:01 -0800 (PST) Received: from time.cdrom.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by time.cdrom.com (8.6.12/8.6.9) with SMTP id GAA24726; Tue, 20 Feb 1996 06:54:17 -0800 Message-ID: <3129E098.ABD322C@FreeBSD.org> Date: Tue, 20 Feb 1996 06:54:16 -0800 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" Organization: Walnut Creek CDROM X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.0 (X11; I; FreeBSD 2.1-STABLE i386) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc To: Stephen Fisher CC: freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Server hardware considerations.. References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-isp@FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk Stephen Fisher wrote: > I've had bad luck with my hardware setup for Linux (I didn't buy the parts > specifically for Linux like I am going to do now) so I want a very robust > server to work with. I would like r of 10..20..30 days or more > unless I take it down voluntarily. Just FYI - I've made a list of the hardware which has worked properly for me, and you can find it at: http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/hw.html (along with what other generally useful hardware info we've managed to get written down). > CPU: 486DX4/133, I have a 486DX4/100 right now and am pleased except > when I started [my home 486dx4 and the server] I had terrible problems > with Segmentation faults, Signal 11, on Linux. It seems many people > had/have those problems, do they exist in FreeBSD? How much faster would > a Pentium 133 be? Is it worth it? Or maybe a totally different system. They can also exist under FreeBSD when you: a) Have bad cache RAM b) Have a flakey motherboard c) Are driving some component beyond its rated spec d) Are driving your AMD DX4 too fast (I saw a system that was instability incarnate until it was clocked down from 100Mhz to 75Mhz). Not that any of these are your problems, but I've personally seen all 4 result in flakey systems. > Bus: PCI most likely. I use VLB right now. Good move. VLB is to be avoided for a multitude of reasons. > RAM: 16 meg to start with, maybe 32, There aren't any special > considerations I should take when getting the RAM are there? Not so long as you get a PCI disk controller, no. > Mother Board: I've seen that ASUS MBs are very nice but their home pages > don't list prices which probably means they're high priced;) About how > much do they run? I am looking for mid-range robust hardware, nothing They're around $220, I think.. > cheap or specular. Any other MB types to look into? I've heard that Tyan motherboards are also noce. > SCSI Controller: Adaptec 2940/PCI. This appears to be a good mid-range > card, should I get fast/wide/or what.. Is there any difference that I > should keep in mind? I use an Adaptec 152x now. You might want to buy the "Ultra" version of this, which is ostensibly twice as fast, but it's a sound move to go with the Adaptec in any case. > Network: 3c509B. This is what I have now and it seems to be a very good > card. You're actually better off with a PCI ethernet card, just for general ease-of-use, but the 3C509 will also work. Good luck! -- - Jordan Hubbard President, FreeBSD Project