ANST - Server thoughts/alternative

[Keith Hood]

I think the cost of a server could be significantly reduced and still provide
all the Kingdom's needs.  Since I wasn't at the Red Tape meeting I don't know
if what I say here has already been addressed verbally, but I can't remember
seeing it on this mailing list.

I have read the proposal on the Web, and it calls for a system with 256 MB of
RAM, and 14 GB of disk space.  What on earth is going to be put on that server
that it would require the hardware for that much storage?  I can't imagine
needing that much capacity for a server that is supposed to be used simply for
Web service.

My point is, it is possible to supply the Kingdom's Web needs now and in the
forseeable future, for less money.  With a Dell system, drive size is not a
really big factor.  In some systems, the way Dell configures its prices, going
with a drive smaller than 12 or 13 GB does not affect the price, in some it
may save only one or two hundred dollars.  RAM is the really expensive thing
in this equation.

For example, for a Dell Dimension system, depending on the exact model, going
with the default RAM installation (which is never less than 64MB) instead of
256MB, would save anywhere from $299 to over $500.  And while it may be nice
to have all the drive space in the world, two or three gigabytes of drive
space would most likely give plenty of space for at least a couple of years,
and we could always upgrade later.

I won't bother talking about the cost of peripherals like sound cards or
speakers.  The figures I saw aren't significant either way (a difference i the
range of only $20 - $30).

In any case, going with less RAM would significantly lower the front-end cost,
which means the server could be in hand and the Kingdom could have its new and
improved Web sites up and running that much sooner.  The lower the initial
cost, the easier it is to raise the money.  If we can find a system
configuration that brings the price really far down and still does the job,
I'll kick in a couple hundred myself.


     Tomonaga

------

A long bow and a stong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

     --  Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers" --
               By Robert E. Howard, who should be
                 the patron saint of Ansteorra

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