PC vs. Server & OS

[JustGeeky]

I'm considering shelling out the big bucks to get or build a server for my online business. Problem is, I don't have any idea what I'm doing. I can put all the hardware together, or just buy some overpriced model from IBM, but beyond that, I'm clueless. So, I have some questions:

First of all, what is the practical difference between a PC and a Server if they both have all the same basic hardware?

Also, what's the difference between various operating systems that can be installed?

And once I buy a server, do I need an ISP?

Finally, how do I make the connection between the internet and my server, once I've built my website? (Or does an ISP take care of that?)

Thanks everyone.

[DrZaius]

Hi JustGeeky, welcome to the PC Mech forums!

First of all, what is the practical difference between a PC and a Server if they both have all the same basic hardware?

The only difference between a regular PC and a server is in what you use it for, which dictates which components you must emphasize.

One difference is in the amount of RAM. You'll want a lot, usually 1GB or more. As for the processor, faster is always better, but it's not as important as RAM and you don't need to get top of the line (1GHz+ is good). Since this will be a mission critical server I highly suggest Intel processors with an Intel/Tyan motherboard, accept no substitutes for stability.

The other important factor is hard drives. You'll wan't to look into SCSI for speed and RAID as a means of having backups. Look into getting a big case that will allow for swappable drives.

What type of content will you be serving? Dynamic pages? Regular HTML?

Also, what's the difference between various operating systems that can be installed?

You can use any operating system you like, however I strongly recommend Windows 2000, Linux, or FreeBSD. Those are the most stable and handle memory well. Don't even think of using Win9x, it's just bad.

Finally, how do I make the connection between the internet and my server, once I've built my website? (Or does an ISP take care of that?)

Unless you have a very fast connection, a server won't be of much good. You need a T1 line or faster for serving pages and such, Cable/DSL won't cut it for high traffic sites.

Once you've calculate all costs and how much time needs to be spent, you may want to just look into dedicated hosting. They (the hosting service) do all the work and maintain the servers and connection, all you do is take care of the web site.

If you do have a connection then you also have to consider how much time you want to spend working on with the systems. The server will go down sometimes, and you will have to eventually tinker with it to replace a drive or something else that has crashed. If you don't want to have to deal with it then really look into spending more and getting an IBM/Dell server and they can deal with any hardware problems (usually on-site).

Hope that helps.

[christo418]

There are also other factors to consider: How are you going to secure this server from hackers? Is your projected growth large enough to warrant bringing in someone from the outside, as per DrZ's suggestion? Are you going to network other computers in your organization? Not only are the installation costs growing with each question, but your learning curve is also growing exponentially. If you're determined to do this yourself, weigh costs against learning curve. Win2000/NT4 = more expensive but easier to learn; Linux flavors = a lot less expensive but steep learning curve.