Which Server is Better? (For Me)

Currently I ran a site on Dual Xeon 2.8ghz 1GB Ram from theplanet...(Here)

Well, the site gets very slow when it hits 800+ members, and lately my total online users at once is getting to 1000+ and I have to restart the server multiple times a day...

So I am thinking to upgrade to one of the following:

1.) http://totalcontrolservers.com/produ...3769750273B782
Dual 3.2GHz Xeon Processors
2GB Ram

2.) http://totalcontrolservers.com/produ...A83F6E0C010024
2 Dual Core Opteron 265
2GB Ram


Can you guyz plz help me decide which will be more faster for my site..

Thanx

[FlyBoy73]

Like Zachery said, drives make a huge difference with forums. In the comparison you are handicapping both machines. Really great performing Opterons with SATA and Xeons that are not as good as the Opterons with faster SCSI drives..

The solution IMO would be to find someone that can/will offer you an Opteron server with SCSI HD's.. There are plenty out there.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

1. Make sure quality components are used (motherboard/casing/RAM). Also make sure that if you have future plans, the casing/motherboard can handle it. It is very annoying if all is in a 1U casing and you can't add an extra drive later, or if motherboard supports max. 2Gb memory.
2. Select a good disk solution. Preferable (hardware if possible) RAID-10 with (15K) SCSI-drives. Otherwise SATA in a RAID config.
3. Make sure you got enough (quality) RAM. 2-4Gb should be enough in your case.
4. Choice of processor. Overall Opterons outperform the Xeon's for a web & database server.

But to get a real good advice, post in the Server Configuration forum at vBulletin.com and eva2000 will probably try to advise you. Make sure to read the stickied post on what info to provide.

Edit: Don't look too much at what a single hosting provider has to offer. Design your "perfect" machine, then go shopping with those specs at different hosting companies. Research the hosting companies that you have choosen before ordering. You could have a look at webhostingtalk.com

[Erwin]

Go SCSI - SATA is much slower and makes a noticeable difference on a busy site.

[cedric_bariteau]

Just a little note, I'm currently taking care of a 1U server and I noticed something that no one has mentionned here. I agree that the Opteron are dual Core processor! But wait a minute; the Xeon too. In fact, they are both dual core processor. In my opinion, the Xeon are much better than the opteron.

I also agree with most of you, SCSI is much faster and usually, if the host is good, they should let you change the hard drives for your own (you usually can ship it to them) and you could add a third drive to your Xeon server (if the rack has 3 hard drive slots). Another factor you should consider is the cooling. Make shure there is at least 4 fans + the 2 cpu fans. And also; ask about the power supply. There should be 2, one for each processor.

[Zachery]

Xeons, with HT are _not_ dual core processors and will _not_ preform better than a 4 core system (dual dual core opterons).

A dual xeon system with HT has 2 real and 2 virtual processors. A dual dual opteron system will have 4 real processors.

4 real processors will almost always be better when compared to 2 real and 2 virtual processors.

do you want 4 horses pulling your wagon?

At the current time even dual dual core xeons are not quiet stacking up to their amd counterparts, however Intels new chip line may prove otherwise, however I expect to see new AMD chips in the near future as well.

[PyroMarkus]

Sorry for disturbing this thread - I didn't want to open a new one since my question is somehow related to this topic:

I have an IBM Server xSeries 235 with certified hardware. At the moment I have one 3.2 XEON 512KB CPU and 2 GB RAM with 3x SCSI 10k HDD at RAID5.

With this configuration I had my maximum (no more users wanted to visit me ) at 554 users online (session time 15 min.) with a load of 2, with some peaks to 3.

First question: what maximum users would you expect with this configuration before the site breaks down?

Now I would update with a second 3.2 XEON CPU and +2GB RAM, so in total 4GB RAM.

Second question: what maximum users would you expect with the new configuration before the site breaks noticably down?

I run a vB 3, photopost, vAdvanced portal and a MediaWiki on that server.
I know, this depends on a lot, but just a rough number of maximum users. 800, 1000, more?

BTW - what are the specs for the server running vBulletin.org? You have almost always +1000 users and very good response times...

Thanks a lot,
yours
Pyro

[Paul M]

I can't tell you what specs vb.org runs on (because I don't know) but we share Jelsofts seperate web and database servers.

However, the server you are running should easily handle more than the maximum you seem to have a problem with - perhaps your mysql and apache need a bit of optimisation (or maybe the other applications are hammering it) ?

[Ntfu2]

If you have two servers, one server the DB and the other everything else.

Well lets just say it'll handle alot, probably around 2k if done correctly

[PyroMarkus]

No, I will have one Server with 2xXEON 3.2 CPU, 4GB RAM, and 3xSCSI on RAID5...

Two servers will be next years but I would like to have a rough number for this configuration...

Thanks!

[Ntfu2]

Its hard to tell then.

I had almost 1k users on my box with a similar setup the other day and the load was pretty low