1U Help/Advice

AmNet Computers

1U System configuration help/pointers.

CPU:
As most of you know, CPU selection usually depends on the final application of the system. For instance, a system that is meant to be a firewall does not require massive amount of CPU power (in most cases the most basic will do). Conversely, running a web server with SQL engine and cgi or asp could use as much fire power and as many guns as bottom line will allow.
RAID:
RAID Controller adds greater functionality to your IDE or SCSI Hard drives. There are a number of RAID levels most common of which are levels 0, 1, 5, 0+1.
RAID 0 (striping) "stripes" 2 or more disks together to appear to the OS as a single hard drive.
Benefits: Larger disk capacity then currently available on the market. Faster disk access.
Drawbacks: Larger points of failure (i.e. if a single disk fails data is lost on ALL hard drives in the array)
RAID 1 (mirroring) "mirrors" 2 hard drives.
Benefits: Redundancy (i.e. if a one drive fails the other keeps working without data loss or down time). Read speed (i.e. the read access of the the array drive can be double of one non-RAIDed drive)
Drawbacks: Slower write speed.
RAID 5 (striping with parity) "stripes" 3 or more hard drives together to appear to the OS as a single hard drive, but unlike RAID 1 one of the drives is used as a parity drive.
Benefits: Redundancy and large disk capacity
Drawbacks: Slower speed.
RAID 0+1 (striping + mirroring) is a combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1
SCSI:
Self explanatory. Remember to add it or a motherboard with on-board SCSI if you are using SCSI devices.
Removable_media:
Floppy drive and CD-ROM options. Tape drives are also considered to be removable media, but here back-up media gets its on category. Due to space limitations in a 1U case, removable media device and a tape drive can not fit into the case. There can be only one!:)
HDD:
IDE Hard drive
SCSI_HDD:
SCSI Hard drive
Fixed/Hot-swap options:
Fixed is the more cost effective option for both IDE and SCSI Hard drives.

Hot-swap is a bit more expensive, but it is recommended in RAID systems or in hard drive replacement situations where it is preferable that the case not be removed from the rack cabinet.
RAM:
RAM is often the most underestimated component. Often, the amount of memory can increase the performance of the system. For instance in the firewall situation, where the system caches network packets in RAM, the amount of memory is more important than the CPU speed.
Rackmount:
1U Chassis with 200W Power Supply. Over the past few years, we have found the case in the picture to be the most versatile and reliable. It has gained the loyalty of our many current customers as a workhorse in their data centers. Just like a swiss army knife, there are number of models. Please, feel free to contact us if you application requires additional functions or if your bottom line demands something more basic.
Additional Network:
Is just that -- an additional Network Interface Controller card. Most of our dual processor 1U systems already have have 2 NICs, but occasionally you may want an additional controller that is either faster than the controller on-board, or you require greater redundancy, or you are managing more then two subnets. Please, remember that in a 1U case we only have one PCI slot, so the additional NIC may not be possible if PCI RAID or SCSI controller is required for you configuration.