Server for Ubuntu running Apache2

ianking

ianking

ianking

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Apologies if this question has been asked before (I have looked)

I'm planning on setting up a server for a small business run from home. We need a server capable of hosting a series of Drupal installations on Apache. This is not a public server, just one where we can host test sites for us to work on remotely (not everyone lives in the same house) and if necessary enable clients to log in and try things out.

I'm not experienced in self-build so plan on purchasing a pre-assembled box with power supply motherboard, processor, memory, hard disk, etc. I've already got a monitor etc.

My question is - what spec would you advise? Graphics or sound are not a priority obviously, but memory and processor speed probably are.

Budget would be around £500.

Any advice very gratefully received.

Ian
 
I would have thought something like an HP MP110/115 with a memory upgrade (depending on your needs) might suit nicely.
 
I'd say any reasonably modern box with as much ram as you can afford.

Don't forget about backups! It may be a test system but if you lost your test site/code you'll be pretty upset!
 
growse said:
I would have thought something like an HP MP110/115
Click to expand...

That is the defualt answer for these threads :p

But yeah, that would be a good little box for running an internal webserver in most cases. Up the RAM a bit and you're good to go.

How many users?
 
Probably a maximum of 3 or 4 users. I'm guessing a mirrored disk system would be a good idea as one of the backup strategies.

I should have mentioned - I'll be using Linux so I need to buy a system with no OS - hence Overclockers as the obvious supplier.
 
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Don't need a physical server for something so basic, just get a half decent VPS from someone reputable and use that. Should easily be able to get it for £25-30 a month (that should host a dozen or more dev sites easily) and you won't need to mess about with stuff at home...
 
ianking said:
Yes but £25-30 a month soon adds up....
Click to expand...

Yeah, to £600 over two years, which is roughly what the physical server will cost excluding power and internet connection and with such a low end box I wouldn't (from a business viewpoint) write it off over any longer than two years anyway. It's also a monthly expenditure so there's no up front capital cost which is usually preferable for small businesses.
 
Indeed, if you wanted it at home you'll in no way struggle to run a small number of dev sites off an atom based nettop if you use a sensible distro and install...
 
I run my MySQL / SVN & Web server off of a 4-5 year old Dell laptop with a single core, 1GB and 50GB hard disk. It's running CentOS.

You don't need anything fancy for a dev server.
 
The one I've been using to try things out is 6 years old, 512MB memory and has a couple of 120GB hard disk in it - things do run rather slowly though and according to the server admin software Apache is using most of the available RAM - I assumed I'd need something with a bit more oomph if we wanted to rely on it. Is 8GB RAM and mirrored hard disks overkill?
 
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