I’ve been thinking for a while that I need to get my local server situation sorted out – I’m still running an old version of Debian on my primary server, which works fine but really needs swapping for Ubuntu LTS now, and in addition, the hardware is getting long in the tooth. It’s still running on an ancient discarded home PC, an Athlon 1Ghz with 512Mb RAM and software RAID1 disks – and runs all my office functions (mail, web, test environs, backups, data sync, databases, you name it) beautifully with that. Linux is just so good at doing more with less on the server that I’ve allowed it to languish on this hardware for probably a little too long – it’s noisy and sucks way too much power for what it’s actually doing.
I’ve been meaning to do something about it, but today the PSU on the machine decided to ‘take a break’ which was a bit annoying. It came back up again after a complete hard reset (disconnecting the power), but that’s given me a kick up the arse to get it sorted out. Everything is replicated daily, so it wouldn’t be a disaster if I lost it, but even so it would be a PITA to have to deal with.
So, I’m in the market for new server hardware. Not rack mountable, and preferably small, quiet and low-power. Since that inherently means that I’m looking at a custom enclosure, I’ll probably need two of them to provide redundancy, since beyond disks they won’t be self-repairable. I already have a home media / backup server which is pretty nice, a QNAP TS-209, but that isn’t appropriate for my main business needs, since the OS is in the firmware and so not flexible enough for installing new packages etc.
I’m liking the look of the Tranquil PC BBS2 – hardware RAID (hot-plug SATA2), Intel Atom 330, low power consumption (57W with 4 drives), reports of running Ubuntu on it seem positive. They do a pre-packaged version of it with Windows Home Server on it too, but that costs about £100 more (once you’ve deducted the cost of the HD they bundle with it), and in any case WHS doesn’t really do what I need (I need to replicate my public server environments which are already Linux, and I have access to more free software with Ubuntu anyway).
Anyone know of any alternatives, or have opinions about Tranquil PC? As I say, the downside of custom enclosures is that non-HDD failures require a manufacturer return to fix, so I’d have to factor resilience issues in, but I really want to be a bit greener / quieter with my servers in future 
[edit]Ok, the BBS2 isn’t looking quite so attractive given that the RAID controller is not a real hardware RAID controller at all, it’s one of these semi-software BIOS jobs which are not very well supported in Linux, and aren’t much of a step up from software RAID anyway. I could still get one, use software RAID and just not hot-plug I guess. But, seems a bit of a waste.
I’ve just pulled out & replaced the PSU in my existing server because it died again. Here’s hoping it stays up until I can replace it! The fact that I can do that makes me think twice again – maybe I can just build a power-efficient machine instead, and keep the fixability…
June 10th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I can’t really give you any advice on server hardware, but have you already considered the option of renting a Virtual Private Server? A VPS allows you to get a fully functional server specifically tailored to your needs, at much more affordable costs than renting an actual physical server machine.
The same problem you described kept me busy too a couple of months ago. Not only was I still running my Ubuntu server on a Pentium II, but I was also moving to an apartment with a shared internet connection, meaning I wouldn’t have any control over port forwarding. Getting a VPS was clearly the best answer in my case, and for only 13 euro a month I now have a server that’s equal or better to what I had, without the burden of having to maintain any hardware.
June 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Thanks, but not really an option; I have sensitive information on this server (NDA covered material etc) so remote hosting is not an option. My remote backups are encrypted for this reason, and while I could perhaps maintain an encrypted filesystem and only ever work via SSH, it’s still got the major problem that if my internet connection is down, I have no business data. And, not having the server physically visible on the public internet simplifies the security situation. And, my internet speed is just not good enough to save large files on a remote server without frustration.
I might host entirely in the cloud one day, but this is not that day – things are not quite mature enough for that yet.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Yes, the age of Cloud has not come, Dont come between nazgul and cloud.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Though I really marvel at on how low hardware Linux does everything, whereas Vista performs so low on Very high hardware even if doing nothing. Tells why Linux is so famous on servers.
June 10th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Yes you just build a power-efficient machine instead. I was continously thinking of it while reading your post. The real benefit is the complete control you will get. And you already know enough about hardware. That way seems far better. Simply put if I were you, I will have building my own cheap machine as no.1 option. but then you are far more experienced then me in maintaining a buisness server. Though this option still looks good due to amount of control.
June 10th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I’m also not in the Server HW stuff, but all I can say is:
a) When the PSU fails, check the motherboard caps. They might have been inflated. Also check the MB’s battery is still working.
b) Relatively newer AMDs have Cool ‘n Quiet. I guess an Athlon 1ghz wouldn’t have it. But anyway you can try lowering the FSB and the clock multitplier to save power if you don’t stress the CPU much.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I have a RAID5 Synology CS-407 at work (ARM based). It might be a bit outdated by now but is quite nice for a 24/7 server in a mixed Linux / Windows domain. It is said to run debian (not tested since it’s production for ~35 people) but a simple patch allows to run ipkg to install basic services like backup svnserve for archived repositories.
http://www.synology.com/enu/products/CS407/index.php
June 11th, 2009 at 12:24 am
I am considering making such a server.
Can you tell me or point me to the softs you use? (backup, sync, encryption, etc)
Thanks
June 11th, 2009 at 10:02 am
@DarkSylinc: The machine has survived overnight so I think it was the PSU. It’s on a proper UPS (surge protection up to full lightning strike – I’ve learned from previous experience) so any issues are likely to be wear and tear. Academic now, since I know I need to get replacing.
@Slan: Thanks, looks similar to the QNAP offerings. These kinds of things are good, but because the OS is in firmware and they’re often using custom chips, they’re a bit awkward to install new things on and you typically have to use odd package sources and jump through hoops to make changes ‘permanent’, since at runtime the system directories are typically on a ramdisk. Great for appliance use (my QNAP is great at that), but not so much when you need a bit more flexibility.
@Steven: I use:
Backup: currently custom incremental dump/tar scripts, planning on moving to Bacula or Amanda next time
Sync: rsync locally or for public repositories (e.g. I keep a local rsync of the Ogre SVN repo), s3sync remotely with Amazon S3 (custom scripts to tar/encrypt/upload)
Encryption: OpenSSH for connections, GPG for files
July 15th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
[...] I’ve talked about recently, as a background task, I’m setting up a new Ubuntu server to take over the main file server, [...]