New Server Hardware Recommendations?

[Kimball Larsen]

On Feb 19, 2009, at 4:34 PM, Jake Pollmann wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 4:31 PM, Kimball Larsen
> <kimball at kimballlarsen.com> wrote:
> <SNIP>
>> See, but some basic math tells me this:
>> Expected lifetime of server (based on lifetime of last 3 I've had  
>> at home)
>> 4.5 years
>> Expected cost of new server $400
>> 4.5 years * 12 months = 54 months
>> $400 / 54 months = $7.40 on average / month.
>>
>> if ($7.40 < $20)
>> {
>>   buyHomeServer();
>> }
>> else
>> {
>>   useExternalSharedhost();
>> }
>>
>
> How much are you paying for bandwidth?  How much are you paying for
> electricity (maybe more than you think)?  How much does down time
> cost?
>
> Kimball's conclusion is still probably right, but there should be more
> factors in the decision.
>
> JP
>

Bandwidth cost is fixed to my home DSL connection, which will remain  
whether or not I am running a server there, so it cannot be factored in.
The only real additional cost that having a server at home causes is  
the cost to power the darn thing, and I am quite certain that powering  
it will not affect my entire home electric bill to the tune of $20 -  
$7.40 = $12/month.

Even if it did, the convenience of having ready physical access to the  
server has been helpful to me in the past.  Say I want to upload 500  
pictures to my family website.... if I'm in a hurry, I can always just  
run out to the (already built for food storage, and climate controlled  
to be < 65 degrees with low humidity year round) server room and plug  
my lappy directly into the server.

The point of this discussion was to solicit responses to the question  
of what you would purchase if you were building your own server to run  
linux today, not to posit alternatives to the stated goal.

Oh, wait, this is PLUG    > -)



-- Kimball