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I have been talking with my datacentre and Dell for the last couple weeks about getting a new server for CKA. Currently I have 2 rack-servers, one runs the websites, the other runs the databases. I share the database server with a friend, we went in 50/50 last year to pay for it and he pays me $100 a month to rent it. However his site has grown and is now using most of that servers resources, the RAM is always over 100% so the CKA databases on it are slowed and not given enough memory to run great.

So my friend has offered to buy out the rest of that server for $800 and will pay $200 rent a month. So I need another server to host the databases on. Also the main CKA server has had several hard disk errors in recent weeks, I think it’s starting to die, I bought it 4 years ago and it was used at the time. It is still a good powerful server, So i hope with some maintenance and a fresh format it will continue to run for a couple more years.

So I am going to buy a brand spanking new server from Dell this time, rather than a used server from eBay or craigslist in the past. This way i know the hardware isn't already damaged and I get a warranty. I will be moving all the websites to this new server and the old server will become the database server. The database will then get 2GB of memory to use, rather than the 512 MB it currently has. This new server is also a fair bit faster than the old one, so the websites will have more than enough power and growing room.

This new Dell server is going to cost me $2200 CAD after shipping and taxes, so not a cheap purchase and out of my own wallet. And this is with a 25% discount off the entire price before taxes. I will be able to knock $800 off that for the money from my friends buyout of the database server.

Also my monthly costs for hosting the servers in the datacentre and bandwidth costs will be $600 a month. $200 will be paid by my friend who is renting the old database server, and I make between 50-100 a month off other hosting clients. Most sites I host are small sites so I feel guilty charging any more than $3 a month. So hosting isn't something that really makes me any money.

The rest of the monthly fee will be covered by advertising, but it’s going to cut into what I get as profit considerable and will take some time to pay for the new server itself.


So I would like to humbly ask for donations. Donations have been lower than they were previous years, so if you’ve never donated or haven’t donated in some time consider donating a few dollars. The site should be faster with the new server but more importantly it will be more stable with less weird random errors. The old server has been having issues for months. And the new IIS7 has great performance improvements and increased PHP support.

All donators will receive gold membership.
And I thank everyone for their continued support for the site.

I should be ordering the server early next week and it will take 10 days to arrive.

   

FYI this is the basic specs of the new server

Dell PowerEdge R200 1U
Quad Core Xeon X3220 Processor2x4M Cache, 2.40GHz
4GB DDR2, 800MHZ
146GB 15K RPM Serial-Attach SCSI 3Gbps Hard Disk
Windows Server 2008, Web Edition

   

that's an awful lotta bucks..........
SCSI? Windows Server?
What kind of bandwidth do you eat for that much a month?

(serious: I run a server bank. If you're more comf with Windows that's cool.. just thinking of ways to save you $$)

   

Where do you run a datacentre? I assume thats what you mean by "bank"?

The servers have been using upto 800 - 1200 GB a month in recent months and its only going to rise. Thats on top of the "Content Delivery Network" or CDN that the site uses for many layout images and objects.

Bandwidth in Canada is expensive, and Vancouver more so than places. I could get servers in Dallas Texas and save money, but for obvious reasons this being a site about Canadian patriotism and nationality I want all the servers in Canada. I also don't want to be subject to US laws, even though this site wouldn't have to worry about that.

It is also cheaper in the long run to buy my own servers rather than rent them, so thats why it makes sense to have them located in Vancouver where I live and not Toronto even if it might be a bit cheaper. I can't walk down the street if there is a problem if they are not local.

I could also get cheaper colocation at a data center in the suburbs or out of the city, but there is a reason why it costs more in Vancouver, its on a better network and less hops to the rest of the country and world. CKA is hosted on the Peer1 Networks, which is one of the premier data networks.

I also shoped around for several weeks looking at other companies operating data centers in Vancouver most of which are in the Harbour Centre where CKA is located now. They were other all full, not taking on colocation clients or cost more than my current host.

Its not a matter that i'm more confortable with Windows, I am but I also know Linux and freeBSD. Canadaka.net used to run off FreeBSD in its early days and I manage a RedHat server for a client now. I run windows servers because in my opionion and many others Windows servers are better than linux ones. Windows servers are a very different beast than the desktop windows xp and Vista.

SCSI drives are much faster but more importantly they are more reliable and longer live span, so its worth the extra cost. I was even considering getting 2 scsi drives to have logs written to a seperate drive, but the cost of server was already getting up there. This is something I could add in the future though.

The other option is to rent managed servers from a datacentre but that costs significantly more, $350 a month per server compared to the $200 for owning my own. So the cost of the server is paid for in a fairly short period of time.

   

Done and done, sir. My thanks for a site of just pure awesome.

   

Awrighty then, we're on the same wavelength. I live by hosting sites who don't even want to be on Vancouver servers... and pay quadruple for access!
I'm a newbie to your site, I had no idea this site used that much bandwith!
Won't argue Peer1 either, I'd have my stuff in there if I was in the Big Smoke.
I wish I could confirm your confidence in Windows Server & SCSI, but I can't from my experience. I've had better luck with whitebox machines, SATAII and Debian/Ubuntu for WWW stuff, I only make Windows servers for guys running software that's Windows only.

   

I donated $25 and am still waiting for the credit.

   

Hey just a question, how much does the server cost (or in other words whats the target/goal for donations)?

   

Trev, Please give a list of ALL the methods ( and addy )that might be used to get the money to you asap. I'm out here in the boondocks but will be 'in town' in the next day or so and can stop by a bank and transfer funds. or mail it. Bank transfer would be quickest and probably easiest for my situation.

   

You can send an email money transfer via your online banking using www.certapay.com

Or my snail mail address is:

1403-130 2nd St E
North Vancouver BC
V7L 1C3

I will PM you my bank info.

this was mentioned in the first post Its $2200 - $800 = $1400

   

I ordered the new server from Dell today, should arrive on July 4th.

   

Leave it to me not to read the previous posts But thanks for pointing it out.

   

I finaly got the new server from purolator today! I have just started setting it up and will book a time to install it at the datacentre sometime later this week hopefully.

I has a new toy!

   

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Dell-PowerEdge-6850- ... dZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.ca/Dell-PowerEdge-6850- ... dZViewItem


you missed it

   

No.. I've said i wanted a new server to have warrenty. Plus a 4U server like that with multiple PSU's would cost a lot more to colocate than a 1U server. I've bought the 3 previous servers from ebay and they've all had hardware problems now, so I wanted to get a new one this time.

   

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