Christmas Shopping...

[Paddy]

from a quick google, it appears that there are vendors selling PIII Xeons for the 6500 (although I think it may depend on the model)... I can't email Compaq until the server arrives... so i think the best bet is to get the serial number and then give Compaq a ring...

For some reason vendors were saying 'suitable for a ProLiant..' I thought a xeon was a xeon?

[Tjalfe]

are all xeons capable of 4 way?
if not, check out the ebay xeon section.. there are lots older xeons for dirt cheap

[Paddy]

getting hold of xeons is not a problem.. the question is 'which' xeon to go for.. I mean Quad PIII 700 is gonna be way better than the current dual PII 400

[SitFlyer]

Originally posted by Paddy
also, I am thinking about replacing the three 9gb drives with 18.2 gb, so that i can have a raid5 array with all six drives... is that possible? I have seen a couple on ebay that expire in a day or so...

Any RAID configuration is dependant on the size of the smallest drive. For RAID 5 the array capacity would be (Size of Smallest Drive) * (Number of Drives - 1).

[Paddy]

yeah.. the problem i have is that the online documentation was written in 1999 and it states a maximum internal storage capacity (although I can't remember off hand what it is).

There is physical space at the front for 6 one inch drives.
If I could get 6 x 18.2GB dives, then that would give me a 91GB RAID 5 array which whilst useless for my archived movies, would be perfect for my irreplacable documents and pictures.

I have tried to search for the highest spec CPU usable by this server but there is so much information on the compaq site, that it's difficult to find an answer.

This is turning out to be a fun project! I can't wait until it arrives tomorrow!

[Paddy]

If I can get beefier CPUs, then I'll be able to host a MURC CS:S server (as you went for the HLM option! )

[Paddy]

After much trawling (the compaq support forums doesn't have a search fuction!!!!) I found this

So.. I can only upgrade to 4xP III Xeon 500MHz chips (part number 117649-B21). Nice!

Now to find them on ebay

[Tjalfe]

this one maybe?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51055&item=6730532236&rd=1

[Paddy]

yeah, but my only concern is that when you ebay search for '117649-B21' (the Compaq part number) you get a different pic....

[Tjalfe]

for $30US, it may be worth a shot anyways

[Paddy]

indeed!

[Paddy]

so are these the same as these?

These look like different CPUs to me...

[Tjalfe]

the last one is a stack of 4 stacked in pairs with heatsinks towards each other... I can't imagine Intel making CPUs which will only work in one type server, and not in another, but that is a question for the Intel people here

[Wulfman]

hint for the raid, regarding your "irreplaceable" documents: raid5, no matter how many drives you use, will only survive one dead drive. I would suggest setting up all but one drive for the actual array and define the last one as a "spare disk", which will be activated when another one fails.

mfg
wulfman

[Paddy]

cool - I will have more than enough storage, so I can afford to loose two disks - one for RAID 5 and one for 'spare'