Once upon a time, I built my own webserver and had it stored to a remote housing location. This is a report of what I did – back then, in 2004…
What I wanted: Hardware
19″ rack-mount Case, 1 Height Unit (1 HU = ca. 4.5cm), as some housing companies charge per HU
Cheap but brand mainboard, graphics and lan onboard
P4@2GHz minimum
1 GB RAM minimum
2 Harddisks with raid 1
Power source with 300 Watts minimum
Good ventilation
What I got: Hardware
Mainboard Gigabyte GA-8LS533
Processor P4 2GHz, 512kB, “Northwood”
Special-Heatsink for P4 in 1HU Case
1 GB (2×512 MB) PC133 SD-RAM
Case 1HU “Dämo” = Ci Rack Server RS1100
Power Source FSP 300 Watts
Raid Controller 3ware 7000-2B PCI
2x Harddisk Maxtor Diamond Max 120 GB (Raid 1)
DVD/CD-Laufwerk
Assembly To get a new connector backplate that fits with the mainboard, I had to order one at https://www.schaeffer-ag.de To reduce noise while setting up the server at my home, I reduced fan power somewhat. See here: http://www.cpemma.co.uk/diodes.html.
What I wanted: Software
Linux (Debian Sarge with Kernel 2.6)
Own Kernel
A free/cheap admin-tool for managing customer accounts
Prepare an image CD for easy re-install of the ínitial SW-buildup
