Do You Have A Home Server?

KuJoe

@Jeffrey said: $15/Month!?! Are you serious??

That's probably a good estimate assuming you don't use it a lot. For example:

My home server (Intel Atom) uses 12w when idle and about 14w when 100% CPU utilization. It costs me about $1.50/month to power 24x7 with 100% utilization for 6 hours a day.

You're CPU alone is most likely around 100w (we'll use an average of peak and idle since it'll probably idle around 80w and peak at 120w) so you're cost would be almost 10x mine making it about $12/month. Then add the power usage for RAM, disk drives, motherboard, and PSU for about $15/month.

Keep in mind I suck at electrical stuff so I may be off.

TheHackBox

@Jeffrey said: $15/Month!?! Are you serious??

Pentium 4s use A LOT of energy.

Jeffrey

Wow, I had no idea. Well, I will continue using my desktop as a server until my parents complain about the electric bill, I bet they won't even notice the difference.

earl

@TheHackBox said: I'm saying more like $15

It's possible, depends on where you live I guess.. I don't think in north America it would cost that much thought.. I use to rent a P4 dedicated server and it was only $15/month they had P3's for $10/month as well..

@jeffery If your Compaq has a socket 478 maybe you can change the CPU to a Pentium mobile? I think they are pretty cheap on ebay

raindog308

@Jeffrey said: This is my new dedi server.

During an earthquake? :-)

Lm85H4gFkh3wk3

I just replaced my P4 2.4GHz 640MB RAM HTPC with this, with 2GB memory.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119058

with a pair of 3TB USB Seagate GoFlex drives (will be in software RAID1 soon). It runs off an 8GB USB key runing XBMCbuntu. It also has a 320GB USB and a 250GB USB Western Digital drives as miscellaneous storage.

birdie25

Running Debian 6 with Transmission, SabNZBd+, SickBeard, CouchPotato and Headphones on an old HP Pavilion dv6000. Here are some specs.

root@homeserver:~# cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor       : 0
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 14
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo CPU      T2250  @ 1.73GHz
stepping        : 12
cpu MHz         : 800.000
cache size      : 2048 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 0
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 0
initial apicid  : 0
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 10
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc arch_perfmon bts aperfmperf pni monitor est tm2 xtpr pdcm
bogomips        : 3458.94
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

processor       : 1
vendor_id       : GenuineIntel
cpu family      : 6
model           : 14
model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo CPU      T2250  @ 1.73GHz
stepping        : 12
cpu MHz         : 800.000
cache size      : 2048 KB
physical id     : 0
siblings        : 2
core id         : 1
cpu cores       : 2
apicid          : 1
initial apicid  : 1
fdiv_bug        : no
hlt_bug         : no
f00f_bug        : no
coma_bug        : no
fpu             : yes
fpu_exception   : yes
cpuid level     : 10
wp              : yes
flags           : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc arch_perfmon bts aperfmperf pni monitor est tm2 xtpr pdcm
bogomips        : 3459.03
clflush size    : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
power management:

root@homeserver:~# dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=16k conv=fdatasync
16384+0 records in
16384+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 39.5842 s, 27.1 MB/s

root@homeserver:~# wget cachefly.cachefly.net/100mb.test
--2012-05-17 02:49:44--  http://cachefly.cachefly.net/100mb.test
Resolving cachefly.cachefly.net... 205.234.175.175
Connecting to cachefly.cachefly.net|205.234.175.175|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 104857600 (100M) [application/octet-stream]
Saving to: â100mb.testâ

100%[===================================================================================================================================================================================================>] 104,857,600 9.65M/s   in 10s

2012-05-17 02:49:54 (9.61 MB/s) - â100mb.testâ

Disk I/O makes me cry, but yeah what do you expect from a PATA drive :>

earl

@birdie25 said: Disk I/O makes me cry, but yeah what do you expect from a PATA drive :>

That's probably a 2.5" 5400rpm drive?

Jeffrey

@birdie25 My I/O isn't much better..

jeffrey@Equinix:~$ dd if=/dev/zero of=test bs=64k count=16k conv=fdatasync
16384+0 records in
16384+0 records out
1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 25.8358 s, 41.6 MB/s

birdie25

@earl said: That's probably a 2.5" 5400rpm drive?

Exactly. And I'm not going to put in a better drive in this shitty laptop, that's like giving money to the bears for dinner.

birdie25

I only have that laptop for testing though, I'm getting a PC from one of my relatives who switched to a laptop, it's an E5300 with 4GB of RAM, in a decent mid-tower case. 750gig drive included. I currently have an HTPC with Win7 and XBMC, I hooked up 2 1TB external drives onto that machine, I might take them out of their housings and just put them on SATA connections inside the case and stuff that server away upstairs somewhere, and get something like @rajprakash for my XBMC experience.

earl

@birdie25 said: Exactly. And I'm not going to put in a better drive in this shitty laptop, that's like giving money to the bears for dinner.

Yeah it's probably not worth it, but this looks pretty interesting.. a sata convertor... wonder how well it works..

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=SATA+Hard+Drive+Connector+for+HP+DV6000

Kairus

@rajprakash said: I just replaced my P4 2.4GHz 640MB RAM HTPC with this, with 2GB memory.

That's a pretty good price, if only I had a use for these kinds of things, I'd have computers all over my house .

jcaleb

this is my dream home server: http://www.plugcomputer.org/development-kits/d2plug/

ARMADA 510 processor, 800MHz
1GB DDR3-800 x32 bus
Boot from SPI NOR Flash
Linux OS and Ubuntu roots in 8GB eMMC
One Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbps port
Two USB 2.0 host ports
One eSATAp – Powered eSATA & USB 2.0 host combo port
One USB 2.0 device port
One SD card slot
**One HDMI 1080p output port with CEC**
One VGA output port
Audio line out
One MIC in
One S/PDIF optical out
One console port (USB)
One JTAG connector
Integrated 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi & Bluetooth v3.0 + HS

Jeffrey

@jcaleb I want one too!! Unfortunately it is $249.00.. WTF 0_o

earl

@jcaleb I have a pogoplug that I bought used for $20.. been meaning to convert it to a plug computer for a web server but never got around to it... I would never pay $249 for a d2plug that's for sure..

jcaleb

yeah, and because i live in Manila. Shipping + tax it would cost me $500 total.

I mean, this device is great. Low power consumption yet it has hdmi ready as media center. you can torrent 24/7 and watch on it afterwards.

jcaleb

@earl that's why im waiting for this technology to mature and cost to drop to reasonable price.

earl

I wonder how much the price will drop to when the raspberry pi is readily available..

jcaleb

hopefully below $100

edit: your pogoplug is cheap. is it possible for colocation? since raspberry are now being colocated.

vrillusions

Used to have a windows and linux server but moved all the windows stuff to linux:

• intel core 2 duo e8400 (3ghz)
• 8gb ram

• storage

  • 500gb for boot and swap
  • 3x 1tb drives in raid5 for data
  • 300gb has older data I haven't moved to raid

• have some fairly beefy video card in it (was previously my main gaming computer before upgrading)

• up 248 days
• Ubuntu Server 10.04
• ISP is at&t uverse, 12/1.5
• used as media storage for htpc, has a serial card for a GPS receiver (use it for a time reference) and to program my x10 stuff. Also is the main openvpn server that all my servers and vps contact. Also do most of my development work on it (mostly either php or python) since never been a fan of windows for getting a development environment going and too lazy to startup a vm most of the time.

earl

wouldn't a netbook be a better option? the battery could act as a UPC.. They sell a lot of refurbished one's here for around $150.. but they're just so slow!!

jcaleb

i am considering that (netbook) when i have budget. hopefully this December when i get my 13th month pay. i just bought one last Christmas and gave to my mom, so I don't have for myself =(

earl

Been meaning to ask.. anyone who is hosting your site from a home adsl line did you buy a dedicated ip from your isp or use a dns service to update the ip change? also did you just put your server in the DMZ or do use dual router config, different subnet etc.. just wondering what would be the best way to separate the server from the home network..thanks!

KuJoe

@earl said: but they're just so slow!!

Slow for what? Gaming? Yes, you can't game on a netbook (unless you want to play Counter Strike or Diablo 2) but I can't think of anything you can't do on a netbook besides that. I used to do video editing, Photoshop, multiple VMs, 1080p playback, etc. on my netbook without any problems.

@earl said: anyone who is hosting your site from a home adsl line did you buy a dedicated ip from your isp or use a dns service to update the ip change? also did you just put your server in the DMZ or do use dual router config, different subnet etc.. just wondering what would be the best way to separate the server from your home network..thanks!

I just use DynDNS that runs on my NAS and port forwarding. Anything for port 80 or 443 goes to my NAS.

KuJoe

@earl said: I have a pogoplug

It runs Arch Linux native so it'd be easy to hack. I have one sitting in my closet I've been meaning to play with. Even considered putting it in our cabinet as a fun box to play with (along with my netbook).

earl

@KuJoe said: Slow for what? Gaming? Yes, you can't game on a netbook (unless you want to play Counter Strike or Diablo 2) but I can't think of anything you can't do on a netbook besides that. I used to do video editing, Photoshop, multiple VMs, 1080p playback, etc. on my netbook without any problems.

Maybe you have linux installed? it does feel peppy without an antivirus installed, mine is win7 starter.. I literally had to uninstall avast antivirus cause it was just making it crawl even for basic surfing.. this is after upgrading the memory to 2gb.. now I'm using nod32 and it seems to be better but really I just don't have the Patience for it.. The only reason i bought it was because it was on sale, $200 for an Acer aspire.. The display on it is also not the greatest, the colors seems washed out and gets worst if you view it from an angle, Oh and get this.. it only comes with one speaker!! and to top it off the keyboard is terrible.. you can really feel the cheapness.. Maybe I should have got an HP or Lenovo.. they might be better but really for something mobile I prefer the playbook/ipad.. battery last longer, easy to carry etc..

@KuJoe said: It runs Arch Linux native so it'd be easy to hack.

Yeah I saw a few DIY hacks for it.. seems easy enough to do.. I wonder how well this compares to a netbook for a webserver..

@KuJoe said: I just use DynDNS that runs on my NAS and port forwarding. Anything for port 80 or 443 goes to my NAS.

I was thinking about getting static IP's from my isp.. I think it's $5 for 3 ip's.. for sure this would be the safest way of hosting from home.. cause your separated from the server.. but being able to change my ip has come in handy sometimes so it's a hard choice

KuJoe

@earl said: Maybe you have linux installed?

I used to use Windows XP Pro then switched to Windows 7 Business on my new netbook. I only buy HP now, my parents have an Asus and I can't stand it.

@earl said: I wonder how well this compares to a netbook for a webserver

It's probably less power usage, less performance, and with only a USB for storage it'll be even slower. The netbook has a built in battery though as others have mentioned. I don't know what the ethernet port speed is either, I'm assuming 100Mbps.

@earl said: I was thinking about getting static IP's from my isp.. I think it's $5 for 3 ip's.. for sure this would be the safest way of hosting from home.. cause your separated from the server.. but being able to change my ip has come in handy sometimes so it's a hard choice

I considered going this route but if you get a DOS attack (a small one is all it takes), you're home network is offline. With a non-dedicated IP you can just unplug your modem for 5 minutes and get a new IP.

earl

@KuJoe said: I don't know what the ethernet port speed is either, I'm assuming 100Mbps.

I checked the box, it says gigabit Ethernet.. I have the pogo-e02 model so it doesn't have the wifi option.. wish it does then I can connect the playbook to it.. but as far as the Ethernet goes, the fastest adsl connection I can get to the house is probably 25mbps down and 7mbps up so the gigabit part is not necessary..

@KuJoe said: I considered going this route but if you get a DOS attack

Yeah never thought about that.. I use to have cable internet and their IP's never change.. I was with them for a good 10 years and never got an attack.. Maybe they have some kind of ddos protection?

another option I was thinking of was using two routers with different subnets, supposedly this would be safer if the server gets attacked your home network would be unreachable.. but really whats the likely chance that someone will hack your home server, would they really take the trouble to hack a small site?

kkasberg

HDD Space: 2.5 TB
ISP: WOW Internet 50Mbs/5Mbs
RAM: 4GB
Processor Q8300
Computer Model: Custom Build
Operating System Ubuntu 12.04
Uptime: 21 days (been using as a server for over a year)
Location: Columbus Ohio

I started using it as a desktop as well as a server hence using ubuntu, but have come to use it more as a server. It currently hosts my network shares, manages my downloades, and manages my home security (4 ip based cameras using zoneminder with motion detection).

Typical Load performance:
load average: 1.11, 1.19, 1.13