I am interested in one of 2 options and would like some information on which might be better...

Option 1.) TWO P4-2.8ghz systems with ATA100
Option 2.) ONE Woodcrest (dual core) based 2.0ghz system with SAS

I plan on having around 20 web sites running proprietary software with no more than 40 concurrent users on at any given time (typically more around 25). PHP5, MySQL based application which is highly optimized. I will also need to run a mail server as well as the php/mysql systems.

My question really revolves around whether it is better to have two systems so I can put the database and mail server on a separate machine, or is it better to have one dual core based system with a better hard drive interface (SAS versus ata 100)... Any comments/suggestions?

Thanks,
John Cornett

The point of 2 threads?


Get the Intel Dual-Core Xeon 3060
2GB Ram (4GB is you want)

I have it, and it kicks ass.

Trust me.

Get the SAS-based server and you will be happier.

I started off with two P4 IDE/SATA based servers thinking that would be the way to go, but consolidated to a dual cpu scsi server. The single more powerful server has all the resources available at any given time for whatever spike load comes up and thus handles any unpredictable spike loads with much more grace than the two less powerful servers, either one of which becoming overloaded by a much lower spike causes a delay.