Well, I think the time has come for me to upgrade my server. That is buy new one.
At the moment I have
Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.80GHz, 1Gb RAM, 80GB HDD SCSI

lately, server is going into overloads, and as far as I can see it is due to MySql usage. I was told I should upgrade my cpu, or ram... so I decided to user current special prices and take on a new server, bigger, better

So now this is somewhat in my pricerange, but my main reason is performance, so what would you suggest? I host web sites: html, cms, few shops, forums, all php and on linux of course. At the moment I have about 100 domains set, of which I think is about 80% active, but only 50% generates somewhat serious traffic that sends my server into overload.

Xeon 3040, 250 GB IDE/SATA HDD, 1 GB, 1500 GB
Xeon 3060 - SATA, 250 GB IDE/SATA HDD, 2 GB, 2000 GB
Dual Xeon 2.4 - SCSI, 2 x 73 GB 10K RPM SCSI/SAS HDD, 1 GB, 1500 GB
Dual Xeon 2.8 - SCSI, 2 x 73 GB 10K RPM SCSI/SAS HDD, 2 GB , 2500 GB
Dual Xeon 3.2 - SATA, 2 x 250 GB IDE/SATA HDD, 2 GB , 2500 GB

thanx a lot! can't wait to set it up

Pick second options, that would be best for you.

Long term the Xeon 3040 or 3060 would be a better solution. The performance of single dual core processors is, on average, significantly better than the performance of dual single core servers. The 3040 and 3060 servers also use SATA II drives instead of IDE or SATA, so it's not just the CPU that is faster and more efficient, the other hardware on the server is more recent as well.

If you have any other questions or would like to proceed with an order, please feel free to contact me directly. I will be happy to assist you. You can reach me by email at bkyle @ theplanet.com or by phone at 281-714-3127. Or, you can just ask for me in chat from our Web site.

ok, thx a lot for help.

since on current server I have overloads, will Xeon 3040 satisfy me for about 1 year, let's say that my processing demands double.

The processor performance of the Xeon 3040 is more than 150% better than that of the Pentium 4 2.4 so in theory that would satisfy your requirements for at least one year if your processing demands doubled. It would also probably be a good idea to have 2GB RAM instead of the 1GB included with the Xeon 3040 as 1GB is what's included with your server now.

I'm not aware of any hard drive being manufactured as an 80 GB SCSI so I'm wondering if you really have the performance of scsi in your current server. SCSI drives are 73 or 74 GB. IDE/Sata drives are 80...

ns1 , I would get Xeon the 3040, 250 GB IDE/SATA HDD, 1 GB, 1500 GB or whatever server you can afford monthly ,but only after you try to optimize your Mysql and Apache.

Alot of times overloads can be fixed by adjusting the settings or moving heavy sql db sites, phpbb sites or nuke type sites to a secondary server that doesnt have 50 traffic heavy sites on it. Ive learned this after 6 servers since Rackshack, I used to buy new servers and get the same issues over and over until I learned to optimize...

http://phpimpact.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/...-mysql-queries/

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/li...une-lamp-2.html

thx ramstar, however, i only have one server, and moving those few heavy dbs is not worth it.
So I'd rather buy new, bigger, better server and live happy

AS Brooke suggested I have decided to take 2Gb RAM but with that the price of XEON 3040 is almost identical to the price of XEON 3210, and as far as I can see 3210 is far more better, right? anyway, I ordered that one.
Sorry Brooke for not contacting you, but I was already in contact with Karla W. before I started this topic. Next time, I'll call you first

Whichever you pick, just be sure that it is slightly better than what your going for.... you know... just in case. It's alwayhs better to have more than you need (as far as computers go) than less than you need.

Thx ChuFuong, I also think that way, that's why I decided to take QuadroCore insted DualCore, twice as much