Server Upgrade? How should I determine hardware reqs?

[Joe Link]

What was once a great deal on my dedicated server isn't so hot for the money now days, so I'm considering an upgrade. I've been with LiquidWeb since 2009, first on a VPS, then on this dedicated server since early 2011 (IIRC). LiquidWeb has been fantastic, I want to stay with them. At the time it was a great deal, but small upgrades have increased the cost, so I'm considering making a change. However, I don't want to upgrade unless I'm going to see a direct benefit. I spoke with LW last night and they knocked $30 off my monthly bill, taking it from $309 to $279.

Current Server
Dual Xeon E5506 Quad Core
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA 250 GB Hardware RAID 1
250 GB SATA backup
Linux CentOS 5
LiteSpeed 2 CPU Core License
cPanel/WHM
5 TB Outbound Bandwidth

The first thing I need to know is how I should go about determining our hardware requirements. When the server was new it was overkill for what we had, and it's possible it still is. We only get around 1.4 million page views per month right now, but we need room to grow. Two things to note, the lack of SSD's, and we're still on CentOS 5. LW has stated upgrading to CentOS 6 will require us migrating to a new server.

If I do end up migrating to a new server, this is what I'm thinking. The only option I'm unsure about is which processor to go with.

New Server - $350 Setup / $329 Per Month
Single Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 3.5GHZ Quad Core – Hyperthreaded
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA Software Raid 1 Drives (1TB 7200RPM SATA) – No additional cost
4 x SSD Hardware Raid 10 Drives (120GB Kingston Hyper-X SSD MLC)
1 x SATA Backup Drive (1TB 7200RPM SATA) – No additional cost
CentOS 6 64-Bit
LiteSpeed 2 CPU CORE License
cPanel / WHM Fully Managed
5GB Outbound Bandwidth

Processor Option 2: Dual Intel Xeon E5-2603 V2 1.8GHZ Quad Core - (Add $85.00/month)
Processor Option 3: Dual Intel Xeon E5-2620 2.0GHZ, Hexa Core (Add $135.00/month)

I really appreciate your input guys, thank you!

 

[Andy.N]

I went through the same thing recently and just order a dedicated server yesterday. I'm feeling as hardware is getting cheaper by the day, it's more cost effective to move than to stick around and just upgrade existing server.
I'm going to move from Rackspace cloud server to this new host. They currently have WHT20 coupon that save you $20 each month.

I'm getting Quad Intel Xeon E3-1230v3 with 32GB ram and 2x64GB raid 1. Still waiting for them to set up the new server so I can move into

http://www.reliablesite.net/dedicated-servers/

 

[Joe Link]

Thanks for the reply, sounds like you have quite the site to need that horsepower!

What made you switch?

 

[Andy.N]

Thanks for the reply, sounds like you have quite the site to need that horsepower!

What made you switch?

Same reason you are thinking of moving. Rackspace is great but not a strong enough reason for me to stick around. I can get way more bang for my bucks by moving. I'm paying less than half what I'm paying with RS and now I got my own server that located in NYC where my audience is.
I think I'm going to get more capacity than I currently need but why not, i'm paying less and this will last until I need to move again.

 

[Joe Link]

Gotcha. I'll actually be sticking with LW, but I have either loyalty or trust issues, depending on which way you look at it

 

[rdn]

Go with SSD.
At lest Intel E3 Series with 4 cores and 8 threads.
At least 16GB RAM.

 

[Andy.N]

Gotcha. I'll actually be sticking with LW, but I have either loyalty or trust issues, depending on which way you look at it

I actually was hosting on LW for years before moving to RS. No problem whatsoever with either one but I do not like to waste my money either.

 

[Joe Link]

Go with SSD.
At lest Intel E3 Series with 4 cores and 8 threads.
At least 16GB RAM.

Do you have any tips on determining whether I need something that powerful, or where potential bottlenecks lie?

I actually was hosting on LW for years before moving to RS. No problem whatsoever with either one but I do not like to waste my money either.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It's certainly not cheap hosting with either one of those. Did you save money switching from LW to RS? What differences did you find?

 

[rdn]

Do you have any tips on determining whether I need something that powerful, or where potential bottlenecks lie?

Based on your traffic, you don't need much like Xeon E5 series.

 

[Mike Edge]

If your site only requires less then 8gb RAM and 7200rpm drives, you should consider premium shared hosting with someone like me. I host several communities with over 1k online at any given time and several million posts, for a fraction of what your paying now on far better hardware. Feel free to shoot me a PM to discuss more.

 

[WSWD]

Single Intel Xeon E3-1270 V2 3.5GHZ Quad Core – Hyperthreaded
8GB DDR3 SDRAM
2 x SATA Software Raid 1 Drives (1TB 7200RPM SATA) – No additional cost
4 x SSD Hardware Raid 10 Drives (120GB Kingston Hyper-X SSD MLC)
1 x SATA Backup Drive (1TB 7200RPM SATA) – No additional cost
CentOS 6 64-Bit
LiteSpeed 2 CPU CORE License
cPanel / WHM Fully Managed
5GB Outbound Bandwidth

This server will suit you just fine for a very long time. You don't need the more expensive CPUs. The RAM is fairly low for that spec server. 8GB isn't a whole lot these days, but aside from that, you should be plenty happy with that server. Will be incredibly quick.

 

[Mike Edge]

This server will suit you just fine for a very long time. You don't need the more expensive CPUs. The RAM is fairly low for that spec server. 8GB isn't a whole lot these days, but aside from that, you should be plenty happy with that server. Will be incredibly quick.

Agree, only slight issue I have is using Hyper-X SSD.. Kingston is more home computer gaming grade. They should be using Samsung or Intel.

 

[WSWD]

Agree, only slight issue I have is using Hyper-X SSD.. Kingston is more home computer gaming grade. They should be using Samsung or Intel.

Yikes! Didn't even catch that. Consumer drives in a server isn't exactly the best way of doing things.

 

[craigiri]

I agree that the RAM should be 16GB - especially with ES. You can squeak by with 8, but no reason to make it that tight.

The CPU is probably not as important if you have the RAM and decent I/O on the disk - that 4X Xeon should do the job with no sweat.