Web design, gaming and web hosting - Systems hardware and software setup discussion.

Hello All,

Due to going too far off the original topic in the - Ultimate gamester thread

Link - http://www.entropiaplanets.com/forums/threads/the-ultimate-gamester-pc-spec-6-000-7-000-usd.5184/

I will start this new thread and summarise what has been discussed thus far.

Thankyou for all the input made so far :)
It is appreciated and has helped with the decision making process.

Cheers,
Viper

 

So as it stands,

My name in Entropia is Shadowsniper Viper Viperstrike and I am a regular participant with in the known universe.

IRL my friends call me Andy and I am currently medically retired for the foreseeable future from working a normal 9 to 5 job. I am looking at new avenues to explore as a hobbyist and potentially for future self employment prospects using my current knowledge.

I have decided to explore the realm of web development and hosting whilst spending free time playing Entropia.

The goals:

To build:

1. A workstation to do my website work on and play Entropia on.
2. A server capable of hosting multiple websites using II7.x & hosting control panel.

To secure:

3. The computer equipment with suitable encryption technology - eg. AES 256
4. The computer equipment into a neat, logical & safe area - Rackmounting.

To provide:

5. The server redundancy where feasible - UPS, PSU & RAID Technology

Software discussion upon:

- Operating system & server services for DNS, Mail, HTTP, FTP etc
- Encryption technologies if software based
- Web Hosting control panels / Domain handlers

Ultimate goal: To try and keep all this within a $ 15,000 total budget

 

Thus far I have purchased the following for this configuration:

Note: Taken from discussions & decision making in the ultimate gamester thread.

Summary:

- 1 x 32RU Rackmount Cabinet to keep all the equipment neatly & logically organised = $ 929
- 2 x Norcotek rackmount cases - RPC-450 = $ 418 total
- 2 x Corsair 850W Professional Series - ATX 12V v2.2, Modular Cables, 80Plus Gold Certified = $ 560 total
- 1 x Asus 27" LED Monitor = $ 540, second one on order, $ 1080 total
- 1 x EATON 3000VA 2700W Uninteruptable Power Supply = $ 1100
- 2 x Logitech bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse - MX5500 revolution = $ 360 total
- 1 x Creative ZiiSound-T6 bluetooth speaker set inc. USB bluetooth dongle = $ 500
- 1 x Creative D200 bluetooth & Creative USB Bluetooth dongle = $ 230

Total spent to date: $ 5177 with second 27" monitor included

Detailed Product Overview:

- 1 x 32RU Rackmount Cabinet to keep all the equipment neatly & logically organised = $ 929

Details here - http://www.rackworld.com.au/detail.asp?pid=2587&cid=1051,1063



- 2 x Norcotek rackmount cases - RPC-450 = $ 418 total

Details here - http://www.norcotek.com/RPC-450.php

• 4U rackmount design,meets EIARS-310C standard.
• 3 x 5.25" drive bays, 10 x 3.5 " drive bays
• Easy drive mounting with 24 screwless rails
• Support EEB (12"x13"), CEB(12"x10.5"), ATX (12"x9.6"), Micro ATX (9.6" x 9.6") motherboard
• Screwless top cover
• 2 x 120mm ball bearing front fans, 2 x 80mm optional rear fans for better ventilation
• Lockable front panel door
• Front accessible USB port
• Easy-accessed front changeable air filter
• Smooth border prevent lacerating your skin

- 2 x Corsair 850W Professional Series - ATX 12V v2.2, Modular Cables, 80Plus Gold Certified = $ 560 total

Details here - http://www.corsair.com/power-supplies/modular-psus/professional-series-gold-2/ax850.html



- 1 x Asus 27" LED Monitor = $ 540, second one on order, $ 1080 total

Details here - http://www.asus.com.au/Display/LCD_Monitors/VE278Q/



- 1 x EATON 3000VA 2700W Uninteruptable Power Supply = $ 1100

Details here - http://powerquality.eaton.com/Products-services/Backup-Power-UPS/5130.aspx



- 2 x Logitech bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse - MX5500 revolution = $ 360 total

Details here - http://www.logitech.com/en-au/keyboards/keyboard-mice-combos/devices/3481



- 1 x Creative ZiiSound-T6 bluetooth speaker set inc. USB bluetooth dongle = $ 500

Details here - http://au.store.creative.com/speakers/ziisound-t6/4-20229.aspx



- 1 x Creative D200 bluetooth & Creative USB Bluetooth dongle = $ 230

Details here - http://au.store.creative.com/speakers/creative-d200/4-19775.aspx
& here - http://au.store.creative.com/access...oth-audio-bt-d1-usb-transmitter/98-19611.aspx

 

Workstation Specification - Website design & Entropia gaming.

Prices taken from my equipment supplier in Australia: www.techbuy.com.au

To be released products Q3 - Q4 2011:

- Socket 2011 Motherboard /w PCI-E x16 3.0 spec, USB 3.0, SAS-II & SATA-III ports - Guestimate $ 500
- Socket 2011 Processor /w AES-NI instruction set for hardware accelerated encryption - Guestimate $ 800

Sub-Total = $ 1300 Guestimating $ 500 for MB, $ 800 for CPU

Available Now:

- Corsair Vengence 16Gb DDR-3 memory (4 x 4Gb modules) ~ $ 220
- OCZ RevoDrive 3 240Gb SSD PCI-E x4 1,000MB/sec read, 920MB/sec write ~ $ 750 (Boot drive)
- Seagate 2TB 7,200 RMP SAS Drive ~ $ 315 (Data/web workspace drive)
- Asus Nvidia 570 GTX PCI-E 320-Bit 1280Mb memory ~ $ 450

Sub-Total = $ 1735

Already Purchased:

- Norcotek rackmount case - RPC-450 = $ 209
- Corsair 850W Professional Series - ATX 12V v2.2, Modular Cables, 80Plus Gold Certified = $ 208
- Asus 27" LED Monitor = $ 540
- Logitech bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse - MX5500 revolution = $ 180
- Creative ZiiSound-T6 bluetooth speaker set inc. USB bluetooth dongle = $ 500

Sub-Total = $ 1637

The system will use the motherboard sound card and be ported through the creative USB bluetooth controller.

Est Total = $ 4672

Above: $ 1300 guestimated + $ 1735 to outlay & $ 1637 already purchased

 

Server Specification - Windows 2008 R2, Website host & control panel, etc.

Prices taken from my equipment supplier in Australia: www.techbuy.com.au

To be released products Q3 - Q4 2011:

- Socket 2011 Motherboard /w PCI-E x16 3.0 spec, USB 3.0, SAS-II & SATA-III ports - Guestimate $ 500
- Socket 2011 Processor /w AES-NI instruction set for hardware accelerated encryption - Guestimate $ 800

Sub-Total = $ 1300 Guestimating $ 500 for MB, $ 800 for CPU

Available Now - General kit

- Corsair Vengence 32Gb DDR-3 memory (8 x 4Gb modules) ~ $ 440
- OCZ RevoDrive 3 240Gb SSD PCI-E x4 1,000MB/sec read, 920MB/sec write ~ $ 750 (Boot drive)
- Asus Nvidia 570 GTX PCI-E 320-Bit 1280Mb memory ~ $ 450

Sub-Total = $ 1640

Available Now - RAID-6 Implementation (12TB Data, 4TB Parity)

- Intel RS2BL080 8 Port SAS-II/SATA-III PCI-E x8 256Mb Cache DDR2 ~ $ 615
- 8 x Seagate 2TB SAS-II Drives 6Gb/sec interface ~ $ 315 each, $ 2520 total

Sub-Total = $ 3135

Already Purchased:

- Norcotek rackmount case - RPC-450 = $ 209
- Corsair 850W Professional Series - ATX 12V v2.2, Modular Cables, 80Plus Gold Certified = $ 208
- Asus 27" LED Monitor = $ 540 (This one is on order already)
- Logitech bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse - MX5500 revolution = $ 180
- Creative D200 bluetooth speakers & USB bluetooth dongle = $ 230

Sub-Total = $ 1367

The system will use the motherboard sound card and be ported through the creative USB bluetooth controller.

Est Total = $ 7442

Above: $ 1300 guestimated + $ 4775 to outlay & $ 1367 already purchased

Notes on redundancy:

Dual hotswap PSU was explored for this system, however for $ 800 odd dollars it was seen to be more useful to purchase a second Corsair 850W to stand as a reserve for the server or workstation if needed.

See details here - http://www.entropiaplanets.com/foru...c-spec-6-000-7-000-usd.5184/page-4#post-35867



 

Hardware costing @ $ 14,143 + Software @ $ 990

Workstation specification - $ 4672 ( $1300 of this is guestimated for MB & CPU)
Server Specification - $ 7442 ( $1300 of this is guestimated for MB & CPU)
Rackmount Cabinet - $ 929
3000VA 2700W UPS - $ 1100


Software & Encryption Costs ~ $ 990 total.

Operating Systems:

- Workstation will run Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64 OEM - $ 162
- Server will run Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 x64 OEM 5 Clients - $ 828

Encryption Software:

- Truecrypt 7.0a - Free - www.truecrypt.org

Hosting Control Panel:

After considering the following three control panels:

1. CPanel Enkompass - http://www.cpanel.net/windows/overview.html

2. Parallels Plesk - http://www.parallels.com/au/products/plesk/

3. Parallels HSphere - http://www.parallels.com/au/products/hsphere/

I have decided that the Plesk product would be the easiest solution to go with for starting out.

If anyone knows more about these products and can make recommendations, it would be greatly appreciated. Please detail why you think one is a better solution over the other.

The main reason for choosing Parallels Plesk over CPanel products is that even though it has few less features than CPanel, configuration and automation is a lot easier and the product is relatively cheaper.

I can manage to get away with $ 70 / month which will give me -
http://www.parallels.com/au/store/plesk/win/

Ofc there there will be a few additional costs to this whole implementation,
However those costs are outside the scope of this thread.



 

Hi Ordaz,

This is what I am able to achieve with encrypting the RAID volume.

http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/

I do not need to encrypt any of the boot drives as all the software I am using is legit. No pirated material will be allowed on any of the hosted sites, something I will have to keep an eye on, probably with a reporting function of types ....

Or would you advise encryption of the SSD boot drives as well for a totally secure setup?

Anyway back to Truecrypt, I am able to use a whirlpool hash for the keys:

http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=whirlpool (Also they have SHA-512 and RIPEMD-160)

Whirlpool was my selection :) and thanks I bookmarked that site you gave.

As far as the data is concerned, I have the ability to cascade encryption if I wish:

http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=cascades

AES, Serpent & TwoFish cascades.

Noting that AES is probably sufficient on its own, however checking the diagnostic tool;

My current machine without the AES-NI instruction set can process AES @ 350MBytes/sec
and a cascade of AES-Serpert-TwoFish @ 80MBytes/sec in memory which chews more cpu cycles.

These above figures will be 4 - 8 times faster on the new processor with AES-NI (AES component)

http://ark.intel.com/MySearch.aspx?AESTech=true

I am not sure anything more than AES will be necessary to be honest, it is just to protect the data from theft.

I will backup the crypto keys to keep them safe on multiple USB keys.
Most likely purchasing 2 or 3 IronKey drives ~ $ 80 each.

https://www.ironkey.com/basic

Any recommendations on alternatives would be great.
I have a friend reviewing the source code for Truecrypt as we speak (Open Source),
thus far he has found no backdoors in it - Not that I don't trust them :D

 

The intention with this setup is to be somewhat competitive with AussieHQ as mentioned earlier in the
Ultimate Gamester thread:

I think until I can get this all up and running, 200 accounts will be my manhour limit initially - Well until such time I can convince my brother to come join forces with me, then we would look at together taking on more.

 

Thanks Ordaz,

I have taken all that onboard and will research it further :)

Much appreciated ;)
Viper

 

Up for consideration - Intel 510 series @ 500MB/sec read, 315MB/sec write - 250Gb version ~ $ 550
http://www.intel.com/design/flash/nand/510series/overview.htm

Up for consideration - Corsair Force 3 series @ ~ 550MB/sec read, 520MB/sec write - 240Gb version ~ $ 550
http://www.corsair.com/solid-state-...40gb-sata-3-6gbps-solid-state-hard-drive.html

Using either of these will give double the drive space for the boot drives on the workstation and server, adding roughly $ 450 to the overall total cost.

I am tending to lean more towards the Corsair brand at this time.

The downside of these drives is they do not reach their fullest potential using SATA-3 or SAS-2.

 

Up for further consideration - http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-revodrive-3-pci-express-ssd.html

OCZ RevoDrive 3 PCI-Express SSD

PCI-Express Gen. 2 x4 interface
MLC NAND flash
Full height form factor
OCZ SuperScale Storage Controller
Virtualized Controller Architecture 2.0
Bootable as a direct-attach device
128-bit & 256-bit AES-compliant data encryption
SMART monitoring
167.64 (L) x 98.42 (W) x 15.25mm (H)
Weight: 114g
Shock Resistance: 1500g
Operating Temp: 0°C ~ 70°C
Ambient Temp: 0°C ~ 55°C
Storage Temp: -45°C ~ 85°C
Power Consumption: 7.5W idle, 8.3W active
MTBF: 1,000,000 hours
3-Year Warranty
Compatible with Windows Vista 32/64, Windows 7 32/64

240GB Max Performance
Read: Up to 1000 MB/s
Write: Up to 900 MB/s
Max Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 130,000 IOPS

Price = $ 750 - Techbuy - http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/174125/HDD_SOLID_STATE_FLASH_DISK_-_PCI-EXPRESS/OCZ/RVD3-FHPX4-240G.asp



I think this will be the way I initially jump for both the server & workstation :)

Updating above specifications.

 

Hi Ordaz,

I have been reading more about IPBrick, it seems this model - http://www.ipbrick.com/index.php?oid=46
may be suitable for my needs, however I am not too much of a linux person, only a dabbler in linux, mainly ubuntu.

While it is outside the scope of this thread, I am going to look more into such solutions, particularly with web caching & firewall capabilities.

A later expense never the less and something that will be eventually needed.

Cheers,
Viper

 

Sounds, good. And lol at the kernel debugging, at least that is out of the way :D
I have not had the chance to go into great detail over the products they offer, but it is on the list of things to do :)
It seems the SOHO model may also do the job, though I must read more about them.

 

Some interesting news about dual socket 2011 motherboards:

http://www.techpowerup.com/146970/EVGA-Readies-Dual-LGA2011-X79-Motherboard.html

It may be the case that I will build up one monster PC.
Looking further into web design, the area where I live is very well covered.
I may look into getting into video processing instead.
There is a ready need for this in my area as no one else offers the service.

We will see how it all looks by early next year.

 

Another article on it:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/EVGA-Works-On-Dual-Socket-Intel-X79-Motherboard-204103.shtml

 

Video Processing discussion

Any ideas, discussion & recommendations would be appreciated :)

I will still offer web design services but will likely host them on outsourced hosts - To be decided at a later time. For now I am looking for a business idea to spend my free time as a hobbyist to keep myself busy.

I am exploring the possibility of offering services to convert older VHS to DVD and/or PC media files whilst offering video editing as part of the service. I have put out my feelers in to the community where I live and have already got several requests for VHS to DVD conversion along with video editing.

I am looking into good Video capture cards, editing is not so much of a worry, there are many software packages out there that make life simple.

However advise on good editing software is never a bad thing ;)

For video capture cards, I am particularly looking at those that can suport HDMI & S-Video inputs to support latest hardware & DV Recorders.

What I have found so far is this from SkyDigital:
http://www.medianow.com.au/data/CaptureX_HDMI.htm



I would likely also look at using something like this for output via HDMI for VHS tapes:
http://www.lg.com/au/tv-audio-video/video/LG-dvd-vcr-combo-RC689D.jsp