Cost Analysis
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- Cost Analysis Server Configuration - Technical Documentation
Overview
This document details a server configuration designed for cost-effectiveness without severely compromising performance. This build, referred to internally as "Cost Analysis," targets workloads that benefit from a balance of compute, memory, and storage at a minimized Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). It's ideal for web hosting, application development, database servers with moderate I/O demands, and virtualisation environments hosting smaller VMs. This configuration prioritizes price-to-performance ratio over bleeding-edge technology. We aim to provide a robust, reliable system at a competitive price point. This document will cover hardware specifications, performance characteristics, recommended use cases, comparison to similar configurations, and maintenance considerations. See also our Server Configuration Philosophy for the underlying principles of our server builds.
1. Hardware Specifications
The "Cost Analysis" server configuration is built around readily available, mainstream components. The goal is to leverage economies of scale and avoid expensive, niche hardware. All components are selected for reliability and vendor support. This section provides a detailed breakdown of each component.
Chassis: Supermicro 847E16-R1200B
- Form Factor: 4U Rackmount
- Drive Bays: 16 x 3.5" Hot-Swap SAS/SATA
- Expansion Slots: 1 x PCIe 4.0 x16 (full height), 2 x PCIe 4.0 x8 (half-length)
- Power Supply: 1200W Redundant 80+ Platinum
- Cooling: Redundant hot-swap fans
- Remote Management: IPMI 2.0 compliant with dedicated LAN
CPU: 2 x Intel Xeon Silver 4310 (12 Cores / 24 Threads per CPU)
- Base Clock Speed: 2.1 GHz
- Max Turbo Frequency: 3.3 GHz
- Cache: 18.75 MB L3 Cache per CPU
- TDP: 120W per CPU
- Socket: LGA 4189
- Supported Memory: DDR4-2933 ECC Registered DIMMs
- See our CPU Selection Guide for more details on Intel Xeon processors.
Motherboard: Supermicro X12DPG-QT6
- Chipset: Intel C621A
- Memory Slots: 16 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- Maximum Memory Capacity: 4TB
- Storage Interfaces: 8 x SATA 6Gb/s, 4 x SAS 3.0 (via mezzanine card)
- Networking: 2 x 10GbE LAN ports
- Expansion Slots: As defined by chassis.
- See our Motherboard Compatibility Matrix for supported components.
RAM: 128GB DDR4-2933 ECC Registered DIMMs (8 x 16GB)
- Type: DDR4 ECC Registered
- Speed: 2933 MHz
- Latency: CL19
- Voltage: 1.2V
- Configuration: 8 DIMMs for optimal channel interleaving. See our Memory Configuration Best Practices for more information.
Storage:
- Boot Drive: 480GB SATA SSD (Samsung 870 EVO) - For operating system and essential applications.
- Data Storage: 8 x 4TB SATA HDD (Seagate Exos X16) - Configured in RAID 6 for data redundancy and capacity. See our RAID Configuration Guide for detailed information on RAID levels.
- RAID Controller: Adaptec SmartRAID 316i - Hardware RAID controller supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10.
Networking: 2 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) Intel X710-DA2
- Ports: 2 x SFP+
- Features: Supports SR and LR optics, jumbo frames, and VLAN tagging. See our Networking Hardware Overview for details on network interface cards.
Power Supply: 2 x 600W 80+ Platinum Redundant Power Supplies
- Input Voltage: 100-240V AC
- Output Voltage: 12V, 5V, 3.3V
- Efficiency: 94% at 50% load
- Redundancy: N+1 redundancy ensures continued operation in case of a PSU failure. See our Power Supply Redundancy Guidelines.
GPU: None. This configuration is designed for CPU-bound workloads and does not include a dedicated GPU. A GPU can be added if required for specific applications (see GPU Acceleration Options).
Here's a summary in table format:
| Component | Chassis | CPU | Motherboard | RAM | Boot Drive | Data Storage | RAID Controller | Networking | Power Supply | GPU |
2. Performance Characteristics
The "Cost Analysis" configuration delivers solid performance for its price point. While not competing with high-end server configurations, it provides sufficient resources for many common workloads.
CPU Performance: The Intel Xeon Silver 4310 processors offer a good balance of core count and clock speed. They excel in multi-threaded applications and virtualisation. Benchmarking with Geekbench 5 yields scores of approximately 15,000 single-core and 85,000 multi-core. See CPU Benchmarking Methodology for details on our testing procedures.
Memory Performance: DDR4-2933 ECC Registered RAM provides adequate memory bandwidth for most applications. Memory latency is typical for this class of memory. We use memtest86+ to verify memory stability and integrity. See our Memory Testing Procedures.
Storage Performance: The SATA SSD boot drive provides fast boot times and responsive application loading. The RAID 6 array of SATA HDDs delivers a usable capacity of approximately 24TB with data redundancy. Sequential read/write speeds are expected to be around 150-200 MB/s. IOPS will be limited by the SATA interface and RAID controller. See our Storage Performance Metrics for more details.
Network Performance: The 10GbE network interface cards provide high-bandwidth connectivity for data transfer. Throughput is typically limited by network infrastructure. We use iperf3 to measure network performance. See our Network Performance Testing Guide.
Real-World Performance Examples:
- **Web Hosting:** Capable of hosting a moderate number of websites with low to medium traffic. Can handle approximately 50-100 websites depending on their resource requirements.
- **Application Development:** Suitable for development and testing environments. Compilation times will be reasonable, but not as fast as with higher-end processors.
- **Database Server (MySQL/PostgreSQL):** Can handle small to medium-sized databases with moderate I/O demands. Performance will be limited by the SATA HDD RAID array.
- **Virtualisation (VMware ESXi/Proxmox VE):** Can host a small number of virtual machines (5-10) with limited resource allocation per VM. See our Virtualisation Best Practices.
3. Recommended Use Cases
This configuration is best suited for the following applications:
- **Web Hosting (Shared & VPS):** The balance of CPU, RAM, and storage makes it ideal for hosting websites and virtual private servers.
- **Application Development & Testing:** Provides a stable environment for developers to build and test applications.
- **Small to Medium-Sized Databases:** Suitable for databases that do not require extremely high I/O performance.
- **File Server:** The large storage capacity and RAID 6 redundancy make it a good choice for file storage.
- **Virtualisation Host (Small VMs):** Can host a limited number of virtual machines with moderate resource requirements.
- **Backup Server:** Provides ample storage for backups.
- **Media Server:** Streaming media content to a moderate number of users.
This configuration is *not* recommended for:
- **High-Performance Computing (HPC):** The CPUs and storage are not powerful enough for demanding HPC workloads.
- **Large-Scale Databases:** The SATA HDD RAID array will be a bottleneck for large databases.
- **GPU-Intensive Applications:** The lack of a dedicated GPU limits its ability to handle applications requiring GPU acceleration. See GPU Server Configurations for alternatives.
- **Video Editing/Rendering:** The CPU and storage are not optimized for these tasks.
4. Comparison with Similar Configurations
Here's a comparison of the "Cost Analysis" configuration with two other similar configurations: "Entry Level" and "Performance Balanced."
| Feature | Entry Level | Cost Analysis | CPU | Intel Xeon E-2324G | 2 x Intel Xeon Silver 4310 | Cores/Threads | 8C/16T | 24C/48T | RAM | 64GB DDR4-2666 | 128GB DDR4-2933 | Boot Drive | 240GB SATA SSD | 480GB SATA SSD | Data Storage | 4 x 4TB SATA HDD (RAID 5) | 8 x 4TB SATA HDD (RAID 6) | Networking | 1GbE | 2 x 10GbE | Power Supply | 550W Single | 1200W Redundant | Estimated Cost | $3,000 | $5,000 | Ideal Use Case | Basic Web Hosting, Small File Server | Web Hosting, Application Development, Medium Databases |
As the table shows, the "Cost Analysis" configuration offers a significant upgrade in CPU cores, RAM capacity, and storage redundancy compared to the "Entry Level" configuration, at a moderate price increase. It provides a good balance of performance and cost, making it a suitable choice for a wider range of workloads. The "Performance Balanced" configuration offers even higher performance but at a substantially higher cost. See our Server Configuration Selection Guide for assistance in choosing the right configuration for your needs.
5. Maintenance Considerations
Maintaining the "Cost Analysis" server requires regular attention to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
Cooling: The 4U chassis with redundant hot-swap fans provides adequate cooling for the components. However, it's important to ensure proper airflow in the server room. Regularly check fan operation and replace any failing fans promptly. Monitor CPU and HDD temperatures using server management tools. See our Server Room Cooling Best Practices.
Power Requirements: The server requires a dedicated 208V or 120V power circuit with sufficient capacity to handle the 1200W power supply. The redundant power supplies provide protection against power outages, but an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is recommended for critical applications. See our UPS Selection Guide.
Storage Maintenance: Regularly monitor the health of the hard drives using SMART monitoring tools. Replace any drives that are showing signs of failure. Perform regular RAID scrubs to ensure data integrity. Consider implementing a data backup and disaster recovery plan. See our Data Backup and Recovery Procedures.
Software Updates: Keep the operating system, firmware, and drivers up to date to ensure security and stability. Follow the vendor's recommended update schedule. See our Server Security Best Practices.
Remote Management: Utilize the IPMI 2.0 interface for remote management and monitoring. This allows you to access the server remotely, even when the operating system is not running. See our IPMI Configuration Guide.
Physical Security: Ensure the server is physically secured in a locked server room or rack. Restrict access to authorized personnel only. See our Server Room Security Guidelines.
Component Replacement: Ensure you have spare components on hand or readily available for quick replacement in case of failure. Keep a detailed inventory of all server components. See our Spare Parts Management Policy. ```
Intel-Based Server Configurations
| Configuration | Specifications | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Core i7-6700K/7700 Server | 64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 512 GB | CPU Benchmark: 8046 |
| Core i7-8700 Server | 64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2x1 TB | CPU Benchmark: 13124 |
| Core i9-9900K Server | 128 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 1 TB | CPU Benchmark: 49969 |
| Core i9-13900 Server (64GB) | 64 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD | |
| Core i9-13900 Server (128GB) | 128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD | |
| Core i5-13500 Server (64GB) | 64 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD | |
| Core i5-13500 Server (128GB) | 128 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD | |
| Core i5-13500 Workstation | 64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2 NVMe SSD, NVIDIA RTX 4000 |
AMD-Based Server Configurations
| Configuration | Specifications | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 5 3600 Server | 64 GB RAM, 2x480 GB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 17849 |
| Ryzen 7 7700 Server | 64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2x1 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 35224 |
| Ryzen 9 5950X Server | 128 GB RAM, 2x4 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 46045 |
| Ryzen 9 7950X Server | 128 GB DDR5 ECC, 2x2 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 63561 |
| EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/1TB) | 128 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 48021 |
| EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/2TB) | 128 GB RAM, 2 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 48021 |
| EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/4TB) | 128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 48021 |
| EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/1TB) | 256 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 48021 |
| EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/4TB) | 256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe | CPU Benchmark: 48021 |
| EPYC 9454P Server | 256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe |
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⚠️ *Note: All benchmark scores are approximate and may vary based on configuration. Server availability subject to stock.* ⚠️