[CentOS] CentOS on Compaq Proliant Rackmount Servers

Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith@ieee.org>
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:14:57 -0000

From: Robert Hanson <roberth at abbacomm.net>
> Is it currently worth getting used dual PIII 1850R's or should I start
with
> used dual PIII DL380's and like 1Ghz minimum processor speed?

Depends, I'll have to investigate the width of the interconnect of a
ProLiant 1850 v. ProLiant DL380.  This is typically dependent on the
chipset.  Anything i440 will _suck_.  Ideally you want a ServerWorks
IIIHE, although a IIILE is at least better than an i440 (but an IIIHE
has far better FSB/memory width).

> I couldn't find used 1850R's on eBay with more than 600Mhz.

That matters little.  What matters is the chipset and interconnect.
Hmmm ... according to this page (2nd hand, not always ideal):
  http://www.bnv-bamberg.de/home/ba3294/smp/rbuild/

The ProLiant 1850 is a i440GX (_avoid_, along with i440BX).
You're going to be stuck in I/O hell.

The ProLiant DL380 is a ServerSet IIILE, not ideal, but better.
You at least get 4-8x the I/O of a i440BX/GX.

Getting _exact_ model numbers helps.
I've seen a few ProLiants mentioned with ServerSet IIIHE chipsets.
But I assume those aren't quickly sold.