2001 Technical Support Team S Proposal

2001 Technical Support Team’s Proposal

For

New, Dedicated Web Server

Proposal: The 2001 Tech Team has discovered a need for a new and updated server to support the growing demands of the MSTE Office place. This new server will be dedicated solely to managing the web traffic for all of the MSTE sites.

Arguments:

Insufficient funds: We currently don’t have this in our budget.

No real need: The current server is running. Why Upgrade?

Supplier: Why not buy a pre-fabricated server? Won’t constructing one increase the cost?

Counter Arguments:

Funding: With the arrival of new grants and funds it is possible that some money could be earmarked for the upgrade. The initial cost would allow us to upgrade to a considerably higher standard than that which we are currently operating from. The improvement to the web sites will allow lower downloading times making our sites faster for the audience.

Necessity: Our server attracts 1.4 million hits per month and this number is likely to increase in the future, based on past trends and factors such as the recent NCTM link to our site, which will boost our hit count in the months to come. These issues reveal the substantial need to upgrade.

Though the server is presently running well, it is good to attack a performance problem before it occurs. The current versions of Linux/Apache on the server are out of date. Since we need to upgrade them anyway, we might as well improve the machine itself, while we’re at it. There have been 86 bugs fixed in Apache since the release of the version that is presently running and innumerable bugs in the system kernel.

The current server has a higher potential for failure than the new system would have. This is because the current server is one laptop with one hard drive. If this hard drive were to fail in any way the information it contains could take a considerable amount of time to recover. However, once the new system is installed the possibility of failure is significantly decreased. The new server would employ RAID technology. This system writes to 5 hard drives and keeps a parity of all of the information the server contains. Should a hard drive fail in the new system recovery could take place minutes later with a replacement hard drive.

Pre-Fabricated server: Although a pre-fabricated server may meet our general needs, the argument for building the server ourselves far outweighs any other possibility. If we build our own server the performance will be significantly better and the cost less than any pre-boxed server. We can make sure the finest parts are assembled instead of the proprietary parts that would be used by a large company, thus assuring a well-built and well-maintained machine to allow MSTE to continue its expansion.

Cost Summary:

Brand / Specs / # / Spartan Tech / Part # / Central Stores / Part # / Price / Supplier
AMD / Athlon XP 1600+ (1.4Ghz) w/ Fan & Heatsink / 1 / $148.00 / AMDXP1600+BOX / Unavailable / N/A / $148.00 / Spartan Tech
Abit / KG7 / 1 / $135.00 / ABKG7 / Unavailable / N/A / $135.00 / Spartan Tech
Kingston / 1GB ECC DDR 266 Mhz / 1 / Unavailable / N/A / $263.96 / INGM569329 / $263.96 / Central Stores
ATI / Xpert 98 8MB AGP / 1 / $28.00 / ATIX988A / $50.92 / INGM888308 / $28.00 / Spartan Tech
Mylex(IBM) / AcceleRAID 170 (64MB SDRAM) / 1 / Unavailable / N/A / $542.04 / INGM508025 / $542.04 / Central Stores
3Com / 3C905-CTXM Fast Etherlink XL / 1 / $38.00 / 3C905CX-TXNM / $69.39 / INGM026412 / $38.00 / Spartan Tech
Seagate / 392051W 9.2GB 10000RPM (Total 36.8GB) / 5 / $985.00 / ST39205LC / $1,021.55 / INGM533688 / $985.00 / Spartan Tech
Creative / 52X/7800KB / 1 / $33.00 / CL52XIDE / $48.00 / INGM964239 / $33.00 / Spartan Tech
Teac / 3.5" 1.44MB / 1 / $19.00 / TEAC35 / $29.21 / INGM278295 / $19.00 / Spartan Tech
PC P&C / Solid Steel Tower (10 Bay) / 1 / Unavailable / N/A / Unavailable / N/A / $279.00 / PC P&C
PC P&C / Turbo Cool 450 ATX / 1 / Unavailable / N/A / Unavailable / N/A / $193.50 / PC P&C
$2,664.50

Note: Part prices and availability are subject to change.

Spartan Technologies

1500 A Higgins Rd
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Toll Free: (888) 393-0340
Fax: (847) 364-9700

Executive Appendix

The following components will greatly enhance the speed and reliability of the server. The selected products are the known to not only be the most reliable in their class but also the best value for the investment.

CPU - Central Processing Unit. The core of the machine. Largely determines the speed and reliability of the machine. The faster the processor, the more operations per second can be performed.

Motherboard - The component that ties everything together. Speed and reliability are highly dependent on the motherboard.

RAM - Random Access Memory. The RAM temporarily stores data that is being used. The entire system depends on the size and capabilities of the RAM. A larger data capacity and faster access time means a faster machine.

Video Card - Is used to display images on the screen. Though video speed is not of the utmost importance in a server the reliability of this product is key.

RAID controller - The component that offers superior hard drive speed and reliability. It will greatly decrease our down time should a hard drive fail.

NIC - Network Interface Card. Used to access the network. This component is VITAL to a web server.

Hard Disks - The physical devices that data is stored on. They must be extremely reliable for a stable machine.

Chassis - The case the components are housed in. A larger case will allow for future expandability.

Power Supply - Provides and conditions the power for the components. A good power supply can greatly extend the life of the machine.