Suggestions for re-tasking a Dell PowerEdge 2450

[Eric Shubert]

On 06/13/2012 09:11 PM, Thomas Cameron wrote:
> On 06/12/2012 04:20 PM, James Dugger wrote:
>> I have inherited a Dell PowerEdge 2450 and want to re-task it somewhere
>> in my network running as a linux server. It was being used two months
>> ago as a VPN server running Windows 2003 Server.
>>
>> Here are the secs:
>>
>> 2 - 866 MHz Pentium Processors
>> Bus 133MHz
>> cache 256 KB
>> 2048 MB ECC SDRAM
>> built in adaptec hardware RAID controller
>> SCSI dual channel backplane - w/1 daughter card installed
>>
>> 4 - 3.5 hot swap drivebays
>
> Man, that thing is going to suck LOTS of power and pump out LOTS of heat.
>
> If it were me, I'd sell it on craigslist or eBay and use the cash to buy
> a modern multicore motherboard, memory, and processor in a desktop case.
> Seriously, for a few hundred bucks you can get a system that sips power
> comparatively, has many more - and much faster - CPUs, and has as much
> more more memory.
>
> I've given up trying to repurpose machines that old. The cost in power
> alone over the course of a year makes it smarter to get rid of it.
>
> TC

+1.

Speed of memory/bus is a big consideration for a server. The bus speed 
on what you have is, well, pathetic. You can buy a new Fusion/Atom board 
that uses 1066ram for ~$100 that'll run circles around that thing. 8G of 
ram for one of these can be had for $30-$40. Cooling is a non issue with 
these, as they consume so little power. I don't know if these would fit 
the 2U case or not (they're std mini/micro though). Some of these boards 
have up to 6 SATA6 ports, so software raid (1 or 10) works nicely.

-- 
-Eric 'shubes'