Nothing wrong with your config, generally speaking more spindles are better.
We ran just a hair under 20k user with qmail and courier-imap/pop3 off a dual P3 box.
The key was RAM, fast RAID (stay away from RAID 5 if you can, stick with 10
if you can, and spread teh load out.
We used 3ware 12 port 8000 series RAID cards, the new 9000 cards are even faster.
SO get yourself a good 12 port 3U SATA enclosure, use the WD 10k drives, or
other good high-memory caching drives, create several different arrays to do
different parts (storage separate from queue separate from OS separate from database),
and go for it.
There are arguments for and against software vs hardware RAID. the 3ware RAID
is a no brainer, integrates into FreeBSD and linux, has an easy to use console management
tool, and for us, was rock solid.
Or get a good supermicro box with the adaptec ZCR raid.
Or get 2 lower-end boxes, and a good load balancing switch, an have some failover capability
as well.
On Tue, Aug 16, 2005 at 06:48:46PM +0100, Simon Chappell wrote:
> Thanks to everyone for the help. It has been interesting getting
> everones opinions as most of the information about "What to Buy" is
> pretty non-existant.
>
>
> The things I have noted is if the bean counters give us the go ahead for
> a large lump of money then
>
> Branded Server eg HP or even Sun if the budget allows
> Dual Opteron or Dual Core 3Ghz+
> 4Gig ram
> Ultra320 Raid Card
> 3x 145GB drives Raid5 Maildirs
> 2x 80GB drives Raid1 OS
>
>
> IF not and we have to go cheaper (More likely in the real world)
>
> Whitebox
> Dual Opteron or Dual Core 3Ghz+
> 4Gig ram
> 4XSATA 200GB Raid 0+1 Maildir
> 2xSATA 160GB Raid1 OS
>
> Probably about 10 grand gap in between but at least I have a good
> bearing and should end up somewhere in the gap in the middle.
>
> That much processing power should cover us for the foreseeable future
> including expansion and more users over the current 700.
>
> Also adding the atime to the fstab may have bought us time to think (or
> time to put of until it becomes a problem again) and run some tests of
> our own to help us make the right choice.
>
> Thanks Again
>
> Simon
>
>
>
>
> Mike Meredith wrote:
>
> >On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 11:57:06 -0400, Chris Meadors wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I actually prefer the Linux kernel's software RAID over controllers
> >>these days. The data is stored in a non-proprietary on disk format, so
> >>one isn't as the mercy of the controller if something goes horribly
> >>wrong. I've even found the performance to be better than the cheaper
> >>hardware SCSI RAID cards on the market.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Even if the on disk format is documented, I'd still rather recover from
> >backups. Mind you there's other reasons for not liking "intelligent"
> >controllers (recalling a certain RAID controller on which you were supposed
> >to run a parity check once a week, which involved shutting down a large
> >Alphaserver and booting off a boot floppy with the RAID controller software
> >on).
> >
> >
> >
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