Ok im probally in the wrong forum but here goes im wanting to host some of my own sites i have a hard time finding a reliable company with a decent price i have a video and graphics site so it is 500 gigs so it seems like all the server companies charge alot or have a unreal tranfer fee. So i was looking at a used IBM RS6000 44P 7044-170 Power3-II UNIX Desktop Server to start out with or does anyone have any suggestions . Or can i take one of my desk tops and make my own and load the unix operating system myself ?
Thanks

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The other one i was looking at is a Dell PowerEdge 2500 DUAL P3 1.0GHz 1GHz 1GB Server

• CPU : Dual (2) Intel P3 1.0GHz / 256KB L2 Cache
• Memory : 1GB PC133 ECC REG. SDRAM
• HD : Two (2) 36GB Ultra160 SCSI 10K (Up to 6 HDs total capable)
• Optical Drive : 24x CD-ROM
• Network : Onboard integrated 10/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet NIC
• Floppy : 1.44MB
• Power Supply : Single AC
• Video : Onboard ATI Rage XL 8MB video controller
• Ports : Two (2) USB, One (2) Serial, One (1) Parallel and Two (2) PS/2
• Form Factor : Standalone Server
• SCSI Controllers : Onboard integrated Adaptec AIC-7899 Ultra160 SCSI Controller
• Model Number : 2500
• Serial Number : 7K9ZS01
• Condition : Used, tested, working, and sold with warranty.

Which i would have to add some extra hard drives to match my storage space needed
Any suggestions would be great
thanks

If you are looking to run AIX (you mentioned RS6000) you cannot do so on a Dell PowerEdge.

Ok so im taking it as the IBM RS 6000 is the one to try for my first server ?
The site is a pretty normal mixed video site but we are growing fast. And im just wanting to be able to handle my server myself if it goes down i can fix it right then. It took my server company 10 days once to fix my hard drive and that sucked
Thanks

What you need is a real server, a 44P is a workstation, the inner architecture of a true server is quite different, and so I would say the the first question in your choice :
What kind of server (HW) would meet my request...
Then it depend on how much $$$ you are ready to dedicate...
My suggestion would be any server with double SCSI controllers (2 controllers on 2 separate cards...) many NICs, then either you have 2 identical disks inside for the OS and software and you mirror,then add a disk subsystem (SCSI o NAS) ive seen cheap NAS out on the market in RAID5... then maybe an LTO with a backup software