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| Thread ID: 51731 | 2004-11-28 20:34:00 | Server needed for a "good cause" | Spout (6433) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 297378 | 2004-11-28 20:34:00 | Hi people, I have a friend who works for Overseas Development at the Salvation Army. He has told me of a challenge that he's had put in front of him. The SA in Tanzania only have a budget of US$100,000 annually. They have a small network of 20 PCs and desperately need a dedicated server. This is going to cost them US$7000, which they can't afford. Because of their religious affiliation they don't qualify for a grant from many of the international charities. Does anyone know of a business that is about to replace their servers and may be willing to donate the old one - or sell it cheaply? Not meaning to "look a gift horse in the mouth", it would probably not be a good idea to give them something really. really old that they can't use. |
Spout (6433) | ||
| 297379 | 2004-11-28 20:53:00 | > They have a small network of 20 PCs and > desperately need a dedicated server. This is going to > cost them US$7000, which they can't afford. What do they need it to do, as $7000USD for a server is a complete and utter blow out unless they are buying some kind of powerhouse. They obviously must have someone there thats getting paid to admin their IT stuff, as you don't just buy and abandon a server - surely he could work out that the price is a bit skewed. They should be able to put together a decent server for under $3k NZ no sweat, that or if it's not going to be under much load any decent desktop PC for around $1000 would do the job. |
ninja (1671) | ||
| 297380 | 2004-11-28 20:59:00 | I don't know the logistics of economics of the situation over there. But I would think that the thing is "mission critical, it's serving 20 PCs at the Headquarters. For a long time I didn't understand why businesses spent so much money on servers as opposed to adapted desktops... until an IT manager explained it all to me :O | Spout (6433) | ||
| 297381 | 2004-11-29 03:45:00 | ***bump*** | Spout (6433) | ||
| 297382 | 2004-11-29 06:56:00 | I got to agree with ninja. One of my old computers got retired to a gentle life as a gateway and mail server and file server running on redhat9 for an internet intensive buisness. The network has only 7 other computers on it, but the bottlenet on internet speed is still thier DSL connection, and files move to and from the ¨shared drive¨ often faster than a local drive, even when the antique has doubled as a client machine while ive been playing on it. The specs on the machine are somewhat archaic; (450Mhz pentium1, RAM=256) The point is that if file storage and gateway is all you require on a minamal budget, then any old hack will do! What more do they need? :-) Chris |
personthingy (1670) | ||
| 297383 | 2004-11-29 08:41:00 | A $500 used server would amply serve 20 machines. However if you have $7000 to spend, go nuts and get a highly decent machine for $2500 or so. This will get you a wonderful machine that would happily serve 60 or even many more computers, and would be very reliable indeed. Make sure you get quality components though. IMO reliability is just as important as performance for a server. Remember, a money saving tip: It doesn't have to LOOK like a server to be a server. Any PC can be a server. However you MAY wish to look into actual servers such as Dell Poweredge etc. Don't trust that bit of advice from me though, I have no experience in Dell servers. Cheers George |
george12 (7) | ||
| 297384 | 2004-11-29 08:53:00 | You're all thinking about home environments. I'm presuming they want data redundancy? Like SCSI320 RAID arrays? RAID 10 is nice this time of year. The other thing to keep in mind is that when we think about how many clients these "old hacks" can serve, we don't often take into account continued use of the server by all clients simultaneously - nor do we consider things like $2000 tape backup systems. What I'm trying to say is that there is huge difference between home server environments and corporate ones. I'm not sure about the needs of the Salvation Army, but what I am sure of is that they are bound to need some sort of reliable and future-proof platform. USD$7000 is an investment that lasts, guaranteed - can't say that about the old PII can we? |
Growly (6) | ||
| 297385 | 2004-11-29 08:53:00 | Is it just me or does anyone else think the same - must be just me (it's Monday). This sounds like a scam? Don't flame me - I apologise if its not. Sounds just like those Nigerian things. Budget of $100K - man. the interest alone ... |
xtraka (1984) | ||
| 297386 | 2004-11-29 09:56:00 | It certainly is not a scam. If we can find a business that's willing to donate it will be done through the Salvation Army. I will have nothing to do with the deal over and above the introduction, I'm just trying to get two parties together. $100k PA isn't a lot of money for the work such an organisation does in that sort of country. |
Spout (6433) | ||
| 297387 | 2004-11-29 23:08:00 | > Is it just me or does anyone else think the same - > must be just me (it's Monday). This sounds like a > scam? Don't flame me - I apologise if its not. > Sounds just like those Nigerian things. Budget of > $100K - man. the interest alone ... How the heck can you say something like that??? You're right - it must be because it was Monday. The guy was simply asking for help and you accuse him of fraud?!?! Didn't you read what type of organization he was trying to help? Sounds to me like you're judging others by your own low standards. Spout, I'll ask around some of the businesses I deal with and see if anyone is upgrading in the near future and get back to you. |
flotus (6370) | ||
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