Is this a viable computer for VT4?

[george49]

I would appreciate any information or expertise that you guys could send my way (This message was also placed in the Yahoo VTNT forum site).

I've got a new VT[4] Live package and am considering an install into
a new Dell PowerEdge SC1420 Server computer. The setup
is not intended to be used for business, only as a hobby. Today's
advertised price for the Dell may be its best feature ($549.00 with
rebate), but that is not all I'm after. It's more important to have
a computer that the VT[4] can work with and that has some modest
improvement potential with upgrades (e.g., faster Xeon chips).
Generally, too, I prefer to use SCSI drives.

As advertised, the Dell comes with the following specifications:
1. Dual 2.8ghz Xeon CPU's (upgradeable to 3.4ghz or 3.6ghz).
2. 512mb ddr2 sdram (up to 8gb)
3. 40gb SATA hard drive.
4. ATI Rage XL graphics controller.
5. Six I/O channels: two pci-express slots (1x4 and 1x8)
three pci-x 64bit/100mhz slots
one pci 32bit/33mhz slot
6. Drive bays: Room for four SATA or SCSI drives, non-hot swap
7. Raid controller: CERC SATA 2s, CERC SATA 6ch, SCSI software
RAID1, PERC Ultra 320
8. Hard Drives: SCSI - 36gb/73gb/146gb (10,000rpm)
SATA - 40gb/80gb/160gb/250gb (7,200rpm)
9. Power supply: 460watts
10. OS: MS Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
MS Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard/Premium
11. Systems Management: Dell Server Assistant for PowerEdge SC
servers.

One final question: Newtek recommends using Windows XP Pro as an
operating system. Is "Windows Server" pretty much the same OS as "XP
Pro"?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
George of the Marina

[mgrusin]

Last time I checked, a copy of Windows Server 2003 is about the cost of your entire system. :eek: :cool: I've heard very good things about 2003 as an OS, but don't know if VT runs on it (don't know why it wouldn't, AFAIK it should have the same basic architecture as XP).

Others more experienced than I may say for sure, but from here the specs look good. You'll probably want 1G of memory before too long. I don't know about the graphics controller (people around here have good luck with midrange Nvidia cards).

I'll mention that a local dealer has had very good experience with Dells, except for one poor customer. They could never get the throughput of the SCSI array up; tried different SCSI cards, different disks, Dell replaced the mobo, nothing. They finally refunded the customer's money. The lesson seemed to be that Dell changes part revisions frequently, and you may get the occasional incompatible system. I believe that they have a good return policy, so the only way to be sure may be to test it. If it works, it should work well.

Good luck! -MG.