Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} AMD Barcelona vs. Intel Harpertown (also 10k vs 15k RPM)

[Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com>]

>> I'm trying to decide between an AMD Barcelona or an Intel Harpertown
>> quad-core CPU for a web/database server.  The Intel would have a 5%
>> lower clock speed.  I've read that Harpertown outperforms Barcelona
>> (by 20%?), but that the quad-core implementation isn't as good on the
>> Harpertown.  It's surprisingly difficult to get comparative benchmarks
>> on these at similar clock speeds.  Does anyone know which of these
>> should perform better in a web/database server?  I support AMD on my
>> non-critical systems, but I need performance for this server.
>>
>> I'm also trying to decide between a 2.5" 10k HD vs. a 3.5" 15k HD.
>> I've read that the 15k yields about a 20% I/O performance boost so I
>> think I'll go for it.  I won't be using RAID at all.
>>
>> - Grant
>
>> I won't be using RAID at all.
> If uptime is of no concern to you, then why even bother about speed?

Of course uptime is a concern, but it needs to be put into perspective.

Let's assume that without RAID, the hard drive in use fails every 3
years and causes 24 hours of downtime with good backups.  That's a
loss of .09% uptime over 3 years.  If the server makes $100,000/year
(and the same amount every day), that's a loss of $273 over 3 years.
However, my host wants $105/month for a second 15k hard drive and RAID
controller card.  The cost of that over 3 years is $3,780.

Plus I like to keep things simple and RAID is another layer to learn,
install, and maintain.  Plus RAID isn't foolproof:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/21/2126252&from=rss
http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=162

Any opinions on Barcelona vs. Harpertown or 10k vs. 15k?

- Grant