When we want to use one of the U family servers, to host on our communication cabinet (usually not for private use – unless you have placed a communication cabinet at your home  ), you need to consider a couple of variables in order to understand exactly what type of server do you need and for what purpose. How strong the server needs to be (CPU power, Memory), capacity of hard-disks, how resistant should it be? (Does it need a RAID controller? So how many hard-disks do we need?).

The communication cabinets which U servers are being placed into are also called rack-mount. The reason is that the computers are being stacked up one on the other, mounted into the shelves of the communication cabinet creating a rack of servers.

The decision procedures on how to assess the server we need are:

  1. The main decision should be what is the purpose of the server?
  2. Who will be the designated audience and how many will be using the server at the same time?
  3. What types of services are going to run on it, and how strong in terms of processing and memory does it need. (CPU needs – dual core, quad core, 2.4 MHZ etc… and RAM, 4GB, 8GB, 32GB etc…).
  4. Total hard-disk capacity needed, expected storage needs according to use. What type of RAID controller does it requires and how many disks are needed – storage capacity.
  5. How much do we want to spend on hosting our server on a hosting farm, money wise.
  • When we use all of those basic features that define the server, then we can choose what type of server we need, and how large it will be. Each U (height) of the server will usually cost us extra money to host, since each U space is being charged by the hosting farm.

Well, now we know what type of server we need, so all we have to do is decide which server type and model we want that fits our requirements.

We probably will want a brand (A known company manufacturer like DELL, IBM, HP etc…) type of a server. I like the Dell Power-Edge models, but you can choose which server you prefer and compare prices between one to the other, to make your best choice.

Places where you can buy and choose U servers are: