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:

• DELL Power-Edge Servers
• HP Integrity System Family
• HP Integrity Server Blades
• HP ProLiant Servers
• IBM Rack-Mount Servers

What is “Rack-mount“, this is a subject that relates to communication cabinets, those huge rooms with lots of computers. Those computers are being placed in those cabinets, and since we would like to load a maximum number of computers per space, there are Rack-mount computers, exactly for that purpose.

These computers are formed in very thin form, which is sized as U’s, 1U, 2U, 5U etc… The U stands for a number of slots the computer occupies, 1U for 1 slot. A slot is the drawer the computer slides into. What you do is connect to the sizes of the computer tracks which locks into the cabinet’s tracks, so you can slide the computer forward toward you, in case you need to maintain it, and slide it back into place to place it back to its permanent position.

Those U computers (Rack Unit) are usually much more expensive, mostly because of their ability to fit into a communication cabinet, and because their technology is different from the regular standing computers we know of, those who we placed at home, or near our office station. They are built in such way that enables all of the parts to fit into a smaller space, in order for them to fit into those communication cabinet drawers.

Another big benefit for Rack-mount computers is that those are huge computers, which can contain many hard-disk drivers, many CPUs, they are huge processing machines and for the businesses who needs a lot of processing power, these are the computers you need. That is why such computers are being placed in computer rooms, at communication cabinets in hosting places that have huge cooled controlled rooms, with UPSs units that can keep these type of very important servers online at all times.

The most cost effective computer servers to place in a hosting place, are the 1U units, since they catch little place at the hosting farm, and if you need a well kept server at high availability, a hosting farm is what you need.

U servers,

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