Server hardware is the physical backbone of today’s IT operations, comprising the essential components that power the servers. Unlike personal computers, server hardware is designed to manage, store, process, and disseminate data 24/7, thus ensuring the continuous availability of services and resources.
The importance of server hardware cannot be overstated. It’s the fortress that houses an organization’s most critical assets – data and applications. In an age where data is equivalent to currency, servers provide the reliability, scalability, and security needed to handle the burgeoning demands of modern business operations. They are engineered to accommodate large-scale processing and high-volume network traffic that would overwhelm standard computers.
For businesses, robust server hardware means a sturdy platform capable of supporting diverse workloads, ranging from database management and high-speed transactions to collaborative workspaces and streaming services. This machinery is central to operational continuity, making it crucial for businesses to understand the specifics of server hardware to maintain competitive advantage and ensure efficient IT management.
In the following sections of this Server Hardware Guide, we’ll delve into the intricacies of a server’s components. We’ll break down each element, from the central processing units (CPUs) to memory, storage, and networking features, providing a comprehensive look at what makes servers tick. Understanding these components is essential for anyone involved in purchasing, managing, or optimizing server hardware. With this knowledge, you’ll be better equipped to make informed decisions that can have a profound impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of your IT operations.
Understanding Different Types of Servers: Rack, Tower, and Blade Servers
The server ecosystem is diverse, with different types of servers designed to cater to varying needs and environments. Among the most common are rack, tower, and blade servers, each with its unique characteristics and advantages.
Rack Servers
Known for their scalability, rack servers are the workhorses of the server world. They are designed to be installed in a framework called a rack, which contains multiple mounting slots called bays, each designed to hold a hardware unit secured in place with screws. Rack servers are favored for their space-saving design, as they allow stacking of multiple units in a single rack, conserving precious floor space. They are typically used by enterprises with sufficient space for dedicated server rooms and are ideal for businesses that plan to scale their operations and require flexibility in their server hardware.
Tower Servers
Tower servers resemble the look and size of traditional desktop computers, though they are generally more powerful and have more space for expansion. They stand upright and are often used by small businesses or for office environments where a dedicated server room may not be available.
Tower servers are easy to cool and maintain because of their standalone design, making them a practical choice for organizations with less dense computing needs.
Blade Servers
Blade servers represent a more modern and space-efficient approach. They consist of thin, modular electronic circuit boards, known as blades, which include processors, memory, integrated network controllers, and sometimes storage. These blades fit into a chassis that provides power, cooling, networking, and various interconnects. This design allows for a high density of servers, minimizing physical space and energy consumption. Blade servers are ideal for data centers and any application where space and power efficiency are at a premium.
Each of these server types has evolved to serve the needs of different IT environments. Rack servers offer a balance between density and manageability, tower servers provide simplicity and quiet operation suitable for smaller workspaces, and blade servers offer the ultimate in density and consolidated architecture. When selecting server hardware, it’s crucial to consider the specific needs of your IT environment, including space constraints, energy consumption, budget, and scalability requirements.
Server Types and its Colocation Feasibility
Before diving into the specifics of colocation feasibility for different server types, it’s essential to understand the concept of ‘U’ space. In server colocation parlance, ‘U’ stands for a rack unit, which is a standard measure used to denote the height of servers and other equipment intended for rack mounting.
One U is equivalent to 1.75 inches, and server cases are typically sized in multiples of this unit. When you lease ‘U’ space in a colocation facility, you’re renting a slice of vertical space in a server rack that can be filled with your hardware.
Why Colocation? For many businesses, an in-house data center isn’t feasible due to the lack of adequate office space with the necessary cooling capacity, uninterrupted network and power, and availability of technical staff. This is where colocation comes in as a service that allows enterprises to rent space, bandwidth, and power in a data center that’s shared with other tenants, offering a professional hosting environment for their servers.
Colocation of Rack Servers
Rack servers are particularly amenable to colocation due to their standard design, which fits well into the uniform slots of a colocation facility’s racks. The colocation provider supplies the power, cooling, security, and connectivity, allowing businesses to benefit from economies of scale.
A Single Rack Server can use 1U to 4U of Rack space, depending on the configuration of the server. For example, when you want 12 HDD disks and 128GB RAM on a single server, it will probably take 3U or 4U space whereas a server with 32GB RAM and 1 SSD disk will only be 1U. So, the U space of a single server will depend on the configuration and may vary from 1U to 4U.
Typically, a server rack, with a total capacity of 42U, would cost around USD 2500 monthly in major network cities such as Kansas City and Los Angeles, including power and a 1Gbps unmetered network.
Meanwhile, in developing cities such as Mumbai, the cost may increase two-fold or three-fold due to local power and network costs.
Colocation of Tower Servers
Tower servers, while more suitable for small businesses with limited server needs, are less commonly found in colocation facilities. This is due to their bulkier size and the fact that they’re not designed for the high-density environment of a typical data center.
Colocating tower servers can be more expensive on a per-server basis because they do not utilize space as efficiently as rack or blade servers. It is also more challenging to scale using tower servers in a colocation setup due to their standalone nature.
This is why most enterprises avoid colocating Tower servers and use those in in-house facilities, like within their office space.
Colocation of Blade Servers
Blade servers are highly feasible for colocation due to their compact and space-efficient design. They can significantly reduce the footprint and associated costs of housing servers in a colocation facility. Blade servers share power, cooling, and networking infrastructure within their enclosure, which can translate to lower colocation costs.
However, the initial investment in blade technology and its enclosure can be substantial, though offset by the overall savings in space and operational efficiency.
A single Blade server of 4U size can host up to 12 different servers. If you go with Rack servers, to have 12 servers, you will use approximately 12U or more. But with a blade server, the U space is considerably less consumed for the same number of servers. This means you can host multiple servers with lesser U space, hence reducing the monthly cost on colocation racks.
Colocation is not a compulsion. When considering colocation, enterprises must weigh the monthly rental costs against the expenses saved on building and maintaining an equivalent on-site facility. This includes considerations of indirect costs, such as the benefits of the colocation provider’s security measures, network bandwidth, and the expertise of their technical staff. Colocation facilities also offer scalability benefits, allowing businesses to rent more space as they grow, which is an important consideration for future-proofing IT infrastructure.
For the majority of the use cases and enterprises, colocation proves to be the most cost-effective solution when compared with on-site facility setup and management.
There are also Dedicated Servers available in the market. In colocation, you have to purchase hardware, ship it to datacenter, and then rack it to go live. But with a dedicated server, you don’t have to do any of these. The data center would maintain hardware, supplying uninterrupted power and network connectivity in a Dedicated server, saving time and Capex. The most reliable and cheapest dedicated server options start as low as $23 a month at Cenmax – yes, that includes a month’s power, network, and hardware. So, that’s also an option if on-site hosting is not mandatory for your project.
Understanding The Hardware Components of a Server
CPU
At the heart of server hardware lies the central processing unit (CPU), which acts as the brain of the server, executing instructions and managing tasks. The performance of a server is largely contingent on the capabilities of its CPU, making the choice of processor a critical decision in server configuration.
Cores and Virtual Cores: Modern server CPUs are comprised of multiple cores, each capable of processing data independently. This allows for multitasking and improved performance, as workloads can be distributed across multiple cores. Virtual cores, or threads, take this a step further by allowing a single physical core to serve as two virtual cores, effectively doubling the processing capacity. This technology, known as hyper-threading in Intel processors and simultaneous multithreading (SMT) in AMD processors, enhances the server’s ability to perform concurrent tasks, making it ideal for environments where multiple processes run simultaneously.
Processor Speed: The clock speed of a CPU, measured in gigahertz (GHz), indicates how many cycles a core can complete in a second and is a measure of how quickly it can process information. However, server workloads are often more dependent on multi-core efficiency than on raw clock speed, as server applications typically run processes in parallel rather than relying on the speed of single-thread tasks.
Popular Brands of CPU – The Duopoly of Intel Xeon and AMD: When it comes to server CPUs, Intel’s Xeon and AMD’s EPYC series processors are among the most recognized and widely used. Intel Xeon processors are known for their scalability and reliability, with advanced security features and robust support for ECC (error-correcting code) memory, which can detect and correct data corruption. On the other hand, AMD’s EPYC series has gained popularity for its impressive core counts and competitive performance, often at a better price-to-performance ratio than equivalent Xeon processors.
Choosing between Xeon and AMD CPUs for servers depends on the specific needs and workloads of a business. Xeon processors are traditionally favored in enterprise environments where compatibility with a wide range of business applications and established reliability are paramount. Meanwhile, AMD processors have carved a niche in spaces where high core and thread counts are beneficial, such as virtualized environments and data analytics.
Ultimately, the selection of a server CPU will be influenced by the intended application, workload, budget, and desired balance between performance and power efficiency. Understanding these CPU characteristics will guide IT professionals in optimizing server performance to meet the diverse demands of business operations.
RAM
Random Access Memory (RAM) in the context of server hardware is a critical component that directly impacts a server’s performance and efficiency. It’s a form of volatile memory that is used to store data that is actively being worked on by the CPU. The more RAM a server has, the more data it can handle simultaneously, which is crucial for multitasking and handling large volumes of requests.
The Role of RAM: RAM serves as the short-term memory of a server where current operations are held for quick access by the processor. Unlike long-term storage devices that store data permanently, RAM only retains data as long as it has power. Its speed and availability determine how swiftly applications can run and data can be processed, making it essential for ensuring that servers can operate efficiently under heavy load conditions.
Generations of RAM: RAM has evolved through several generations, each faster and more efficient than the last. Common types used in servers include DDR (Double Data Rate), DDR2, DDR3, and the latest being DDR4, with DDR5 on the horizon. Each generation has seen improvements in speed, size, power consumption, and overall performance. For instance, DDR4 RAM operates at a lower voltage with higher transfer rates compared to its predecessors, translating into better server performance and reduced operational costs.
Error-Correcting Code (ECC) Memory: ECC memory is a type of RAM commonly used in servers that can detect and correct the most common kinds of internal data corruption. This feature is essential for servers, as even a minor corruption can cause system crashes and lead to data loss or inaccuracy. ECC memory adds a layer of reliability crucial for financial, scientific, and database servers where data integrity is paramount.
The choice of RAM, including its speed, size, and whether to use ECC, should be guided by the server’s intended use. For example, a server responsible for handling basic tasks may not require as much RAM as one used for data-intensive operations like virtualization or large databases. Likewise, servers that perform critical tasks where data corruption could have significant consequences should be equipped with ECC memory to ensure data integrity.
Storage
Storage is the component of server hardware where data is saved and retrieved long-term. Servers typically employ hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), or a combination of both to meet various storage needs. The choice between these storage options significantly affects the server’s speed, capacity, and price.
Hard Disk Drives (HDD): HDDs are the oldest storage technology still in use on servers. They store data on rotating magnetic disks and are known for providing a large amount of storage space at a low cost. However, their mechanical nature means they are also the slowest type of storage, with limitations on data transfer speeds and increased latency times.
Solid-State Drives (SSD): SSDs use flash memory to store data, which allows for faster data access and retrieval compared to HDDs. They have no moving parts, which translates to improved reliability and durability. SSDs are more expensive per gigabyte than HDDs but offer the advantage of speed, which can be critical for applications requiring fast read/write operations, such as database servers or servers hosting high-traffic websites.
NVMe SSDs: A further evolution in storage technology is represented by NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) SSDs. NVMe is an interface protocol built especially for SSDs to exploit their potential fully. NVMe drives connect to the server via the PCI Express (PCIe) bus, which allows for higher throughput and lower latency than SATA or SAS interfaces due to the direct connection to the CPU and RAM.
Storage Connections Overview:
- SATA (Serial ATA): A common interface for connecting HDDs and SSDs to the server’s motherboard, SATA is widely used due to its compatibility and cost-effectiveness. It’s suitable for applications with moderate speed requirements.
- SAS (Serial-Attached SCSI): SAS connections are used primarily in enterprise computing due to their higher speed and reliability compared to SATA. SAS drives are well-suited for applications that demand high data transfer rates and have better error recovery features, making them ideal for mission-critical server environments.
- NVMe: As mentioned earlier, NVMe is designed for SSDs and provides the fastest data transfer rates available. It’s particularly useful in environments that process large volumes of data rapidly, such as real-time data analytics or high-performance computing applications.
The storage configuration of a server plays a pivotal role in determining its performance capabilities. While HDDs are still used for servers requiring large amounts of storage without the high costs, SSDs are increasingly favored for their speed and reliability. NVMe SSDs, albeit at a higher cost, are chosen for the most demanding tasks, offering superior performance.
PSUs
Power Supply Units (PSUs) are a critical server component, providing the necessary electrical power to run all the other hardware components. When configuring a server, selecting the right PSU is vital to ensure reliability and efficiency.
Determining the Right Size and Capacity: The size and capacity of a PSU are measured in watts. To determine the appropriate wattage for a server’s PSU, you need to assess the power requirements of all the server’s components, including the CPU, RAM, storage, and any additional hardware like GPUs or network cards. It’s advisable to have a PSU with a higher wattage than the server’s expected maximum power consumption to ensure headroom for peak loads and future upgrades. A general rule of thumb is to aim for a PSU capacity that is around 20% to 40% above your calculated maximum power draw.
Redundancy Features: Redundancy is a key consideration for server PSUs, especially for those used in mission-critical systems. A redundant power supply system is composed of two or more PSUs that can independently power the server if one were to fail. This setup is often referred to as 1+1 (two PSUs for one server) or 2+1 (three PSUs for two servers’ power feed, with one acting as a backup). Redundant PSUs ensure that the server remains operational even if a PSU component fails, minimizing downtime and maintaining business continuity.
Energy Efficiency: Energy efficiency is another important factor in selecting a PSU. More efficient PSUs waste less electricity as heat and require less cooling, which can result in significant cost savings over time. Look for PSUs with an 80 Plus certification, which is an industry standard indicating that a PSU is at least 80% efficient at varying loads. The certification comes in different levels, from standard 80 Plus to 80 Plus Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium, with Titanium being the highest efficiency rating.
An efficient PSU not only saves on energy costs but also contributes to the overall sustainability goals of a company. Given that servers run 24/7, the impact of an efficient PSU on both operational costs and the environment can be substantial.
Network Interface Cards
Network Interface Cards (NICs) are the unsung heroes of server connectivity, bridging the gap between servers and the rest of the network. A NIC, also known as a network card, is an essential component that facilitates internet and network connections for a server.
The Role of NICs: NICs handle the communication between a server and the network. They convert data into a format that can be transmitted over the local network or the internet, and they can also control data as it comes into a server. Whether it’s a wired or wireless connection, the NIC plays a fundamental role in network traffic management and dictates the speed at which data is transferred.
Speed and Bandwidth: Modern NICs are designed to handle various bandwidth requirements and speeds, typically ranging from 1 Gigabit up to 10 Gigabits per second and beyond. The speed of the NIC must align with the server’s purpose. For instance, a server handling routine office tasks might not need more than a 1 Gbps card, while a server streaming high-definition video or participating in high-frequency trading might require a card with 10 Gbps capacity or more.
Choosing the Right NIC: When selecting a NIC, consider the network environment and the server’s role within it. For a high-traffic website or a large-scale enterprise application, a high-speed NIC would be beneficial. On the other hand, a file server for a small business might not necessitate such high throughput.
Redundancy for Reliability: Just as with PSUs, network redundancy is an important factor for maintaining server availability. Redundancy can be built into NICs by using dual or multiple ports, ensuring that if one connection fails, another can take over, keeping the server connected without interruption.
Compatibility and Integration: Lastly, compatibility with the existing server motherboard and software is crucial.
RAID Controllers
RAID controllers are pivotal in managing the way data is stored across multiple hard disks in a server. RAID, which stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a technology that combines several physical drives into a single unit for the purposes of redundancy, improved performance, or both.
The functionality of RAID Controllers: A RAID controller acts as a manager for the array, handling the distribution of data across the drives. It can be used to mirror data on one drive onto another, ensuring that if one drive fails, there is an immediate backup available. Alternatively, it can split data across multiple drives to improve the speed of data reading and writing, a method known as striping.
Different Levels of RAID: There are several different RAID levels, each providing a different balance of performance, storage capacity, and data protection. Common levels include RAID 0 (striping), RAID 1 (mirroring), RAID 5 (striping with parity), and RAID 6 (striping with double parity). The choice of RAID configuration will depend on the server’s specific needs.
Maintenance and Monitoring Tools: RAID controllers typically offer tools for monitoring the health and performance of the disk array, sending alerts in case of a failure, and providing management utilities for rebuilding arrays and replacing drives without downtime.
Hardware vs. Software RAID: RAID functionality can be implemented through hardware or software. Hardware RAID controllers are dedicated devices with their own CPU and cache memory to manage the RAID configuration without putting additional load on the server’s CPU. Software RAID, on the other hand, uses the server’s existing hardware and is managed by the operating system, which can be more cost-effective but may also consume more server resources and offer lower performance.
When you use new-generation storage such as SSD or NVMe SSD, the need for redundancy is considerably low, as these are more reliable than antique HDD counterparts – which fail often and have difficulty processing massive I/O. This is why most new-generation companies opt for servers without RAID these days to save costs when they already have a DR backup system.
GPU
The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) in server hardware is an increasingly important component, especially for tasks that require massive parallel processing power. Originally designed to render graphics for gaming and professional visualization, GPUs are now also harnessed for their computational capabilities in servers.
Role of GPUs in Servers: While a CPU is designed to handle general-purpose computing tasks, a GPU is composed of hundreds or thousands of smaller cores designed for multitasking across larger datasets. This architecture makes GPUs particularly well-suited for parallelizable workloads, such as machine learning, data analysis, and complex simulations.
Server-Specific GPU Considerations: When integrating GPUs into server hardware, several factors must be taken into account, including thermal management, power consumption, and physical space requirements. Server-grade GPUs are designed to fit into the server’s chassis and typically come with specialized cooling solutions to handle the heat they generate. NVIDIA’s Tesla and Quadro series are widely used in enterprise data centers for deep learning and scientific computation.
Note: For over 98% of projects, GPUs are unnecessary. GPUs are widely used for task-intensive use cases such as machine learning and AI development. Using a GPU for a server that hosts an ERP, CRM, Blog, or an eCommerce platform would be an unnecessary and wasteful expense.
And that’s a wrap of this section – we now know the inner components of servers and their nuances. Let’s proceed further to see how we can benchmark servers.
Benchmarking The Servers
Benchmarking server performance is a critical exercise for comparing the efficiency and output of server hardware under standard conditions. It involves a set of established benchmarks and metrics that reflect the server’s operational capabilities.
UnixBench – the standard of benchmarks in the Online World: UnixBench is a popular benchmark suite that has been around since the early days of Unix systems. It provides a multi-faceted evaluation of a server’s performance, primarily focusing on the Unix operating system. It includes tests for various tasks that a server might be expected to handle, including file copying, shell script execution, encoding, and system call overhead. UnixBench is beneficial for its comprehensive approach, offering scores that reflect overall performance across these tasks.
Other Widely-Recognized Server Benchmarks:
- SPEC CPU®: It gauges the processing power of the server’s CPU, providing a comparison across different hardware systems using compute-intensive workloads.
- TPC Benchmarks™: These benchmarks measure the performance of transaction processing and database operations, crucial for servers used in enterprise data management and e-commerce.
- VMmark®: This benchmarking tool from VMware evaluates the performance of virtualization platforms, which is essential for servers running virtual machines.
- SPECCloud®: Targeted at cloud services, this benchmark assesses how cloud infrastructures manage and provision resources.
Key Performance Metrics:
- Throughput: The amount of work a server can perform in a given time, essential for understanding its capacity to handle workloads.
- Latency: Critical for servers that need to respond to requests in real-time, latency measures the delay in processing data.
- IOPS: This metric indicates the efficiency of storage devices in handling input and output operations.
- Bandwidth: Important for network performance, this measures the data transmission rate of the server.
Benchmarking with UnixBench or through any of these other tools mentioned gives a rounded picture of a server’s performance, allowing IT professionals to make comparisons and decisions based on consistent data. When integrating UnixBench into your benchmarking strategy, it provides valuable insights, particularly for systems that rely on Unix-like environments.
Regular benchmarking using a variety of tools and metrics ensures that servers are running optimally and are well-suited to the demands placed on them. It also aids in long-term planning for upgrades and capacity expansion, ensuring that IT infrastructure scales in line with business growth and technology advancements.
Conclusion
Understanding server hardware is a foundational aspect of managing and scaling IT infrastructure. From the diverse types of servers that accommodate different business needs to the intricate components that drive server performance, we’ve covered the breadth of what makes server hardware tick. We’ve explored the evolution of server technology, the distinctive features and colocation benefits of rack, tower, and blade servers, and delved into the critical internal components, including CPUs, RAM, storage solutions, PSUs, NICs, and GPUs.
As we continue to witness rapid advancements in server hardware technology, the importance of staying informed and proactive in hardware selection and maintenance cannot be overstressed. The servers of today must not only handle current workloads with ease but also be prepared for the data-heavy and compute-intensive tasks of tomorrow.
For businesses, the takeaways are clear: invest in understanding your server hardware, choose wisely based on current and future needs, and don’t underestimate the importance of regular performance assessments. Whether you’re investing in new hardware, upgrading existing servers, or considering the benefits of colocation, a deep dive into the components and capabilities of your server hardware will yield long-term benefits.
By equipping yourself with knowledge and leveraging the right benchmarks, you can ensure that your server infrastructure is robust, reliable, and ready for whatever challenges and opportunities lie ahead. This guide serves as a stepping stone into the vast and dynamic world of server hardware, empowering you with the understanding needed to make the best choices for your IT environment.