What do you feel is better to purchase when colocating your servers? 1U which takes up less space but may be harder to upgrade down the line or a standard case server which will cost more due to the space it takes up but is cheaper to upgrade?

1U servers seem to also be more...server-ish. I don't see many standard cases with dual hot swappable power supplies, for example.

1U is also better because you can fit more in a rack, theoretically reducing costs. It isn't likely you'd ever do a major upgrade (eg replacing a motherboard) to any server because of the downtime involved without outright replacing the server (and perhaps reusing it later).

-- HW

What ZiDev says

I would go with 1U instead of a Server Box for Colo

1U tends to make the most sense, but building a box is so cheap!

There are only a select amount of place that actually build 1U rack servers. That is a problem because of the higher prices being charged. I think I will look into what it takes to build these myself.

It is the same as a normal computer you just use different components. With 1u you usually need riser boards or something different for the extra cards IF you even need them. The important thing is make sure you have enough cooling and you use good quality compontents. Do not go cheap on the ram or power supply!

Ventilation is the key.
1U chassis with the proper components will have much better ventilation than bog standard PC and will last better.
If you have the space 2U cases are usually a lot cheaper than 1Us

Depends a lot on how much you're paying for space. 1U servers are cheaper in terms of how much space they take up, but require more air conditioning to keep cool. Tower-type servers are much easier and cheaper to cool, but they take up more space. If you can get a good deal on space, Tower-type servers are definitely the way to go.

well, if you plan on hosting from home it doesnt matter. but if your going colo then i would puch more into 1u @ it will save you more money

Depending upon what your NOC charges for space you may consider a 2U box. They are generally cheaper, and allow a little more expansion (Usually six hard drives, and more than one PCI slot)