I have a Dell PowerEdge server thats 2 years old and pretty much has been problem free. About 5 months ago I went to turn the server on and the fans didn't come on. It had a loose connection, I fixed that and its been fine for 4 months untill a few days ago. The server restarted on its own out of the blue. So I am going to replace the server.

Currently I am building my first custom built server for a article on my website. Its a 1u Athlon 64 2800+ with 1gig of ram and a 80gig SATA 150 hard drive. My question is how reliable are custom servers compared to name brand like Dell?

Right now I have pulled my websites from my Dell server and I am in the process of giving them a make over. I was going to run 2 servers, but now that I am having problems with the Dell. I will only be able to run 1 server, unless I buy another server.

When the websites are complete I will be paying for advertising. I can not afford for the server to break down 6 months down the road. Should I trust my websites to the new custom server or should I buy a new Dell?

P.S. When my main website was at its peak it was using around 1.5gig's per month with out advertising. I expect the user base to grow by 100% over the next year with advertising.

You should be fine with a "Custom Built" server just make sure you gotta enough air flow going through

Definitely research the components you are going to use, and the cooling of the case itself as frattay22 mentioned.
If you are expecting the user base to grow it wouldn't hurt to go scsi for improved throughput.
-Bones

I researched the componets before I bought them. Its a budget server, I have a total of $580 in componets. I am using it for a article on my website. I think it will live a long life.

I didnt plan on having problems with my Dell. I was going to run two servers, and resync the website on both servers. Now I am going to be down to one server. I could try and fix the Dell but I am afraid something else will pop up. I have had it for 2 years and I got more than my fair share of use out of it.

With in the 12 months I will be getting a Dual Xeon server. I just want this new custom server to last untill then. I wouldnt mind testing the limits of the server, I think that would make a great article.

Hello Soulwatcher,

Welcome to my world! I build 1U rackmount servers and will not touch a Dell with a 10 foot pole. Everything that has been mentioned here is true and also keep in mind that there can and will be a need to improvise when building a custom 1u server. Good choice on going with the Athlon 64 for your server, you should not run into cooling problems with that processor. You definitely will need to leave the i/o plate off the back of the server because it will not match up properly for your board's configuration. If you need help with any 1u builds in the future, let me know.

Custom servers are great, Just as long as you know what your doing then you shouldnt have any problems

Absolutly, custom-built servers are better than manufactured. Just make sure that you know what you are doing when making the server (assuming you are the one making it) or else you wasted a lot of time and money.

Pay attention to component compatibility and proper setup and you cant beat a custom server. Build to match the application DB server, Gaming Server etc.

I think it's fine to build a custom box yourself, just make sure you know what your doing, buying good quality RAM and Processor is important to me.

just do your research know what you doing and you should be fine

yep, don't ever think that cooling is pointless. always spend a fair bit on cooling.

You had a restart on your dell just one time. Maybe it was a power surge or something? I wouldn't cast it out just from one restart. How did your fan connections get loose? Is the server being jarred around alot?

Two years does not seem like a lifetime to me, but I am new to all of this, just trying to learn a few things.

I don't know how much you are paying for the custom built ones, which could be from China, but if you want something reliable and solid try IBM's where the costly one approaches $8,000. You could buy a reliable machine for around $2,500 for what you could be doing and you are looking at a solid usage of five years plus with no problem.

Custom built servers are the way to go!