gistfile1.txt

BASE SYSTEM #1
Dual Xeon L5520 2.26Ghz Quad Core
36 GB DRR3 RAM
100 Mbps Uplink
5000 GB Transfer
IPMI Available
Base price for the CPU/RAM = $95.00 per month
1TB disk = included in price
128GB add-on SSD ("Option 1" from previous email) = $20 extra per month
Sub Total = $115 per month
Subtract $10/month volume discount = $105 per month
PROS:
1. Newer CPU architecture; turbo mode CPU = higher MHz; DDR3; QPI
replacing FSB = if we need CPU intensive activity at some point in the
future (agent AIs eat CPU like there's no tomorrow!), this will help.
2. The SSD will make MySQL very fast, and reduce latency in the packet handlers.
3. The 36GB of RAM will allow MySQL to cache a lot of data in RAM,
which will really help with performance. Combine that with the SSD and
we won't have any database bottleneck to speak of.
CONS:
1. Slow code will still be slow even if we have a monster CPU and DDR3
RAM. So it won't help with the current lag issues.
2. This is the second-most expensive build that I've put on the table,
just short of the dual SAS solution below.

BASE SYSTEM #2
Dual Quad Core L5420
16 GB DDR2 RAM
100 Mbps Dedicated Uplink
5 TB Premium Bandwidth
Base price for CPU/RAM = $70.00 per month
===
SAS RAID Card = $10.00 per month (optional, but improves throughput /
lowers CPU usage)
Two SAS 300GB 15k RPM mechanical disks = additional $40 per month
Sub Total = $120 per month
Subtract $10/month volume discount = $110/month
PROS:
1. An essentially ideal storage subsystem for MySQL to bang on
2. Data redundancy with RAID-1
CONS:
1. Price is a little bit higher
2. Memory bandwidth and latency is worse due to DDR2

-----OR-----

One SAS 300GB 15k RPM mechanical disk = $15 per month. No RAID.
Sub Total = $85.00 per month
Subtract $10/month volume discount = $75.00 per month
PROS:
1. Price
CONS:
1. Redundancy (single disk failure = start over, plus extended
production outage and some loss of data)
2. General I/O performance slightly worse (reduced read speed due to
only one disk)
3. Memory bandwidth and latency is much worse than the L5520 CPUs due
to DDR2 RAM.
===

Note that SSDs are only available on BASE SYSTEM #1, and the 15k RPM
SAS disks are only available on BASE SYSTEM #2. The customization
options are not as dynamic as you might expect.

There are other options available, but they are MUCH more expensive,
and don't really help us at all. For instance, they have a Xeon
E3-1270v2 at $149.99, but it only comes with 4GB of RAM in the base
model. No thanks!