Topic: SME 8 Cost

[newburns]

I want to do my part for SME 8 and Koozali, but I don't have extra money lying around. I have 5 kids, but Koozali didn't ask for that. 

I plan on building a Dual 2011 server w/ 64gb ram. This will run Proxmox 3.0 through a NAS with HAST (18Tb).
I would like to SELL VM's installed standard with SME at 1 core with 1gb ram and ???? storage.
I would then like to directly pass all the funds collected to Koozali, less internet connection cost.
Or, in other words, I am donating server/s space and the management thereof.

What is the going rate for SME, as I have never done this before?
Are the listed sizes for ram, storage, and cpu standard/good numbers?
What reporting tools are used by host to show incoming $$$ - cost = donation amount? And billing for the customers using the VM?

[ReetP]

Hi,

sorry but I really don't know the answer to your question, but in the first instance it is a magnanimous offer !

I hope that someone with more knowledge on the subject than me can give you some sensible advice.

Note the bug tracker and HSFs excellent work on running virtual ethernet ports which you may need on a VM.

http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7200

B. Rgds
John

[ReetP]

Another idea may be to go and look what other companies are charging out there. A quick Google will get you a few results for comparison.

B. Rgds
John

[newburns]

I'm going to setup 3 test Servers with 1 core processor and 512mb ram. This will be to Test SME (8 and 9), and workout my management workflow of these VM's. If anyone wants one, PM me which SME version you would like (8 or 9), your SSH port you desire (not 22, already forwarded in my firewall for something else. Unless there is a way to forward ports based on Name or Domain vs only the port request. I'm using PFsense 2.x), and if you have a specific Domain. I'm not sure what needs to be opened for a VM to be able to be controlled. I'm also thinking about just opening my Proxmox Dashboard based on Users, specific to "THEIR" VM. But they won't be able to change hardware or anything. It's basically for console access only.

I'll look into the port forwarding based on domain for the standard ports such as 80, 443, 22, 21, and ????

[ReetP]

Smashing v9 will be the best thing you can do to help everyone.

Testing, verifying, fixing. You name it, we need help on it !

Oh, and donations too

[newburns]

I've decided to get HostBill for my Proxmox install, and start testing with only SME VPS.
There won't be any essential money at first because everything is test, but I will be making about 10 - 20 VPS available. From there, I will generate a report based on how many PAID VPS are SME(Koozali), and donate the funds less internet cost. The internet cost will be an average based on the overall VPS installed. So if I can get 40 VPS and the internet is $40, then it will be less $1 per VPS. I think the initial VPS's will be $2.50/month for 512mb VPS and 8gb storage. I can only attribute per core on teh CPU, but the processor will be Dual E5 2011. I know Proxmox won't allow the CPU to over extend itself, so each VPS will have 1 core.
Hope that works!!
I'll start once all my hardware comes in from Newegg, and I'm waiting on a better backup solution for myself. As of right now, I only have one host server, which will eventually turn into my backup server.

Let me know if you have any suggestions/comments. I really have no clue what I'm doing, but the worst that can happen is that no one buys a VPS. (Or I get sued for lost data, but I'll find a way to put a clause in the purchase contract)

[ReetP]

I can't give you much advice on the virtual hosting stuff, but I do think that what you are trying to do is honourable and the sort of thing that we ought to try and support somehow, though we have to be careful we don't leave ourselves open legally.

I'll make a note to discuss this point with the other Board members.

I'll try and let you know asap - please feel free to email me if you have any questions on the financial side of things.

B. Rgds
John

[pcdoc]

I would strongly suggest putting 1024 Mb per VM rather than 512 Mb. I currently build a lot for Scouts and other non-profits based on P4 1.7 G or higher.

SME 3.3 ran on an i386 with 8 M (or was it a 286 - too damn long ago now)

SME 5 ran on i486 with 16 M (I think, Shad would know more than what my poor memory can recollect)

SME 6 ran on P1 (sorry, don't remember minimum speed or ram specs)

SME 7 would just run on P3 1 GHz with 384 Mb, SME 8 needs P4 2.2 G and 1024 Mb to run without slamming the swap space.

Haven't tried SME 9 on minimum specs yet so couldn't say, but from testing I have done, its close to SME 8.

If you want lower CPU and HDD use, give the VM's 1024 at least.

[CharlieBrady]

SME 3.3 ran on an i386 with 8 M (or was it a 286 - too damn long ago now)

There was never any SME 3.3 (I don't think there was even an e-smith 3.3). And linux never did run on a 286 - it required at least a 386 processor - minimum system I have run was a 386SX with 2MB of RAM - which couldn't do much except run bash.

[pcdoc]

Told you my memory was pretty bad. which ver did E-smith get up to with v3?

All I recall was running dial up modems on the oldest piece of hardware that could actually run it, but we needed to put more than 4 Mb RAM in it to do so. From memory, it was June 2001 so whatever version of E-smith was doing the rounds at the time.

Either way, the poster needed the info that he needs to have more than 512 Mb RAM or CPU usage will be higher than needed.

Good to see you still monitoring the boards Charlie. Are you still associated with Mitel?

[newburns]

Just an update:
It's coming together, just with a lot of crazy turns in architecture and models.
Originally I was building two servers: 1 storage NAS and 1 Proxmox, in addition to the current Proxmox.

Recent Craigslist purchase allows me to now have 4 servers: 2 NAS (Direct Backup) and 2 Proxmox (To make a 3 node HA Cluster)

The new NAS and backup will be based on OmniOS and Napp-IT webGUI using zetaback for backup protocol http://labs.omniti.com/labs/zetaback:

Dual AMD 2112 (may move to AMD 2360se if more power is needed)
TYAN S2392 Motherboard
64GB DDR2 in primary: 16GB DDR2 in secondary
12 - 3TB WD Red drives in 3-way mirror formation (12TB of useable space)
(2)LSI 9211-8i in primary: 3ware 9650se-16i in secondary
Mirrored SSD slog for ZIL/L2ARC
Mirrored SSD for OS

Same server will be used for a Proxmox node where all the SME(Koozali) VM will be hosted. The other powerful servers will be used for inhouse operations until a pattern is determined.

I'm waiting on a few ram sticks and my WD drives. Once it is built, I will send access to all who requested SME VPS.
I have to figure out how to setup my pfSense firewall for this traffic, but one step at a time. (I guess)

[pcdoc]

Just a tip from setting up a few boxes, put another WD Red drive (smallest you can buy) in as well and set one partition as swap, another for /tmp, and another for /var folder.

This will increase the overall life of your SSD. In tests with a heavy use site, over a 2 month period, the SSD used for the OS had 30% less access time with the swap, /tmp and /var on a SAS drive.

[CharlieBrady]

Told you my memory was pretty bad. which ver did E-smith get up to with v3?

Nov 19 1999     e-smith-3.1.iso
Jul 13 2000     e-smith-4.0.iso
Dec 12 2000     e-smith-4.0.1.iso
Feb 12 2001     e-smith-4.1.iso
Feb 16 2001     e-smith-4.1.1.iso
Apr 10 2001     e-smith-4.1.2.iso
Sep 17 2001     smeserver-5.0.iso

Yes, I'm still at Mitel.

[warren]

Apr 10 2001     e-smith-4.1.2.iso

  I've still got the original printed cd in its packaging

[pc_doc]

Must have been 3.1 at the time. I don't have original packaging, I just downloaded, installed and loved the concept.

I haven't been a great poster or contributor over the last 10 years, but I have a bit more time available now and hope to put back to the dev and docs side of things.

Charlie, you and Shad Lords comments and tips over the years have been a fantastic driving force for myself (and I dare say others) providing me with the resource I needed to setup, and repair SMEServers over the years.

I don't know how I will go calling it Koozali Server, still just getting used to calling it SMEServer rather than Esmith.

Just a thought, a lot of web based software packages have a demo for you to try, could we use 1 or 2 VM's from newburns to provide this to possible new people wanting to test SME (sorry, Koozali). There would have to be some limits setup to prevent people using it to send spam, or setup fake websites, but better minds than mine should be able to come to the rescue on that.

Cheers, and I think the original subject of this thread has come to an end as we have strayed off course. Thanks for the historical timeline Charlie.