Used servers on ebay... can they be useful?

[Mr. Scram]

I have to admit that i never used Amazon to rent a sever.

Still, in my particular case, just installing and configuring Windows, CAD/CAM/CAE software, getting the licenses, installing my particular automation, run it to benchmark the benefits... All that would take several days or weeks.

lest go with 4 weeks = 4x7x24 = 672h

672h x $2 = $1344 --> more than I spent on a Dell with 80 cores, which after this particular job is still mine (this particular case, it's owned by my company)

But, don't worry, I got your point and you are not wrong at all.

Regards,
Vitor

Use the tools available. Cloud providers let you automate setting machines up extensively. You can have a deployment on standby, hit the button and get a brand new deployment in no time. Need 15 more? No problem! I'm not a big fan of everything cloud but horsepower on tap is a neat ace to have up your sleeve. Letting things run overnight isn't always enough, sometimes not by a long shot.

[tkamiya]

I use multiple Dell T20 servers.  They are quiet, low power, and sufficient for my use.  When Dell was closing them out, I bought 5 like less than $200 each.  Some of mine has been upgraded CPU to E3-1225 v3.  Runs 24x7 as my file server and backup.  Never had issues.

I still see them on eBay for cheap. 

[rstofer]

I've been messing around with NVIDIA CUDA Cores.  If rendering is the issue, CUDA is the solution.  It is also the current solution to solving large matrix problems.  Larger is better.  The speedup can be enormous (like 20,000X) depending on the problem.  Any time you can apply several thousand arithmetic units to solving a problem, things are bound to go fast.  The newest graphics cards can do around 14 terraflops.  The CDC 6400 that got us to the Moon was good for about 2 megaflops.

As to compilation (assuming gcc), on Linux you can increase the heap size to around 2GB and then use the -j4 flag to run separate compilations in each thread.  The numeric is the number of jobs 'make' will dispatch - one per thread is about right!  Use 'top' to see how many instances of cc1 are running.

Then there is concurrent Fortran if working on a new project.  There is a written standard in Fortran 2008.  Search for DO CONCURRENT.  NVIDIA has such a compiler for the CUDA cores.

The increase heap and 'make' thing is pretty easy to do.  Concurrent (parallel) programming is a good deal more difficult.

My only experience with a Dell Power Edge server in a quiet office is that it was very noisy.  But this was a long time ago.  Maybe things have improved.  Or not...

Here's something fun:  MATLAB has a parallel computing toolbox.  Here is the Mandelbrot Set where the GPUs finally get to a 700+X speedup

https://www.mathworks.com/help/parallel-computing/illustrating-three-approaches-to-gpu-computing-the-mandelbrot-set.html

I'm not sure how many cores they are using.  I just looked at the pretty pictures.

Xilinx Vivado allows for parallel processing.  I think the WebPack (free) version is limited to 8 threads.

[Red Squirrel]

The biggest issue with Ebay is always shipping.   A typical 2U box is going to cost 100's to ship.  I've even seen some people asking like $900+ for shipping.  By then time you factor that and exchange rate it ends up cheaper just ordering parts online and building your own.

[bd139]

That works out in favour of you sometimes. One reason you see old servers and network gear so cheap is it costs a lot to dispose of it officially. What you’re doing by buying it is saving the person who is selling it from having to pay to dispose of it. So as well as they make up the labour costs, a small profit and the shipping costs then they’re on a net gain.

The $900+ lot are taking the piss mostly.

[james_s]

Here you can recycle e-waste for free at any number of dropoff locations, most thrift stores will accept it and recycle anything they can't sell too. Does it cost money over there even for individuals?

[bd139]

End users / public yes it's free here. But commercial e-waste costs money to dispose of. The odd server here and there is not an issue but most places, ours included until we moved cloud-wise, do a lift and shift every 5 years of a few tonnes of stuff at a time. You can't just turn up and get that recycled wherever you are.