add section for server/datacenter technologies

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see my sig rig?

i'm thinking more along the lines of "the pursuit of performance."

ars technica has a similar forum called "the server room" which is pretty new. regardless of the fact that OCN is geared towards overclockers, OCN should want to include all aspects of IT performance.

I'd like this too, having gone from enthusiast to IT professional. Still an enthusiast though.

Would be very interesting, not to mention people could easily help each other out... not to mention home servers and custom routers are becoming *fairly* common even in simple home use.

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Actually the skulltrail would be more accurately called a "workstation" mobo.

Also I do think this would be a good idea-- an IT section sounds good -- and your right -- a lot of us are probably gonna be going into the IT industry -- (I know I am).

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Production servers? NEVER!

It's not done because stability is crucial. Sites can lose hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour if their transactional database dies, let alone their storefront. It's why such servers are so redundant with backups and even use slower than dog poo ECC memory.

Besides, server building is a tad more complicated, as they're designed for a different environment.

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This section doesn't seem to be professional IT industry related. Let's take a look at the topics:
Me and some friends want to make a server.
build me a server
Help Custom Router
Gaming Dedicated Server Motherboard
Gaming Server + File server
Build your own dedicated Music Server
Turning a Server into a PC
[Project] Junks Rackmount Farm Build
Infiniband questions
What tch specs should a gaming server have?
Web Based Backup
Windows Server 2008 Will Not Add Features
Large Storage Server
Converting current PC into a Server

Not much there about AIX, HPUX, SH, *REAL* server towers (on these forums, the Antec 1200 is a server tower ) and so on.

Would be a good forum for people to see, a real "server" forum. If they find it interesting, they know they're in the right field. If they're only interested in personal PCs, then they'll probably be relegated to building them, supporting them, or repairing them at relatively low wages - unless they're entrepreneurs and start their own businesses.

I see a lot of people today say "Hey, there's money in computers!" only to realize too late that the personal computer world is flooded with young people. To really make money in the IT industry IMO (and by that, I mean six figures) you need to deal with servers. Usually.

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It's really designed more for workstations than production servers. When folks are asking what type of PSU goes into a 1U server case; and arguing over fan sizes (true servers aren't cooled liked desktops, they're housed in cooling racks that are air conditioned), and if a desktop motherboard will do (server boards use ETX power supplies, not ATX) -- yep!

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Being under "Specialty Builds" does not give it any merit and does not encourage education in larger matters. Not to mention it's not structured to any degree.

For Example:

Professional Community Forum

Systems Admin

news
server hardware
server software
disaster recovery
policy development

Click to expand...

datacenter management

news
network infrastructure
internet security

Click to expand...

certifications

microsoft
cisco

Click to expand...

etc, etc

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because, like the very first reply to this thread, OCN community does not encourage these advanced kinds of discussions. If the OCN management would make it into its own section, people would respond to it much better.

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QQ

I doubt there's enough IT professionals to warrant it's own section/group.

~Gooda~

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What exactly do you have against this idea? Just curious, I don't see how it could harm anything. And the 'you don't overclock servers' argument holds no water - you don't generally overclock the following, either: (Note, I'm leaving out components that you don't overclock but are directly related to overclocking)

Hard Drives & Storage
Sound Cards & Audio Devices
Monitors & Displays
Computer Peripherals
Computer Rooms/Office
Mobile Phones / Smartphones
Game Servers
Consoles
Networking & Security
Coding & Programming

Yet all these areas have their own forums. You might argue that these are areas related to our computer enthusiasm - but many of us have chosen a profession BECAUSE of our computer enthusiasm, and being a systems administrator/network operator (among many other things) is a job that many PC enthusiasts choose.

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Almost every IT professional I know browses sites like OCN, many of them overclocking related. You really think there are more professional programmers? They warrant at least their own subsection with three forums.

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They don't really fit into "overclocking". Servers are built for stability, not pushing the envelope (they're still using PIII servers for mail routers).

If you're truly interested in such a career you can goto one of the MS forums for Windows based servers; or webhost forums like Webhostingtalk (or better HostHideout) for the server hardware/datacenter side of the business. It's indeed a speciality field, but one never associated with "overclocking" (a business owner will riot, and a shop can lose a great client going that route).

There's also a difference between an "IT professional" and being a system builder (especially an OEM shop).

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There's a lot at this website that doesn't fit into Overclocking.

Plus, I think it'd be interesting. I like the atmosphere at OCN, and those other forums are generally filled with one shot posters who ask a question, get an answer, then disappear. (Yes that happens sometimes here, but this is more of a community than an interactive FAQ)

/shrug

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As Sacre mentioned, there's a whole lot more to the OCN community than overclocking. Aren't we really in "the pursuit of performance?" I could very easily leave OCN and go to another forum. But why would OCN want to lose it's users? I'm a business owner, and I can tell you now that there's no harm in the sharing of information with like minded people. I've worked in many datacenters too, and no, we don't overclock servers. But the knowledge datacenter techs need to know, and their experiences, could easily be shared with the younger generation of enthusiasts. And that in itself is very valuable.

Before I get to the quote below, I just want to say one thing which sounds quite contradictive to what I've already said: based on the content here at Overclock.net, the name "Overclock.net" doesn't really mean that this place is or was all about overclocking. Since the motto is "The Pursuit of Performance", I can see that the word "Overclock" in the name "Overclock.net" is not to be taken literally. I mean, as Sacre pointed out, we have several forums that really don't have much to do with overclocking. But although some of them have nothing to do with "the pursuit of performance", most of them do, in fact, have quite a bit to do with it. For example, many people here are using RAID to get more performance out of their hard drives. And regarding sound cards, there are many who like to do physical modifications and who also get the best sound card they can afford. Or, they use software to get the most out of their audio. The list could go on and on.

But as I said, there are definitely some forums here on OCN that just don't have anything to do with "the pursuit of performance". But I can already think of a couple of ways to contradict myself here as well. I could say that you can apply a few different meanings to the name "Overclock.net" along with its motto in order to show that everything is indeed within the context of this site. However, I can also tell that several things were added to expand OCN's range. And now we have here another moment where it coud expand yet again to include production servers. And we could keep going and become more and more generalized. Before long, overclocking will only be like 30% of what Overclock.net is all about. It'll cater to so many people that it could become like Best Buy. I remember when Best Buy didn't have such a wide selection of stuff. But they've recently become a musical instrument retailer as well, and they carry many of the same things as Guitar Center. And where will THAT end? Are they gonna start selling clothing too? How about beds and bedding? Perhaps they should include a grocery store as well. After all, it'll increase their customer base.

But, I digress. I also got carried away. But I guess you can see how I feel about this. I agree that this is generally a good idea because the point has been made that there are several OCN members (and future members) who are going to need a really good place to come and discuss production server and datacenter things. And if OCN expands to cater to this growing need, I hope that it can be about pursuing greater performance at least half of the time. Otherwise it would have to be separated much like CarForum.net.

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Yep. This is pretty much the point I was making. I was kind of asking it to basically say "yeah, but this is a place for overclocking, so what sense does it make to include forums about servers?" However, we already have a few forums on here that have nothing to do with overclocking, and I'm not referring to the Off-Topic area.