Pentium D, Xeon, or is this overkill?

qwicker

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Hi, I'm looking to purchase a small server for my house. I have about 2-4 computers that will be accessing the server on a given day. The basic need for the server is data backup and consolidation. It is of utmost importance that certain files and databases are kept safe. I will also be using it to host a home domain(just AD, no webhosting or anything) and I would also like to use it for VPN and Remote Desktop. Please help me to 'decide' which system below looks better. My main questions are about the processors, and the RAID/Datasafe solutions. Is Xeon really better than the D? Can I expect any of these systems to perform much better and protect my Data? I have not heard too much about Dell Datasafe, but it seems pretty good...
Thank you!!! P.S. All are priced within $100 of each other so price is no option.

Dell Precision 380:
-Intel® Pentium® D 920, 2.80GHz/800MHz/2x2MB L2 cache, Dual-core
-2GB, 667MHz, DDR2 SDRAM Memory, ECC (2 DIMMS)
-2x250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 8MB DataBurst Cacheâ„¢ for RAID 1.

PowerEdge SC1420:
-Intel® Xeon™ Processor at 2.8GHz/2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB
-2.0GB DDR2, 400MHz, 4X512MB,Single Ranked DIMMs
-CERC 6-Channel SATA RAID Controller
-2x250GB 7.2K RPM Serial ATA Hard Drive

XPS 400:
-Pentium® D Processor 940 with Dual Core Technology (3.20GHz, 800FSB)
-2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
-DataSafe 250GB (Includes main hard drive plus a hidden reserve hard drive)
 
For a small home, the D will last a while, but if you want something that is likely to have the standard of future servers, go got the Xeon.
 
thanks for the reply. However, if i consider server life a moot point ( i dont expect it to last more than 4 years) which system would actually be better to suit my needs. Is a 2.3 Xeon better than a 2.8 D? or is the 3.2 D better than both. Also I see memory speeds are different. I'm sure I wont notice the difference there. So what about RAID 1 vs. Dell's datasafe? Thanks
 
xeons are *generally* better than regular pentiums, but you can't ignore the seed factor.

I'd have immediatly said the poweredge, but the configuration seems a little strange, I mean 4 512MB sticks.... a single 2GB stick would be better to allow for future upgrades.

either way all of them are a little overkill if you're realy just looking for a file server/AD machine.
 
I must say, for the amount of computers accessing this, these setups are EXTREME overkill.

One heavily used domain controller I manage is only a P3 based system. It doesnt take alot of power at all to run a small domain...
 
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