I was looking at the RaQ4 series, they were just a little slower proc wise than what we want it for. I have the hard drives already, and as you said they are a little expensive.
So, what kind of lines did you run from the server? Are we just talking typical dial up isp from the days of old? Or were you guys running the high speed connection?
We have been running test tracerts off the OC3 connection, and have some amazing ms times going from where the server will be based(with me) to some of the people who are furthest away. A friend from New Zealand drew an average of 64ms through the lines on high speed on his end. The closest to me which is about 3 hours off drew 15ms average !!!
But bear in mind, that was just the straight line, no routing or switches involved yet. So I do expect it to go up a little. But not much.
The OC3 is expensive yes, but it is well worth it. As having your own independant line to a server is priceless
It's not just for ftp purposes, there are a couple of the people who want to host sites from it, which is fine by us. May as well use it for that purpose too.
~ Fawks