What can i do with a 'server pc"?

I have couple of Q"s about what they can do.
1.can they be used to surf internet?
2.why are they so cheap?
3.Why are xeons so cheap?
4.Can it be used for Gaming?
5.can moniters be connected?
6.Are severs large? i never seen one up close.

 

1. Yes
2. They're not. Please, show me a cheap server.
3. They are? Last I checked they're about the same price as their equivalent desktop CPU.
4. Yes, if set up properly. Servers usually don't have the ability to SLI/Crossfire though, so you're limited to a single GPU.
5. Yes.
6. Sometimes, depends on the specific server and the server's purpose and form factor.

As I mentioned in another topic, servers are basically regular computers that have a higher level of redundancy than the average consumer level desktop.

 

For question 2 i was talking about barebones.Also can a 4850 ati card be used.I like the rackmount servers.

 

Okay, even a barebone - show me a cheap one, please!
But keep in mind, a barebone is going to go up a lot in price as you add components. Rackmount servers usually use low profile cards, so I doubt you could fit in a Radeon 4850 without doing some modding.
Though some blade servers do use MXM cards, so you'd MAYBE be able to put a laptop 4850 into one.

 

I saw cheap ones on ebay.

 

heres some..
* http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=RM11704C-LT&cat=SYS&cpc=SYSbsc

* http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?Cat=821

 

You know, I'm going to say that a server can be anything you want it to be: it's a matter of task, not a matter of hardware. You can take your old PII laptop, hook it up to the Internet, load some FTP software and say, "HEY! Here's my new file server! Check it out!". At the same rate you can take your Xeons and dual-socket Tyans and slap on an 4870 and say "HEY!, Here's my new gaming rig! Check it out!".

There is of course, hardware designed to be used in server applications. As Hep said, they are pretty much the same as their consumer counterparts either with a higher level of tolerance or extra levels of redundancy and they ARE expensive because of that.

So my answers to the questions would be: yes, because you skimped on the hardware, because you bought a PII Xeon in 2009, yes, yes, and your company spent a fortune on a server installation to host their email system.

 

i wasn't planning on buying a server but I was wondering what other things they could do besides run a server.

 

Those prices are insane, I would never have guessed.
/Considers moving my server over to a dual socket opty rackmountable

 

After seeing that ktron was trying to build a octitron i wanted know what a server would be capable of.

 

It won't be any more or less capable than a consumer machine with the same kind of specs. It's just a matter of stability and reliability.

 

http://promotions.newegg.com/ASUS/0...promotions.newegg.com/ASUS/011209/118x118.gif

 

That's not that good of a deal (the others were very good).
A desktop with the same specs would be a lot less.

 

I may consider a server in the near future.A quad cored xeon would blow my xps one away.

 

You should just build a desktop...
Will end up being cheaper and it will better suit your needs.