Server recommendations for small business

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Handle9

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#3203849 6-Mar-2024 18:12

johno1234:

Don't be too quick to dismiss comments here - some smart people here with very good suggestions. In this particular case it is a small business that won't have a lot of cash for engaging consultants.

This is a classical penny wise pound foolish mentality.

Good advice from competent people saves money. A business that can’t afford a few hours of advice is very likely going to end up with a solution that costs more long term, either in solution cost, resilience, customer experience or all three.

dpf81nz

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#3203914 6-Mar-2024 21:12

If you need a server on prem, i'd also look into setting up azure site recovery or similar so you can get back up and running in a relatively short timeframe in a DR scenario. Note this is not a substitute for server backups, they are separate things

CamH

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#3203926 6-Mar-2024 22:46

$6k is probably sensible but low end. You want something that's reliable? You're going to have to pay the price for it to be reliable.

I quote stuff like this weekly. We're talking at least $3k for a low spec Microserver plus $2k - $3k for licensing. And that's at the cheap end. Add setup labour, data transfers etc, and it's not going to be a low budget project.

We see cheap all the time. People running mission critical apps on a Desktop PC because it's "never been a problem before". And I get to stand there while they cry and ask us what it'd take for it to be back up in the next hour, while the cheap desktop and it's cheap spinning drive from 2007 has finally given up. Of course, there's no backups.

Your friend may end up getting another cheap desktop. And if he does, for the love of god, at least ensure he's got offsite backup when he does it.

nztim

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#3203960 7-Mar-2024 06:28

Microservers are single power supply and software raid, I would never deploy one for a mission critical app like POS

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

CamH

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#3203998 7-Mar-2024 09:21

nztim: Microservers are single power supply and software raid, I would never deploy one for a mission critical app like POS

Of course a Microserver isn't the best option but, I also wouldn't run mission critical stuff on an i3 desktop with 8GB, but some people do it.

nztim

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#3204013 7-Mar-2024 09:54

CamH:

I also wouldn't run mission critical stuff on an i3 desktop with 8GB, but some people do it.

Agree......

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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jnimmo

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#3204331 8-Mar-2024 06:47

If it's just the clients talking directly to the MS SQL database, (i.e. no server software) - I'd be considering testing moving the SQL database to a managed cloud/Platform as a Service instance, and getting a backup internet connection which could also cover the EFTPOS connectivity etc. It might be pretty minor to have everything else (file shares etc) provided through cloud services.

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