Server Recommendations

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BTR

1527 posts

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#138940 22-Jan-2014 13:13

Hi Everyone

I am tasked with organising a new Windows server at work. Now I am a Mac tech so I don't really follow Windows Server OS and PC Server hardware closely.

Basically the current server is running Windows 2008 R2 and is an active directory master providing network logins to 5 users as well as hosting the departments files and applications. Its replacement needs to support dual Power supplies and a hardware RAID. I am looking at of the shelf products and am not interested in building a server.

I would be interested in hearing your recommendations.

Thanks in advance for your help.

michaelmurfy

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#972216 22-Jan-2014 13:16

Supermicro have some pretty decent gear at a decent price - http://www.supermicro.com/

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wasabi2k

2096 posts

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#972221 22-Jan-2014 13:19

Rack or Tower?

We use a lot of HP kit - plenty of options from low end to higher - just get them to give you a ring and let them do the hard work.

Dynamic

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#972222 22-Jan-2014 13:20

If asked I would quote in a Hewlett Packard ML310e with twin power supplies, and use either the chipset RAID and RAID10 across 4 disks and no write caching or add the P222 RAID card with write cache and the flash cache for write performance. Consider Server 2012 Essentials with its 25 user licenses included. Plus UPS and warranty upgrade.

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geekiegeek

2513 posts

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#972234 22-Jan-2014 13:35

Dell. Easy and will have good warranty support.

amanzi

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#972281 22-Jan-2014 14:39

My preference is HP, IBM, Dell - in that order. But at the end of the day, it's all the same stuff inside - just need to be comfortable with the after sales support. In my case, I've had better experiences with HP support, but others may disagree.

trig42

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#972293 22-Jan-2014 14:57

We use Dell at work, and have Premier Support.
It is efficient and quick - I have only had to use them once on a server (a few times on desktops and laptops) but the server was only 3 hours to replace a HDD.

I have used HP elsewhere, and they were great too. Not used IBM.

Zeon

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#972306 22-Jan-2014 15:23

You would probably be better looking at hosted desktops or maybe cloud services. A server for 5 staff is not really relevant in this day and age. You can get hosted desktops or remove desktop services on a hosted server which would be a better fit?

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TwoSeven

1626 posts

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#972329 22-Jan-2014 16:10

Just querying your requirements - but read them as you have a 5 user domain, a domain controller and you are also hosting file and print services on the same machine.

I am not sure why you need dual power supplies or raid (apart from mirrored disks) on a 5 user machine.

If however, there are other requirements we are not aware of, then I would perhaps suggest not running your domain controller and file and print services on the same machine. Since the DC probably doesn't need the same storage and performance criteria as the file and print machine.

Other than that, I would probably suggest one of the COTS vendors mentioned above.

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networkn

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#972358 22-Jan-2014 16:33

HP, Then IBM, and beyond that I walk away.

PLEASE don't use SATA disks. You'll be sorry.

JWR

821 posts

Ultimate Geek

#972550 23-Jan-2014 02:49

TwoSeven: Just querying your requirements - but read them as you have a 5 user domain, a domain controller and you are also hosting file and print services on the same machine.

I am not sure why you need dual power supplies or raid (apart from mirrored disks) on a 5 user machine.

If however, there are other requirements we are not aware of, then I would perhaps suggest not running your domain controller and file and print services on the same machine. Since the DC probably doesn't need the same storage and performance criteria as the file and print machine.

Other than that, I would probably suggest one of the COTS vendors mentioned above.

For 5 users, I would run everything on one machine.

The DC would take almost no resource.

It sounds like the whole system could run on one SSD. You could mirror that if necessary.

How much data/files can 5 people generate?

JWR

821 posts

Ultimate Geek

#972551 23-Jan-2014 02:58

BTR: Hi Everyone

I am tasked with organising a new Windows server at work. Now I am a Mac tech so I don't really follow Windows Server OS and PC Server hardware closely.

Basically the current server is running Windows 2008 R2 and is an active directory master providing network logins to 5 users as well as hosting the departments files and applications. Its replacement needs to support dual Power supplies and a hardware RAID. I am looking at of the shelf products and am not interested in building a server.

I would be interested in hearing your recommendations.

Thanks in advance for your help.

What are the specs of your current server and what is wrong with it?

TwoSeven

1626 posts

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#972630 23-Jan-2014 09:26

JWR:
TwoSeven: Just querying your requirements - but read them as you have a 5 user domain, a domain controller and you are also hosting file and print services on the same machine.

I am not sure why you need dual power supplies or raid (apart from mirrored disks) on a 5 user machine.

If however, there are other requirements we are not aware of, then I would perhaps suggest not running your domain controller and file and print services on the same machine. Since the DC probably doesn't need the same storage and performance criteria as the file and print machine.

Other than that, I would probably suggest one of the COTS vendors mentioned above.

For 5 users, I would run everything on one machine.

The DC would take almost no resource.

It sounds like the whole system could run on one SSD. You could mirror that if necessary.

How much data/files can 5 people generate?

Its what I was thinking, SSD for the OS and a couple of mirrored drives for the data and a bunch of memory can be useful. Also, if it is a SOHO solution then perhaps Windows Server Essentials may be an option - it has an upgrade path and one can download a 180 day trial (I think) - and I suspect there are others here that run it who could provide some input and advice in that department.

Edit: are MAC OS based machines connected to the domain?

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HiTM4N

256 posts

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#972674 23-Jan-2014 10:37

Why not something like a HP ProLiant Microserver Gen8? Or a IBM x3100 m4? Both are cheap and very stable, more than enough options in configuration for what you need

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1101

3122 posts

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#972760 23-Jan-2014 12:10

I am not sure why you need dual power supplies or raid (apart from mirrored disks) on a 5 user machine.

+1
Best reply so far
& Sata will be fine for your needs , thats Enterprise Sata, that comes on HP Servers :-)

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#972786 23-Jan-2014 12:26

I second the notion for a low-end HP or IBM box with SATA RAID storage.

I would also recommend MS Essentials server. The integration with Office 365 is nice if you end up going that way for email etc.