Need help building a new server for work.

[no_control]

Hey guys I need some help to build a nice server for my office. I'm not to keen on decent server grade hardware. This is a file server only nothing else. Only looking for Hardware this is a 2003 R2 Machine.

Current system is coming off lease and is total over kill for our needs. 2x 73gb SAS o/s and 4 300GB SAS storage. We have less than 200gb right now and I doubt we would eclipse 500gb anytime soon.

Budget is less than $6k But ideally under $3k
Would like a RAID 1 solution for O/S And RAID 5 for Storage.
Tower or even a small tower would be fine. not opposed to rack mount suggestions either.

I would also like alternative solutions to our LTO3 tape drive for offsite backup. Virtual?

Thx

[Adidas4275]

buy from OEM, dell or HP.... get service and good warranties with it. Dont build enterprise servers...

I build my "server" for home, with a norco case, but you want an OEM build. Expecially with 3K to spend

[vischo]

I think we should make a sticky for this. The majority of Hardforum agrees, when it comes to business and corporate servers, buy from an OEM. Dell or HP, you choose.

[no_control]

Kind of missed the point here. This is a small business. Less than 5 employees. They currently have a Dell system that is stupid overkill for a FILE server. Like 90% of the companies out there they are looking to save money short term. They already pay for local IT servicing, and have an in house guy who can handle basics. In all honesty they could easily get away with a WHS box, but I doubt the local IT will service it.

Typical of IT...Just because the budget is 3 grand doesn't mean I want to blow it all.

Show me a Dell server, switch, firewall and backup solution that meet my criteria above. And explain to me the benefit of Dell support for this? I'm not disagreeing with your suggestion I just don't understand the logic.


Thanks

[GeorgeHR]

For a 5 person office and 200-500GB of data, it is much cheaper and just as reliable to simply build a computer.

Modest case and power supply $100
Modest motherboard CPU & memory $200
Hard drive $110
monitor/keyboard/mouse recycle

backup
Hard drive case $30
Hard drive $110

$550 plus OS.

[no_control]

That's what I was thinking!

I figured the server at most would be $1k

Add in a 24p switch & firewall another $1k

Server o/s $700

$3000k

[Concentric]

Dude, the point about buying from Dell/HP is that it comes with the warranty and support, so you get to offload any responsibility for hardware failure, compatibility issues etc.

If you build it yourself, when something breaks you're going to get called up to fix it and you may well be held responsible for downtime/lost business etc. As long as you're happy with that..

[[LYL]Homer]

Can you just buy the current 'overkill' system outright since it is in place and will have zero setup cost? Why would you do something else if you're trying to keep costs low?

However, looking at Dell, a basic PowerEdge T100 setup seems reasonable if you want to replace the current server. $999 for the basic setup with a pair of 500gb drives for RAID 1. You don't really need more than RAID 1, keep it simple. (You and I know that a basic PC can be built for under half the price, that's not the point.)

Basic Dell PowerConnect 2824 switch is $300, why do you need more? - for 5 employees.... And a Linksys router would work fine for a firewall.

Cloud backup could be an affordable alternative to LTO-3 if daily changes and file sizes are smaller, but if it's already in-place why buy something else?

Throw in a battery backup too, if you don't have one.

I manage 2 servers at work and we have a guy on call 24/7 who built the systems, he's a proper server admin (I handle the workstation hardware/software and applications we use). To do it again I'd probably just have him service Dell or HP hardware. There haven't been any problems, but the cost would have been similar. I inherited the job when our old IT guy quit after he had already convinced the higher ups to buy local-built servers.

We did have a Dell server in place when I started and the one time it puked I was able to call a number and have them walk me through the issue (a SCSI disk went out in the RAID array, they overnighted a new drive and walked me through installing it and rebuilding the array). The bigger part here was that our server was down for about 4 hours total time during business hours with the bosses asking me every 20 minutes if it was working yet. I can't emphasize enough how it was a relief to just be the 'middle man' between my bosses freaking out and Dell when the man-hours were piling up (we had 16 employees at the time x 4 hours x shop rate = over $5000 in lost time). If I would have been responsible it might have been a blemish on my work record - I know a drive failure is hardly my fault, but stressed out people can act oddly and rashly.

Anyway, in order to save some money on hardware you may be opening up yourself to a potential can of blame if/when there is some downtime.

Build a server for the worst case, not the best case. Have a backup strategy and test it. Have a paper copy of everything, it doesn't help to have it on the server when the server is down. Be the guy that is praised for fixing the setup, instead of the guy blamed for setting it up.

[Lazn_Work]

Dell servers start at $299 for AMD based and $329 for Intel based..

I don't think you can beat that realistically.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/dell-deals-servers?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

[knothead34]

Homer;1034753165']Can you just buy the current 'overkill' system outright since it is in place and will have zero setup cost? Why would you do something else if you're trying to keep costs low?

However, looking at Dell, a basic PowerEdge T100 setup seems reasonable if you want to replace the current server. $999 for the basic setup with a pair of 500gb drives for RAID 1. You don't really need more than RAID 1, keep it simple. (You and I know that a basic PC can be built for under half the price, that's not the point.)

Basic Dell PowerConnect 2824 switch is $300, why do you need more? - for 5 employees.... And a Linksys router would work fine for a firewall.

Cloud backup could be an affordable alternative to LTO-3 if daily changes and file sizes are smaller, but if it's already in-place why buy something else?

Throw in a battery backup too, if you don't have one.

I manage 2 servers at work and we have a guy on call 24/7 who built the systems, he's a proper server admin (I handle the workstation hardware/software and applications we use). To do it again I'd probably just have him service Dell or HP hardware. There haven't been any problems, but the cost would have been similar. I inherited the job when our old IT guy quit after he had already convinced the higher ups to buy local-built servers.

We did have a Dell server in place when I started and the one time it puked I was able to call a number and have them walk me through the issue (a SCSI disk went out in the RAID array, they overnighted a new drive and walked me through installing it and rebuilding the array). The bigger part here was that our server was down for about 4 hours total time during business hours with the bosses asking me every 20 minutes if it was working yet. I can't emphasize enough how it was a relief to just be the 'middle man' between my bosses freaking out and Dell when the man-hours were piling up (we had 16 employees at the time x 4 hours x shop rate = over $5000 in lost time). If I would have been responsible it might have been a blemish on my work record - I know a drive failure is hardly my fault, but stressed out people can act oddly and rashly.

Anyway, in order to save some money on hardware you may be opening up yourself to a potential can of blame if/when there is some downtime.

Build a server for the worst case, not the best case. Have a backup strategy and test it. Have a paper copy of everything, it doesn't help to have it on the server when the server is down. Be the guy that is praised for fixing the setup, instead of the guy blamed for setting it up.

sounds like solid advice here!!! listen to the little birdy in your ear