Ideal hardware configuration for Server

[maverick786us]

One of my client lives in UK. He wants a server of his own that will contain

1) Windows 2008
2) SQL Server 2012
3) Visual Studio 2012 with .NET framework

Can someone suggest me an economical hardware configuration for this?

 

[rhansen5_99]

Do you have any ideas on potential loads you are wanting to tackle? Also are you trying to build this a like a mega server or virtual machines running each service?

 

[Deleted member 126051]

For SQL:
How big is the db?
How many users will be hitting it simultaneously?
As for VS, is he expecting people to RDP in and use VS? And, as always, how is it being used?

Also, what sort of budget are we talking?

If the environment is smaller, I'd recommend against virtualization. Every cheap, small-scale VM setup I've dealt with in the past 5+ years has experienced deal-breaking performance and stability issues. You're better off being proactive in your backup strategy.

 

[maverick786us]

For SQL:
How big is the db?
How many users will be hitting it simultaneously?
As for VS, is he expecting people to RDP in and use VS? And, as always, how is it being used?

Also, what sort of budget are we talking?

If the environment is smaller, I'd recommend against virtualization. Every cheap, small-scale VM setup I've dealt with in the past 5+ years has experienced deal-breaking performance and stability issues. You're better off being proactive in your backup strategy.

That server is like a production server, not a release, so the size of the database will not be more than 100GB.
It will be accessed internally by the office using RDP. The number of users, accessing it will be around 10-15.
I don't know about the budget. But what is the best value?

 

[Sp33dFr33k]

They really need to determine the budget, it's pointless talking about the hardware purchase without it. I'd suggest starting with HP or Dell and building out the hardware for their needs. You want something with warranty/service and you need to factor in a backup solution unless they have something existing for backup.

 

[michalrz]

First time I'm speccing a server on [H]ere so be gentle...

I'm sure the previous posters were talking about how many simultaneous RDP sessions will there be.

You definitely would want the SQL server (database) on a separate array/controller. Like two 250 Gig SSDs in a mirror.

The relational database management system, the OS, pagefile and "other" can reside on a pair of mirrored spinners, and if you're really on a budget, you can short-stroke them for some random access performance.

At least 32 gigs of RAM (4x8, quad channel), because I assume the database would love to have a fast cache while serving RDP.
If you want people working with VS simultaneously, you'd want a lot of cores. Something like a 12 core AMD?

What other services? Will there be Active directory?

And finally to echo: what's "budget"?

 

[Deleted member 126051]

Actually, ideally for SQL, you'd want TWO RAID-10's. One for the data file(s), one for the logfile(s).
That shit gets expensive FAST though.

32GB is the minimum I'd put into this machine. If you're going to have 15 people in it, you're going to want to double that (at least) and set up SQL so it caps memory usage well below
The best practices for Remote Desktop Services says a minimum of 64MB per user. Honestly, I'd look at allotting for 1GB each MINIMUM. Because you KNOW AD development isn't going to be light on RAM either.

Basically, the usage you're spec'ing is going to call for a fairly BEEFY server. Best "value" is determined by the budget.