Server for Non-profit Organization

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VeeDubbs

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 9, 2005
Messages
398
Hi all -

I'm currently upgrading the server for a local non-profit in my area. They currently have a server someone built running Windows Server 2000 (not sure of the exact specs, something like 512MB RAM, 1GHz processor, 40GB hard drive) and 8 machines mapping drives to the shares on the server -- no domain.

They are going to continue to have 8 employee machines connecting to the server, but also 6 new PCs in a lab connecting to it.

I'm looking to them up with Windows 2008 Server and AD. All they really need is file sharing from the server -- I'd also like to get them to use roaming profiles.

I'm planning on getting a Dell PowerEdge T310 with:
  • Intel Xeon X3440 2.53GHz
  • 8 GB Memory Single Ranked RDIMM
  • Three 250 GB hot pluggable hard drives doing RAID 5
  • Redundant Power Supplies
  • Onboard Gig NIC, etc...

I can then get Windows 2008 R2 Standard for $40 through techsoup.org as well as Device CALs for $2 a piece at the same site. The server is going to cost $1700 through Dell.

Does that look like an OK setup? Too beefy of a server, too wimpy of a server?

This is just a side job, I normally work with Novell where I work so I'm not aware of what AD can do for me.

Anything else I should be considering?
 
VeeDubbs said:
Anything else I should be considering?
Click to expand...


How are they backing up data?
Are you going to support them?
Can you support virtualization of some sort?

For $1700 (hardware only)..seems like you could get a beefier server or
even a couple of servers ..one for PROD one for LAB
or one primary and one backup.
 
Looks like a decent server horsepower wise...the T300 series isn't bad. 3 year warranty on it?
Have them apply to purchase through Dell with their non-profit status to get a reduced price. Include Windows Foundation Server with it.

Also get them to get an account with TechSoup so they can purchase other Microsoft software like Office for dirt dirt cheap.
 
Foundation server is only 15 users if I remember, I would not suggest it with 8 machines and 6 more planned. If only file serving could save money and do raid 1, the last t310 I did raid 6.

For backup use tje built in backup in win 08 tis great and rotate min 2 external. Save the bucks on the redundant psu.

Skip roaming profiles redirect my docs and desktop and favorites b if you are doing win 7 machines.
 
YeOldeStoneCat - Yes, three year warranty on it and they already have an account at TechSoup. Also, what is Windows Foundation Server?

Marley1 - I've been debating on the redundant psu, still unsure if I'm gonna get it or not; it's an extra $299 straight from Dell. Same with RAID, i've been debating over RAID 5 and 1 since it is only for file serving at this point. Could you maybe expand on why to not do roaming profiles and do redirect instead? Will redirects do basically the same thing as roaming profiles?

Thanks guys.
 
Quite a bit of fire power for a dc and file server imo...
 
marley1 said:
Skip roaming profiles redirect my docs and desktop and favorites b if you are doing win 7 machines.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. Roaming profiles can be problematic. I take that back, they normally work very well, but they do increase administrative overhead. If they have no tech on site, then you'd be better off using folder redirects as they are simpler to implement and more bullet proof than roaming profiles.

This is just a side job, I normally work with Novell where I work so I'm not aware of what AD can do for me.
Click to expand...
AD can do pretty much anything edirectory can do, plus the functionality of zenworks workstation policies ( ala GPO ). However, as this is a one off thing, I'd keep the policies to a minimum.

If they are going from a workstation environment to a domain environment, you'll need to train someone in the office to be the "domain admin"; reset passwords and the like. You will also have to setup an appropriate password policy for them, as the default can be a bit shocking to new domain users.

What will the lab be doing?
 
VeeDubbs said:
Could you maybe expand on why to not do roaming profiles and do redirect instead? Will redirects do basically the same thing as roaming profiles?
Click to expand...

XOR != OR said:
Absolutely. Roaming profiles can be problematic. I take that back, they normally work very well, but they do increase administrative overhead. If they have no tech on site, then you'd be better off using folder redirects as they are simpler to implement and more bullet proof than roaming profiles.
Click to expand...

I am curious about this as well.
I am under the impression they are to be used together.

Are the above recommendations based on the size of the deployment, the user and
support environment ?
 
Looks good to me, probably overpowered for their needs but that is fine. It's cheap, so no issues there.

Only thing I might recommend is run a mirrored array for the OS with a separate RAID 5 array for the data.
 
I have had a very hard time with roaming profiles - there are a lot of applications that like to store junk in the profiles, and I had profiles become corrupted for reasons I could never figure out. Rebuilding the profile is never as simple as it sounds - when users loose the position of their desktop icons, they can really go nuts.

Same with Raid 5 - I've had occasional problems with Windows failing to boot even though the array rebuilds fine when I swap out the problematic hard drive. However, this was with consumer-grade disks. Raid 1 has never caused a problem for me.

Finally, I would really recommend a tape drive. It's easy to get someone to press the eject button once a week, put the old tape in their bag, and stick in a new tape. Dealing with hard drives may be too complicated.

ps- thanks a lot for that link to techsoup.org. I had no idea that site existed.
 
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I've also felt that the server is a little overpowered, but I'm okay with that. If thought about maybe going to UDIMMs instead of RDIMMs for the memory, or at least from 8GB to 4GB.

The lab will be used as a resume work shop for people just getting out of prison and looking for jobs. They will never be in there alone, there will always be a case worker in there with them.

Does using folder redirects have the same affect as roaming profiles? i.e., will my desktop, documents, etc... follow my login to different computers in the domain?
 
Yes folder redirection does that. I had issues with roaming profiles, some programs didnt work properly. skip the redundant psu, go raid 1 or raid 6, 4gb is fine. Use external drives 2.5" ones and built in backup
 
VeeDubbs said:
I've also felt that the server is a little overpowered, but I'm okay with that. If thought about maybe going to UDIMMs instead of RDIMMs for the memory, or at least from 8GB to 4GB.

The lab will be used as a resume work shop for people just getting out of prison and looking for jobs. They will never be in there alone, there will always be a case worker in there with them.

Does using folder redirects have the same affect as roaming profiles? i.e., will my desktop, documents, etc... follow my login to different computers in the domain?
Click to expand...

Yep, I would just do folder redirection instead of roaming profiles.
 
Is this not a good case to consider sbs? Or did I miss that since I'm reading this on my phone. Don't know what their mail looks like but exchange might be nice.
 
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