# Help on Small Office server hardware



## Emello (Nov 5, 2005)

Hi,
Not certain that this is the best forum to post in...
I have built several pcs for home and gaming, now my brother has asked for advice. He has a small independent auto dealership, about 15 networked pcs. Currently he has a HP Proliant DL360 G3 running an old Xeon 3.2Ghz and Server 2000 with 2GB of RAM. He will need to have a minimum of 4GB and a 64 bit OS to run certain updated software. I am looking for advice about the following:
Better to buy or build? I figured it was probably easier to buy.
Drives. I think the system is just mirrored now, RAID1, He doesn't have a lot of data about, not even 100GB or real need for speed. Systems run shopkey and related mechanics software, quickbooks, filemaker all on the server. SATA or SAS does it make a real difference in reliability?
Software: Would Server 2012 R2 Essentials for up to 25 users and 50 devices be the best choice. In the future he wants his techs to each of their own tablet, in addition to 12 or so pcs?
Any other questions that I should be asking?
Thanks


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## peterh40 (Apr 15, 2007)

Windows Server 2012 Essentials sounds reasonable for a small business. 
Also, he needs to look into backups, it could be an external USB drive, optical disks or even to a cloud based backup service.


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## zx10guy (Mar 30, 2008)

I second the comment about needing to have backups. RAID is not meant to be a backup solution.

With regards to your question about SAS vs SATA, in my experience neither is more reliable than the other. The difference is solely based on performance. SAS or serial attached SCSI is the next evolution of SCSI. Because of the performance nature of SAS, you'll find mechanical spinning disks with RPM speeds of 10K and 15K. SATA is typically used for large bulk archival storage where performance is not important. In enterprise storage systems, SATA drives are used in what is called Tier 3 storage (archival) and the drive speeds are 7200RPM. SATA is typically equated to large bulk storage on the "cheap".


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## Emello (Nov 5, 2005)

Thank you both. I suppose that SAS with the faster drives is the way to go. Although, I have read some interesting articles about SSD use in servers. If you have any advice about SSD use I would be interested. Any suggestions about online backups, I have looked at Amazon and Dropbox.


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## Emello (Nov 5, 2005)

Seems like the best idea is for a new tower server, 8-16GB ECC RAM, 2 SAS drives for lower cost, than SSDs, and reliability, and higher speed than SATA. We can build or buy. What he has told me he would like to do is to have the new server run as onsite backup and when his ancient server has some kind of failure, have the new one take over. Then, he could use a NAS for onsite backup. I understand what he would like to have happen, but I don't have a clear idea of how to implement that. Any suggestions, even of links to read are really appreciated. Thanks


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## zx10guy (Mar 30, 2008)

Would you elaborate more on the deployment plan?


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## Emello (Nov 5, 2005)

Well, seems like the ideal situation is have the server be a workstation or at least be a backup workstation. Then if his old server fails he can use the new machine as his full time server. Buy or build? SAS or SATA, SSD, redundant PSU? I was thinking of using Server 2012 essentials, up to 25 cals and 50 devices. There are maybe 10 PCs and 4-5 printers. Thanks.


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## zx10guy (Mar 30, 2008)

Since you haven't answered my question and I can only guess at what you're doing, have you thought about running DFS/DFS-R?


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## Emello (Nov 5, 2005)

Sorry about the delay, several pressing problems came up. Basically, we're replacing a file and print server in a very small business.


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## Emello (Nov 5, 2005)

Sorry about the delay, several pressing problems came up. Basically, we're replacing a file and print server in a very small business. He doesn't use Active Directory, it's all users and a workgroup. A router handles the internet. All the data and the programs on the server don't even total 50GB. He would like the new box to be a "plug and play" server. When his old server fails, then he would unplug and use this one. Meanwhile, this box would have to running as backup. I don't see how it would be usable as a workstation and backing up his current server and be ready to step in as server. If that's possible to implement I would love to know how. Plus, I won't be here in a couple of weeks, so anything will be left for his new tech or the old one. Plus, there is the question of hardware.
I consulted one tech who quoted me about $4200 for a new Seneca Data server, redundant psu, 2 ssds, 16GB plus what he would charge to set it up. An HP tower ML310 would run about the same depending on how it was customized. Seems like I could build one for about half that.
Motherboard: Intel DBS1200V3 RPL http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-13-121-781
Supermicro MBDX10SL7-F-0 http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-13-182-821
ASUS P9D-M http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-13-132-003
RAM 2 x 8GB ECC Kingston probably, but whatever is supported
Processor Xeon E3-1240V3
PSU Athena Power redundant 500w http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-17-338-047
Storage: I have changed my thinking here. SSDs will be cooler, quieter, and fast. Reliability? seems to be good and between empty cells and over provisioning, wear leveling will hopefully make for a long life.
2x Intel Pro 2500 240GB http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-20-167-226 or
Samsung SM843TN http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-20-147-351
RAID controller: I have no experience here. This seems good. LSI 9212-414e http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-16-118-133
Case: Antec http://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-11-129-189
OS: Server 2012 essentials
I don't even know what I might be missing. 
Thanks


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