Buying new file server for school

InHuman

InHuman

InHuman

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Hello everyone, I work in a school as you can see from the title.

Now iv come here for some advice on what to buy because i always go overclockers and think you guys give good advice.

iv been given a £1800 budget for each server, My manager has asked for a couple of minimums (which i didnt need anyway)

4gb ram
500gb hard drive space

The memory is the most important so prolly looking at ddr3?

and just to make it alittle more interesting, this is not including vat.

Thanks guys!
 
I'd stay well clear of DDR3 for a start, and you may find that 500GB is insufficient for a file server. I think £800 per server is the absolute most you'll find yourself paying out.
 
4 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £55.99
(£65.79) £223.96
(£263.16)

1 * Adaptec AAR-1420SA 4-Port SATA-II RAID Controller £54.99
(£64.61) £54.99
(£64.61)

1 * Corsair HX 520W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-520HXUK) £57.99
(£68.14) £57.99
(£68.14)

1 * OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400C5 Dual Channel Vista Gold Series DDR2 (OCZ2G8004GK) £139.99
(£164.49) £139.99
(£164.49)

1 * Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) - Retail £37.99
(£44.64) £37.99
(£44.64)

Sub Total : £514.92

(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.95
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £91.68
Total : £615.55

That's assuming you want 3*500GB on a dedicated raid card, plus a 500GB system drive. There are others here who can spec a much better server than this, but its a start - you definitely won't want £1800 to spec it out.

You may also want a case, mouse, keyboard, floppy, and monitor - but I'll leave for you to decide.


[edit]sorry, you'll also want a mobo[/edit]
 
Last edited:
This was built in May for £806 Ex Vat:

1 13797 COOLERMASTER STACKER 810 BLACK 88.02 88.02
5 17252 500G WD SATA2 WD5000AAKS 72/16 62.55 312.75
1 15069 Gbyte 965P-DS4 s775 Conroe 87.55 87.55
1 17304 Intel E4300 Core2Duo CPU Retai 62.27 62.27
1 14277 Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR2 6400 C4 79.64 79.64
1 16277 512MB Gigabyte 7100 PCI-E 20.99 20.99
1 16382 MS Win XP Pro OEM SP2b Single 70.79 70.79
1 15511 600w Coolermaster iGreen PSU 52.56 52.56
1 17592 Pioneer DVR112DB x18 BLACK 16.55 16.55
Click to expand...

Uses RAID 5 on the built-in ICH8R which benches accordingly:

hdtachwc.png
 
Is this going to be just a member server or domain controller?

Is it going to be running anything? Or just a pure file server?

You're not using RM CC3 at all?
 
Get a proper server with a 3 year on site warranty. HP range is very good.

You really need to give us more information then you have. What is the server going to be used for? If for instance you require a tape backup drive this could take almost half of your budgget.

Oh and get over to edugeek.net excelent place for people who do IT in schools.
 
Its for a file/print server in each class room. We are setting up a ring network so each classroom has an independent 'server' with all the users on etc.

Well the headteacher has a approved for us to spend that amount of money, so i can buy something thats going to be very future proof and will work really well.

So i want something really good basically.

Thanks
 
If it's going to be doing concurrent file serving, get multiple gigabit connections, although most motherboards will come with that.
 
HHs said:
Its for a file/print server in each class room. We are setting up a ring network so each classroom has an independent 'server' with all the users on etc.
Click to expand...

hmmm realy doesnt sound like a good idea to me to have loads of decentalized file servers dotted around the place. What about physical security, backups etc?
As mentioned you should be looking at servers from the big manufacturers with onsite warranties, and then lock them in the server room :)
 
gumbald said:
If it's going to be doing concurrent file serving, get multiple gigabit connections, although most motherboards will come with that.
Click to expand...

Your right, they are going to have 2 network cards.

Well im not an expert on all this but from what i can tell security isnt a problem, this method is much better than our old system.

I could look at big companies but i would rather get the parts and put them together, that way it helps me understand how these things come together from scratch and will get far more experience from just buying prebuilt/configured systems.

What motherboard would you recommend?
 
Okay,

think about the long term.

My school where i work has as a file server:

Quad core 2.8 xeon. 4gb ram, 8x500 gb HDD in raid 5 for maximum failure support and speed.

Id say that major thing to think about is back up!

We have spend double the price of the server on the latest HP tape storage device. This is just to help in accidental deletations, and we have a set of tapes for everyday for a 2week period.

We have our complete network running on HP servers, switchs, WAPs, printers, back up and USPs, this is because they have a best back up/warranty. All network equitment has a lifetime warranty.

Servers come with a 3year nextday hardware replacement.
 
I'd have to say, if you want to a proper server, forget about building it yourself. Go with the advice like above from waso_dude. What if something went wrong? You have to wait for a RMA turnaround etc, whereas from an actual server specialist you'd have a far quicker and effective turnaround...In every working enviroment I have been in, I have never ever seen a self built server, and every IT manager says the same thing to this effect.
 
Also I would not want to be in charge of the decentralised servers. Every IT bone in my body is screaming that it's a bad idea! what the hell do they need that sort of storage/power for in each room? What happens when they want some data that is saved on 1 server from another classroom?

If this plan is going to go ahead then I would definately recomend to go with a large supplier who can provide the warranty/support/SLA that you will require. As others have said physical security is going to be a major problem in a school/college/uni. What happens when someone thinks the server has "crashed" and decides what it really needs is to be turned off at the wall? What about cooling? What if they decide its too loud in the room? Servers are not quiet!
 
How much actuall storage do you need?

My school is currenty sat at about 800gb.

but this year we have started a massive media setup. and have worked out that will generate 10gb per student, and have had to invest in a seperate server for that.

Work out how much space you need.

As a generall usage thing, general usage of a normal pupil, for essays and the lot, over 7 years is about 750mb.

If they are a media student, they will be close to an extra 10/20gb.

Work out the storage you need. And then base a server on that requirement.
 
HHs said:
Your right, they are going to have 2 network cards.

Well im not an expert on all this but from what i can tell security isnt a problem, this method is much better than our old system.

I could look at big companies but i would rather get the parts and put them together, that way it helps me understand how these things come together from scratch and will get far more experience from just buying prebuilt/configured systems.

What motherboard would you recommend?
Click to expand...

BUY A PROPER SERVER.

I think need to go back to square one with this one. Most schools moved away from having separate servers (usualy separate netoworks) for each room about 10 years ago.

Specialist server parts arn't very easy to buy (proably because no one who's doing things properly builds their own server).

Why do you want to have indivisual servers in each room?

Are you going to have separate domains for each room, or will they all be linked, are you going to have backups in one place or several. How about your school MIS system?

Are you going to have separate sets of user accounts on each system. It's going to be a night mare, most school students can't remember one password, never mind several.

I'm sorry to be so negative, but I think you need to look more closely at what other schools are doing, and nicking the stuff that works well, rather the reinventing the wheel.

What operating system will you be using on the servers?
 
Not to mention a ring network will bring down the entire network if just one computer fails, a star network from a decent HP server would be better, you could probably even get away using thin clients instead of full desktop computers depending what type of school it is (secondary school students do a lot more than primary school students who are just being taught how to write there name on a keyboard).
 
K.C. Leblanc said:
Are you going to have separate domains for each room, or will they all be linked, are you going to have backups in one place or several. How about your school MIS system?
Click to expand...

With a cerntralised server and a sensible IT Techie you can do different domains in the rooms anyways with subnetting.

Rings are really obsolete and pointless thesedays.

Buy from HP, and buy a proper server system.

InvG
 
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