Minimum spec for Windows Server 2008?

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 16:02

What's the minimum "real life" spec to run Windows Server 2008? Im looking to be running Exchange, FTP, VPN and some other stuff.

Im thinking:

P4 2.8Ghz
2GB DDR RAM
80GB SATA HD

SiriusB · 1 Mar 2011 at 16:26

It depends entirely on how many users will be accessing it. If it is just for you then your spec is fine. If it is for an actual production environment, I would say a much better CPU, 8GB RAM and much larger HDD.

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 16:51

Yes just for me to mess around with. There will possibly be 4 computers connecting to it to access the Internet via a Thomson 585 router

SiriusB · 1 Mar 2011 at 16:51

What do you mean by accessing the Internet?

Destination · 1 Mar 2011 at 16:57

They'll all access the internet directly thought the router surely?

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 17:23

Im gonna try and have PC >>> Server >>> Router, so the Users have to logon to the Domain and that will give them access to their profile, applications, Internet etc... like a typical office setup

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 17:50

Thinking about it, the server will be on for long periods of time so I need something "greener" than a P4. So heres what Ive come up with:

Gigabyte GA-G41M-ES2L G41
Intel Pentium Dual Core E6600 Socket 775 3.06GHz 1066FSB 2MB
Kingston 2GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400

This is much more expensive than the P4 setup but I get Intel VT so I can run VMware too.

theheyes · 1 Mar 2011 at 18:05

The E6600 will let you run 2008 R2, too. It will work fine with those specs. I wouldn't bother sharing the Internet access through the server, at least not starting out. It doesn't really make a difference to the other domain stuff.

SiriusB · 1 Mar 2011 at 18:14

elrasho said:
Im gonna try and have PC >>> Server >>> Router, so the Users have to logon to the Domain and that will give them access to their profile, applications, Internet etc... like a typical office setup

That is not a typical office setup.

The server hosts stuff like profiles, DNS, Exchange, Active Directory and so on. It would not act as a router.

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 18:33

What about energy efficiency? Will the Gigabyte mobo lower the Pentiums 4 clock frequency on idle? or is that only supported on newer Intel CPUs? I dont want to be racking up a massive electricity bill lol

SiriusB · 1 Mar 2011 at 18:40

All the Intel Core/i series CPUs support speed-step and other energy-saving modes. No idea about the P4.

Raumarik · 1 Mar 2011 at 18:40

elrasho said:
What about energy efficiency? Will the Gigabyte mobo lower the Pentiums 4 clock frequency on idle? or is that only supported on newer Intel CPUs? I dont want to be racking up a massive electricity bill lol

It's hardly going to make a huge difference and since you have a low spec cpu/ram/hdd any activity on the server will take far longer and eat up more power anyway.

Strongly suggest you try running an evaluation version of server 2008 before jumping headlong into it.

SiriusB · 1 Mar 2011 at 18:42

Halfmad said:
It's hardly going to make a huge difference and since you have a low spec cpu/ram/hdd any activity on the server will take far longer and eat up more power anyway.

Just to expand on this, with everything you propose to run, your server could be quite busy, so it is likely it wouldn't spend much time idling on a P4!

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 19:15

SiriusB said:
Just to expand on this, with everything you propose to run, your server could be quite busy, so it is likely it wouldn't spend much time idling on a P4!

Ah yes I see what you mean, theres a massive price difference between the E6600 and P4 though... I could get the P4 for now and if it's not up to par get an E6600 later? The P4's are around £10 these days

SiriusB · 1 Mar 2011 at 19:53

It is entirely up to you. With just a few users you wont be taxing it much, but at the same time it wont fly either.

The P4 is fine for now if you are just experimenting and so forth - though if you really want to save energy - do your experiments in a VM!

Once you have got to grips with it all, you can build a decent box to host Server 2008.

Whichever route you choose is your choice.

elrasho · 1 Mar 2011 at 20:38

I use Oracle Box to VM but Im planning on setting up an FTP, VPN, possibly Web server and dont wanna leave my main rig on 24/7

So basically your saying learn through VM and then get the gear when Im ready?

theheyes · 1 Mar 2011 at 20:50

I'd err on the side of low-end P4 stuff. You might find you get bored of it after a few weeks but if you've not spent much then it doesn't really matter. Plus, you might be surprised how capable the older stuff is for light usage.

Raumarik · 1 Mar 2011 at 22:33

elrasho said:
I use Oracle Box to VM but Im planning on setting up an FTP, VPN, possibly Web server and dont wanna leave my main rig on 24/7

So basically your saying learn through VM and then get the gear when Im ready?

Create a VM, play around with it and when you are ready put it on a PC running ESXi (it's free). That way you won't have to start from scratch as it's independent of hardware etc. you could set it up on your main rig, then transfer to an ESXi box later on after converting it.

elrasho · 21 Mar 2011 at 11:07

After some extensive research I've decided to build a new rig just for VMs. Heres the spec:

Intel Core 2 Duo Q6600
4GB 1066 DDR RAM
1TB Samsung F4 hard drive
A cheap case with 300W PSU

I will most probably be running upto 3 VMs at anyone time under a Windows 7 Pro installation. The three VMs will be Window Server 2008 and two Windows XP machines. Are those specs enough for this setup?

SiriusB · 21 Mar 2011 at 11:14

That should be fine. Again, don't expect monster speeds, but for testing it is more than adequate.