Server Spec

Cyanide

Cyanide

Cyanide

Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2006
Posts
3,975
Location
Nottingham
Hi guys,

My boss asked me to run up a spec for our office as he's just had a quote for over £6k for a not particularly well specced server.

We've got an aging Sandy Bridge Xeon at the moment, RAM's almost maxed out and it's struggling to cope. It's used for emails, printers, shared document access etc.

Not got a budget but anything less than £6k is obviously good, still got to sort out an OS but we'll discuss that with our software guys.

Just after something plain and simple that'll cope for a good few years, hence probably going hugely over on the specs we'll actually need. Any tips on how it can be improved?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

Total: £1,616.75
(includes shipping: £15.90)
​


​
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, can't see any redundant psu or remote management tools in that list (like ilo or Idrac etc). Hot swap drive bays? Onsite 4 hour warranty? That's where the extra 4.5k has gone.

If your insisting on building your own server, might want to start with super micro motherboards & chenbro cases. Ocuk might be able to order these in for you. I have seen redundant psu' son their site.

& Remember if it breaks, he'll come to you :P

Nox
 
Few things -

- what is the server for as file server, database server, exchange server, domain controllers all have different requirements.

64gb ram requires enterprise rather than standard edition windows server. You also want ecc ram.

Graphics card has no place in a server - get something with onboard.

Ssds whilst they will work are not enterprise standard, depending on role, hard drives may be more suitable. Hot swap drives are important if the server is critical.

If money is a big issue I would buy something returned, E.g a HP Dl360g6.
 
nox_uk said:
Hmmm, can't see any redundant psu or remote management tools in that list (like ilo or Idrac etc). Hot swap drive bays? Onsite 4 hour warranty? That's where the extra 4.5k has gone.
Click to expand...

It was more the £3500 they'd specced on a 2 generation old 4c4t xeon, 16gb ram and 1tb hdd that got the boss thinking. He can live with the cost of software setup and support.

We know these things are expensive but the price for the unit itself was stupidly high :p

nox_uk said:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/fuji...r-server-e5-2620-v3-8gb-no-hdd-sv-006-fj.html
Click to expand...

Cheers, didn't spot that. Been having a hard time speccing things up with the new site layout and navigation :(

Armageus said:
Few things -

- what is the server for as file server, database server, exchange server, domain controllers all have different requirements.

64gb ram requires enterprise rather than standard edition windows server. You also want ecc ram.

Graphics card has no place in a server - get something with onboard.

Ssds whilst they will work are not enterprise standard, depending on role, hard drives may be more suitable. Hot swap drives are important if the server is critical.

If money is a big issue I would buy something returned, E.g a HP Dl360g6.
Click to expand...

Pretty much just a file server now, we're considering moving the email from the current exchange on to Office and just letting MS host it all.

Need a GPU - 2011 doesn't have iGPUs
 
Cyanide said:
Pretty much just a file server now, we're considering moving the email from the current exchange on to Office and just letting MS host it all.

Need a GPU - 2011 doesn't have iGPUs
Click to expand...

Maybe just get a NAS to replace the file server side of things? Keep your existing server for exchange until you move it to the cloud.

You don't need a GPU, as the motherboards you should be looking at even for 2011 have separate onboard graphics. You do not want a consumer graphics card in a server.

You won't get good feedback here for a self build server - it is just a bad idea. Honestly do yourself a favour and look at some refurbed HP or dell servers. Look at generation 7 HP stuff, if you want a tower server then something like a Ml350.

Once you have had redundant PSUs, hot swap drives, remote management, email alerts, and readily available spares there is no going back to self build.
 
Armageus said:
Maybe just get a NAS to replace the file server side of things? Keep your existing server for exchange until you move it to the cloud.

You don't need a GPU, as the motherboards you should be looking at even for 2011 have separate onboard graphics. You do not want a consumer graphics card in a server.

You won't get good feedback here for a self build server - it is just a bad idea. Honestly do yourself a favour and look at some refurbed HP or dell servers. Look at generation 7 HP stuff, if you want a tower server then something like a Ml350.

Once you have had redundant PSUs, hot swap drives, remote management, email alerts, and readily available spares there is no going back to self build.
Click to expand...

Fair points, I hadn't realised quite how much stuff I'd need to put in to it. I'll speak to him tomorrow and see if we can get some better quotes :)
 
Cyanide said:
[*] 1 x Palit GeForce GT 720 SILENT 2048MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £38.99
Click to expand...

Please don't put a gaming card in a server. Source a budget Quadro NVS card, there are clean pulls on the bay for under £25.

Also for your cooler you need something that's designed for 24/7 operation. I use Arctic Cooling i30's with CO (continuous operation) fans on my own computers

Also for a server environment, you need high endurance SSD's, that means the Samsung 850 PRO's.

You can build your own servers / computers if you choose parts correctly.
 
Last edited:
if it's just a file server then anything will do.

I've used IBM, HP & Dell, highly recommended. Fujitsu & Lenovo (the new IBM) i've never used in an enterprise environment, but presumably should be good too.

Nox
 
I'd not be self-building anything that the business relies on.

Also £6k for a single tower server? You're either getting something massively overspecced, or you are being ripped off. Our hypervisors (Dell R720s - coming up for replacement age now) cost around £2k less than that each.
 
JasonM said:
Please don't put a gaming card in a server. Source a budget Quadro NVS card, there are clean pulls on the bay for under £25
Click to expand...

Or better yet just do it right and not put any discrete graphics card in a server - get a proper server board with proper onboard graphics e.g.

http://www.supermicro.co.uk/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X10SRi-F.cfm



nox_uk said:
if it's just a file server then anything will do.
Click to expand...

If it is literally just a file server, then I wouldn't even bother with a server - just get a high end NAS
 
Armageus said:
Few things -
64gb ram requires enterprise rather than standard edition windows server. You also want ecc ram.
Click to expand...

2012 Essentials is limited to 64GB, Standard goes to 4TB (MS)

rotor said:
Absolutely crazy to build your own server.
Click to expand...

+1 - buy a proper server from a proper manufacturer, so when something goes pop you're not messing around with RMAs. You get on the phone to HP or Dell and a man comes along (same or next day) with the spare parts to fix the problem.

Shunt emails to Office 365 and it's one less thing to worry about.
 
Have a gander at supermicros, they're basic, but have IPMI, dual NICs, all the things a *real* server needs.

Google for a factory that makes servers.
 
+1 on a proper server

You don't need SSDs in a file server
You don't need 64GB RAM
You dont need additional graphics

You do need hot swap drives
You do need enterprise class drives
You do need redundant power supplies
You do need a support contract
You do need iLO / IMM / Remote support
 
Of the £6K did that include any software licencing & installation costs?

What exactly is the current server running, you mention exchange?

As above get a decent branded server with a minimum 3 year next business day warranty or better running server essentials and migrate the existing exchange to hosted.
 
Spammeh said:
You don't need 64GB RAM
Click to expand...

Possibly not, but in this day and age, I'd not really be wanting to use a single physical server, I'd be running multiple VMs (even Server Standard licensing allows for 2 VMs). Not least of all because running exchange on your DC is a disgustingly dirty affair. So if there is any scope to migrate to a virtual infrastructure, the RAM will come in more than useful.

Also, backing up and restoring VMs is far FAR simpler than bare metal.
 
paradigm said:
Possibly not, but in this day and age, I'd not really be wanting to use a single physical server, I'd be running multiple VMs (even Server Standard licensing allows for 2 VMs). Not least of all because running exchange on your DC is a disgustingly dirty affair. So if there is any scope to migrate to a virtual infrastructure, the RAM will come in more than useful.

Also, backing up and restoring VMs is far FAR simpler than bare metal.
Click to expand...

Amazingly put, rather than spunking a bunch of cash on 1 behemoth of a server, get 3 lesser servers (HP ML10, Lenovo TS140 etc) and spread the load.

Or, jump it all off into the cloud.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom