Our Company needs a server

[Jrbrown27]

Budget (including currency): $3000

Country: US

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: VPN + VOIP for a small business of over 30 employees

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): We are a government contracting agency, and we are looking to the future regarding CMMC and DFARS

 

Greetings

 

As the main administrator/securityadvisor/techsupport for the company, I keep running into technical problems that would be solved if everyone was linked to each other by a VPN and a shared server. This on top of the fact that the owner is looking for VoIP and email solutions. This has been a good year for growth so it's about that time where we need a robust system we can scale up for the future. That budget I mentioned above is probably higher than we need, but its around the price we are currently paying per year for our technical solutions. What I am here for is...

• Hardware advise: I'm unfamiliar what solutions would be best for a server
• Switchboard advise: over 30 people, VPN, spread across the country
• Antivirus and Malware advice: I don't trust our employees to not open suspicious emails
• Power: this is a home solution, so how much is my/my bosses electric bill going up?
• VoIP: I'm a Zoomer, this was as foreign a concept as a "beeper," when it was explained to me. 

I'm literate, but I'm no expert. Any and all resources or advice is welcome

 

Thank you

[Electronics Wizardy]

What services are you using? Do you have a server already? Do you manage the PCS currenty? What oses are you using?

 

27 minutes ago, Jrbrown27 said:

We are a government contracting agency, and we are looking to the future regarding CMMC and DFARS

What level of CMMC, I'm working on this and its gonna be a pain if you want the higher levels.

 

Id get a IT pro in, esp with security requirements. Id probably aim for cloud solutions here instead of an onsite server.  

 

 

[GDRRiley]

21 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

cloud solutions here instead of an onsite server. 

cloud is going to get pricey fast

 

3k is barley going to get you a entry level server and given what you want to run I'd get a pair for failover

Supermicro SuperServer 510T-ML

E-2336 6 cores

2x32gb of ram

0 drives

1,800$+

[Electronics Wizardy]

8 hours ago, GDRRiley said:

cloud is going to get pricey fast

 

3k is barley going to get you a entry level server and given what you want to run I'd get a pair for failover

Supermicro SuperServer 510T-ML

E-2336 6 cores

2x32gb of ram

0 drives

1,800$+

For a server this size, could is bout to the be  same cost or cheaper. Its also more reliable, and you normally have to spend less time setting it up.

 

ESP with security requirements I would hire someone. If they need to do CMMC L3, your thinking about 100,000K +, so your not just getting a server here.

[Jrbrown27]

10 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What services are you using? Do you have a server already? Do you manage the PCS currenty? What oses are you using?

 

What level of CMMC, I'm working on this and its gonna be a pain if you want the higher levels.

 

Id get a IT pro in, esp with security requirements. Id probably aim for cloud solutions here instead of an onsite server.  

 

 

We currently are at lvl 1 but we want to get up to 3, which is why I'm looking at a VPN and a server to manage access better. We currently operate using the office suite. It works, but I'm starting to pull my hair out describing the difference between sharepoint and onedrive to everyone. 

 

We have some IT consultants on reserve, but getting a meeting setup with myself and the owner's schedule is hard. We are going to need to get them in anyways just to make sure our documentation is good. 

[Jrbrown27]

1 hour ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

For a server this size, could is bout to the be  same cost or cheaper. Its also more reliable, and you normally have to spend less time setting it up.

 

ESP with security requirements I would hire someone. If they need to do CMMC L3, your thinking about 100,000K +, so your not just getting a server here.

That's also a good point about CMMC L3. The Owner is much more liberal about hiring talented employees than she is when it comes to hardware. I just got some good news about a couple contracts, so I might be able to persuade her to make this someone else problem.

 

That being said, I still really want to build that server......

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Jrbrown27 said:

That's also a good point about CMMC L3. The Owner is much more liberal about hiring talented employees than she is when it comes to hardware. I just got some good news about a couple contracts, so I might be able to persuade her to make this someone else problem.

 

That being said, I still really want to build that server......

I wouldn't build a server anyways, just buy one from dell/hpe/lenovo.

 

Do you have a server already? What is it doing? If you don't have one already, Id probably try to go all cloud. Then you won't need a vpn for most things.

[Jrbrown27]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I wouldn't build a server anyways, just buy one from dell/hpe/lenovo.

 

Do you have a server already? What is it doing? If you don't have one already, Id probably try to go all cloud. Then you won't need a vpn for most things.

We just use sharepoint atm. It works fine, just buggy and less control. It gets us lvl 1 though, so it's fine for what we are currently at. This topic is mostly for future proofing, in which case our first step will be hire a professional (or give me a raise and pay for my certifications  )

[Electronics Wizardy]

10 minutes ago, Jrbrown27 said:

We just use sharepoint atm. It works fine, just buggy and less control. It gets us lvl 1 though, so it's fine for what we are currently at. This topic is mostly for future proofing, in which case our first step will be hire a professional (or give me a raise and pay for my certifications  )

Yea Id stick with sharepoint here then. I don't think a server would help you here. You can meet CMMC L3 on M365, but need the gov version. Gonna be a lot easier, secure and reliable than making your own server here. I don't see the point of a server here.