Small server

[MrMarkinator]

Hi,

I am looking to create a small server for my business. I have a fair amount of experience in system building, but very little in server design. Does anyone have suggestions for a build? Also do I need a ups?

Thanks

[Xenift]

Well according to my knowledge(not really broad but hey),

 

Yes a UPS is desirable for a 24/7 operation computer, which CANNOT fail.

If you don't mind it turning off because of a blackout, or you live in an area that blackouts don't usually happen, then you can consider not purchasing one.

 

Well for a server, you wan't reliability, so the following that i am going to list is most preferred in terms of reliability.

 

Xeon CPU (ECC compat)

ECC ram (For a non error environment)

No watercooling

Red WD drives / Server grade SSDs

gold/plat PSU

 

Depending on the workload for the server, a GPU can be installed. 

A cheap quaddro will do the trick anyways(lesser errors)

 

But then again, whatever that i have listed would be for a mostly expensive server that you might want to invest in.

 

For a more error prone, but cheaper and better alternative would be building with an i3, with massive storage.

But in the end it all depends on what the server is going to do, is it going to host a website? Is it going to run a database? These questions are to be mentioned when asking for people to give you opinions .

[scottyseng]

Hi,

I am looking to create a small server for my business. I have a fair amount of experience in system building, but very little in server design. Does anyone have suggestions for a build? Also do I need a ups?

Thanks

 

Yes, you will need a UPS. It really helps your server in a power outage.

 

I think the other questions I have are:

What OS? (Changes the hardware requirements a lot)

Budget?

Rackmount or Desktop?

How much space / drives are we looking at? (It'll change if you need Reds vs Reds Pros vs enterprise drives)

What kind of usage are you expecting of the server? (Are you just accessing word files from it? Or are you going to pummel the thing with 4K video footage or large CAD files?)

 

Yeah, if you're on a budget, the Haswell i3s (even the Pentium) support ECC. If you need more power, go for a Xeon quad core.

[leadeater]

Hi,

I am looking to create a small server for my business. I have a fair amount of experience in system building, but very little in server design. Does anyone have suggestions for a build? Also do I need a ups?

Thanks

 

I would advise going with a pre-built solution from the likes of Supermicro, HP or Lenovo (IBM). There are many reasons as to why but the one that tops the list is warranty and support. Never underestimate the importance of this and is a big reason why custom builds are cheaper.

 

For the UPS you won't need anything big and expensive, just go for one that has power conditioning and graceful shutdown for the server. Eaton is my brand of choice.

 

Also even if you only plan on running one operating system install VMware ESXi/Hyper-V on the server and just run the single VM. It will make maintenance and migration much easier and will allow you to use Veeam Backup Free Edition.

[kkpatel87]

Hi,

I am looking to create a small server for my business. I have a fair amount of experience in system building, but very little in server design. Does anyone have suggestions for a build? Also do I need a ups?

Thanks

 

I would recommend that the first server you build not be for a business. Server building is akin to engineering:

1. Determine Usage
2. Set requirements to ensure usage
3. Select and design for usage and reliability

If a business needs a server, unless you are experienced in servers or engineering, just buy something off the shelf.

 

And yes, a UPS is a must. I would recommend reading everything you can about enterprise grade hardware and usage models prior to attempting this.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there MrMarkinator,

 

What will the the purpose of the server? Do you need any specific third-party support or it will be used as a simple file sharing device among other users? Do you have any specific storage capacity size in mind? Do you need redundancy?

 

I could suggest checking out what WD can offer as pre-built NAS devices or the small business:

WD My Cloud DL2100: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=HsgsRQ

WD My Cloud DL4100: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=NWwGHW

 

You may also want to check the professional servers that WD can offer (WD Sentinel servers) and see if they can cover they needs: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=NWXzIL

 

Feel free to ask if you happen to have any questions regarding any of the products.

 

Captain_WD.