Looking for the right server, your help is appreciated.

[imPaTT]

First post ever!! 

 

So, I run a computer repair service, but mostly work on consumer grade PC's. A friend of mine started up his company a few years ago and well, he is taking expansion really quicky. ATM their solution for mobility with their files is OneDrive or Drop Box, but in the long run, it's not the best way to function.

 

We are looking into implementing a file server, and also looking for the possibilities of running an AD and VPN server on the same machine. TBH, I am a bit lost when it comes to the needs of servers as it is far from my usual day to day jobs. 

 

What kind of machine should I be looking into, We are looking into running about 5-15 workstations through this server in the long run and looking into having at least 10TB of storage. (Mostly stocking CAD files) 

 

What I have thought of up to date: Enterprise grade storage HDD's, running on RAID 1+0 for redundancy and speed, running Win Server 2016 on SSD's in raid 1 (again extra redundancy) 

 

Where I am sort of stuck at this point is the amount of RAM, what processor and what board / chassis, Should I go pre-build, or custom build?

 

If it is of any help, I am in Canada 

 

Thanks, Hopefully the LTT community can help me out with this one!!!

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Really for this use id just go dell t440 or t330.

 

For this use, a quad core xeon e3 will be fine here, along with about 32gb of ram.

 

Id install a hypervisor on the host like proxmox, then put the windows servers in a vm to keep the seprate. Proxmox lets you use zfs for storage.

 

 

 

[dalekphalm]

On 2018-03-14 at 2:06 PM, imPaTT said:

First post ever!! 

 

So, I run a computer repair service, but mostly work on consumer grade PC's. A friend of mine started up his company a few years ago and well, he is taking expansion really quicky. ATM their solution for mobility with their files is OneDrive or Drop Box, but in the long run, it's not the best way to function.

 

We are looking into implementing a file server, and also looking for the possibilities of running an AD and VPN server on the same machine. TBH, I am a bit lost when it comes to the needs of servers as it is far from my usual day to day jobs. 

 

What kind of machine should I be looking into, We are looking into running about 5-15 workstations through this server in the long run and looking into having at least 10TB of storage. (Mostly stocking CAD files) 

 

What I have thought of up to date: Enterprise grade storage HDD's, running on RAID 1+0 for redundancy and speed, running Win Server 2016 on SSD's in raid 1 (again extra redundancy) 

 

Where I am sort of stuck at this point is the amount of RAM, what processor and what board / chassis, Should I go pre-build, or custom build?

 

If it is of any help, I am in Canada 

 

Thanks, Hopefully the LTT community can help me out with this one!!!

 

I would highly suggest contacting a vendor and buy new (not used), with full support. 

 

Dell and HPE can offer you next day parts w/ tech onsite to do any required repairs, should something break down. 

 

With Dell, you can contact them directly and speak to a sales agent. Though I would recommend talking to some IT vendors like CDW, Insight, Softchoice, etc. They might be able to get a better price over Dell direct, since they are partners. They would be able to do HPE quotes too. 

 

I would recommend staying FAR away from both used and custom built. Downtime = lost money for a business. 

[GDRRiley]

25 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I would recommend staying FAR away from both used and custom built. Downtime = lost money for a business. 

unless for the cost of used and custom you can do a full redundant setup and the power increase doesn't bother you.\

but yeah in most cases go new

[dalekphalm]

28 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

unless for the cost of used and custom you can do a full redundant setup and the power increase doesn't bother you.\

but yeah in most cases go new

For a business environment, that almost never makes better sense. 

 

Cheaper isn't everything. Having a single number to call for help no matter what, is worth a lot for a business that doesn’t have in-house IT. 

 

Not it to mention, say you buy a used server and the motherboard dies 2 weeks (or even 2 years) in. 

 

Well now what? You’ve got to order a replacement, wait however long for it to arrive (usually weeks, if not even longer), while your business is down to minimal functionality. 

 

Or, with a new server from Dell or HPE (or IBM, for that matter), you’ll have the motherboard replacement installed within 24 hours. 

 

Now if the business simply CANNOT afford to invest in proper infrastructure? Sure. Some companies have to make due with used. 

 

But it’s never ideal. 

[AbsoluteFool]

On 14.3.2018 at 7:06 PM, imPaTT said:

First post ever!! 

 

So, I run a computer repair service, but mostly work on consumer grade PC's. A friend of mine started up his company a few years ago and well, he is taking expansion really quicky. ATM their solution for mobility with their files is OneDrive or Drop Box, but in the long run, it's not the best way to function.

 

We are looking into implementing a file server, and also looking for the possibilities of running an AD and VPN server on the same machine. TBH, I am a bit lost when it comes to the needs of servers as it is far from my usual day to day jobs. 

 

What kind of machine should I be looking into, We are looking into running about 5-15 workstations through this server in the long run and looking into having at least 10TB of storage. (Mostly stocking CAD files) 

 

What I have thought of up to date: Enterprise grade storage HDD's, running on RAID 1+0 for redundancy and speed, running Win Server 2016 on SSD's in raid 1 (again extra redundancy) 

 

Where I am sort of stuck at this point is the amount of RAM, what processor and what board / chassis, Should I go pre-build, or custom build?

 

If it is of any help, I am in Canada 

 

Thanks, Hopefully the LTT community can help me out with this one!!!

 

I would like a bit more information..

 

You say you want an alternative to OneDrive or Drop Box. My question is;

1. Do you have a static IP?
2. Do you have a domain you can add an A record to?
3. What type of file server are you thinking about using?

You want to run 5-15 workstations throught the server;

1. Remote desktops or imaging server?
2. Cloning server perhaps?
3. What is the hardware requirements for each of those workstations?

You think SSD's in RAID 1 for OS;

1. This can be hard on custom build, unless your RAID controller require you to have virtual disks before OS can be installed.

You want RAID 1+0 (10) on 10TB;

1. How many hard drives do you imagine to have?
2. You want the RAID 10 for speed and redundancy, your network should also be a factor in here for the file server.

As others have said already a good starting point is to ask someone like HP or Dell for your use case, i would also recommend you to get a pre-build system. Custom build might save you some or alot of money, but it will be time consuming and frustrating, which then turns back into price v.s worth.

[dalekphalm]

21 minutes ago, AbsoluteFool said:

I would like a bit more information..

 

You say you want an alternative to OneDrive or Drop Box. My question is;

1. Do you have a static IP?
2. Do you have a domain you can add an A record to?
3. What type of file server are you thinking about using?

You want to run 5-15 workstations throught the server;

1. Remote desktops or imaging server?
2. Cloning server perhaps?
3. What is the hardware requirements for each of those workstations?

You think SSD's in RAID 1 for OS;

1. This can be hard on custom build, unless your RAID controller require you to have virtual disks before OS can be installed.

You want RAID 1+0 (10) on 10TB;

1. How many hard drives do you imagine to have?
2. You want the RAID 10 for speed and redundancy, your network should also be a factor in here for the file server.

As others have said already a good starting point is to ask someone like HP or Dell for your use case, i would also recommend you to get a pre-build system. Custom build might save you some or alot of money, but it will be time consuming and frustrating, which then turns back into price v.s worth.

All good points. 

 

Another downside to custom built is dealing with 10 different warranties and vendors instead of one. And also dealing with RMA/replacement times, which can often extend 4-6 weeks at times. 

[AbsoluteFool]

3 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

All good points. 

 

Another downside to custom built is dealing with 10 different warranties and vendors instead of one. And also dealing with RMA/replacement times, which can often extend 4-6 weeks at times. 

Should have thought about that.. *facepalm*