buying a new server

Tarek

hello
i am upgrading my entire company backbone
i finished with the 1 gig network , security etc .. now i arrived to the main server
i need a new server suitable for the following :
- AD ( dns , user controls )
-internal exchange
- Ms SQL database ( for dolphin - very important )
and a file server .

money is not an issue .. please advice

Tarek

how about this :

-Configurable- HP ProLiant ML370 G6 Large Form Factor Tower Server
HP ProLiant ML370 G6 Large Form Factor Tower Server
Six-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor E5645 (2.40GHz, 12M L3 Cache, 80 Watts)
HP 18GB PC3-10600R 9x2GB 2Rank Memory
Embedded P410i/ZM (SAS Array Controller)
HP 6-Bay Drive Cage
HP 600GB 6G Hot Plug 3.5 SAS 15,000rpm Dual Port Hard Drive
HP 600GB 6G Hot Plug 3.5 SAS 15,000rpm Dual Port Hard Drive
HP 3TB 3G SATA 7.2K Hot Plug 3.5 MDL Hard Drive
HP 3TB 3G SATA 7.2K Hot Plug 3.5 MDL Hard Drive
RAID 1 drive set (requires matching 2 hard drives)
HP P410/ZM Smart Array Controller
HP NC375i Integrated Quad Port Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter
2 HP 750W Common Slot Gold Hot Plug Power Supplies
Hot-plug fans standard
Integrated Lights Out 2 (iLO 2) Standard Management
3 years parts, labor and onsite service (3/3/3) standard warranty. Certain restrictions and exclusions apply.

Padre

you are implementing all of the above on a single server ? Not really what i would do.
How many IOps are we talking about ? How many users ?
About the net, u've got 1G for each and every user, are you considering a 10G backbone ?
From the above specs, u are throwing quite the $$ at it. it's a beast indeed.

Tarek

i have around 200 users , no 10G backbone is available , Congo is very "antique" but i have made trunking with the 2 NICs

the most intensive work is the database

d3ad

if money is not an issue, please do not buy One server for all of these roles. buy 3 servers and spread the roles out. if you have 200 Users you will need to have difference raid levels for SQL, Exchange and File server, to fully utilize your infrastructure's potential. Specially for SQL and 200 users you should be thinking of having different raids for LOGs and Databases.

from your post I think you have already finished the networking part, with 200 users on 1Gb Ethernet, your backbone should have been 10G or Fiber. otherwise you will not utilize the network's potential.

Is there a reason you have to stick to Tower ?

Plus in my experience money should always be an object for any new/upgrade or you will just end up spending alot of money on things which you will not be utilizing.

Tarek

this is the last configuration :
- Intel Xeon E5645 2.4GHz 12MB L3 CPU (6 core multi threaded)
Upgradeable to 2-Processors
- 16 GB DDR3 ECC Memory 1333 MHZ UDIMM, 2 x 8GB
Upgradeable to 48GB RDIMM
- 2x 600 GB 15k SAS 6 Gbps 3.5” hot plug (configured as raid 1
for OS and SQL database)
- 4x 2TB SATA Hot Pluggable HDDs (Raid 5 configured + hot
spare for data security)
- P410/256MB BBWC Storage controller Raid 0/1/0+1/5/5+0
support
- 2 x 1Gbit NIC LAN
- DVD-RW

my entire network is 1G , i don't think the 10 GB will have any effect ... i only have space for a tower server ( i have 3 other servers )

the server will cost me around 7000 $

Gamer

Also Make sure when you buy a server to have 2 power inputs and not one (apparently this is an option and not a standard)

Tarek

PSU redundant ..

Gamer

Yep, thats the one

Gamer

Intel® Xeon® Processor E5645 (12M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 5.86 GT/s Intel® QPI)
Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2620 (15M Cache, 2.00 GHz, 7.20 GT/s Intel® QPI)
Why dont you switch to the newer processor which is cheaper also
http://ark.intel.com/compare/48768,64594

Also why not get the new generation (PDF file) HP ProLiant ML350p Gen8 E5-2620 1P 8GB-R P420i/512 LFF 460W PS Svr/S-Buy

Site Link

Tarek

it is not present in Lebanon nor in Congo .. and shipping and such will take for ever

d3ad

Tarek wrote
my entire network is 1G , i don't think the 10 GB will have any effect ... i only have space for a tower server ( i have 3 other servers )

how many switches do you have ? if you have more than one, having 10g trunk will for sure increase your network efficiency

Tarek

switching to 10 GB will force me to change all my cables. this cannot happen