Should I just buy what I need from Dell or build my own?
Concerns on the Dell -- they will not support you if you use HDDs other than from them. 1TB drives (which I need) from them are like $600 and I have to use a special RAID card from them (a PERC card).
So cost moves me up to at least 2k or more for the setup I need. If I opt to go with the Dell and still use other drives than theirs then I don't get support which I would think would be one of the main reasons to go with the Dell (ie the support)
If I build my own I have no support other than me (and the friendly folks here at HF and Anandtech). Building my own I think the cost would be under $1000 when all is said and done.
Question is will I be able to get good high quality server parts and stay under 1k?
Backgound on my needs
This is for a small accounting office.
No more than 7 employees at one time.
10-12 computers in the building (including the server).
We do work from home via VPN.
Network is all Cisco POE routers/switches. Main unit is a Cisco UC520.
New server will run SBS 2008 (as long as I can get it installed and configured ... yikes!!)
We currently use our server (it is running Windows XP Pro) to access our data only and there are "database manager" apps that run in the background to give us access to our tax and accounting files. All other programs are physically installed and run on our workstations.
Network is a standard peer to peer in a Workgroup environment. All computers are hard coded to a specific IP address.
We have an outside email service that handles our website and email accounts.
Our move to SBS 2008 with Exchange is prompted by our need/want to go as paperless as possible. To do that our faxes need to be received and stored electronically vs paper. Our UC520 will do this for us but has to do it with Exchange Server.
Based on research and input from others here and at Anandtech it looks like for our purposes a move to SBS 2008 would be a good idea but we probably need to beef up our server.
I would like to keep the budget as minimal as possible but realize that I don't want to skimp on essentials.
We would be looking to put this in a normal tower case as vs a rack mount so that we can have access to it all times.
We will also want to move our existing "data" drives over to the new server once it is ready to be deployed (these are currently (2) 1 TB WD Drives running in a mirrored array with a simply promise Raid card)
Please provide your suggestions for motherboard/CPU/ram combos that would be appropriate for our needs.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Greg
Concerns on the Dell -- they will not support you if you use HDDs other than from them. 1TB drives (which I need) from them are like $600 and I have to use a special RAID card from them (a PERC card).
So cost moves me up to at least 2k or more for the setup I need. If I opt to go with the Dell and still use other drives than theirs then I don't get support which I would think would be one of the main reasons to go with the Dell (ie the support)
If I build my own I have no support other than me (and the friendly folks here at HF and Anandtech). Building my own I think the cost would be under $1000 when all is said and done.
Question is will I be able to get good high quality server parts and stay under 1k?
Backgound on my needs
This is for a small accounting office.
No more than 7 employees at one time.
10-12 computers in the building (including the server).
We do work from home via VPN.
Network is all Cisco POE routers/switches. Main unit is a Cisco UC520.
New server will run SBS 2008 (as long as I can get it installed and configured ... yikes!!)
We currently use our server (it is running Windows XP Pro) to access our data only and there are "database manager" apps that run in the background to give us access to our tax and accounting files. All other programs are physically installed and run on our workstations.
Network is a standard peer to peer in a Workgroup environment. All computers are hard coded to a specific IP address.
We have an outside email service that handles our website and email accounts.
Our move to SBS 2008 with Exchange is prompted by our need/want to go as paperless as possible. To do that our faxes need to be received and stored electronically vs paper. Our UC520 will do this for us but has to do it with Exchange Server.
Based on research and input from others here and at Anandtech it looks like for our purposes a move to SBS 2008 would be a good idea but we probably need to beef up our server.
I would like to keep the budget as minimal as possible but realize that I don't want to skimp on essentials.
We would be looking to put this in a normal tower case as vs a rack mount so that we can have access to it all times.
We will also want to move our existing "data" drives over to the new server once it is ready to be deployed (these are currently (2) 1 TB WD Drives running in a mirrored array with a simply promise Raid card)
Please provide your suggestions for motherboard/CPU/ram combos that would be appropriate for our needs.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Greg