Need Recommendation for a Server System in the price $10K!

[V00DOO]

I am put in charge to finding a server in the price range $10,000 for my company. The main purpose of the server are file storing, e-mail server, and wed server. Linux would be the OS of choice since it's free. So far I have only looked at Dell. What would you recommend.

 

[Zepper]

The "Distributed Computing" section would probably be best for this topic.

Dell or HP are good choices for prepackaged servers. How many users are on the internal network and what sort of volume does your web site experience? Have they considered outsourcing the Web serving portion as it is likely (assuming a high web volume) you would be setting up a separate box to serve the web site anyway.

I'd be the type to build my own servers anyway, so I suppose I'm not the best to ask if prepack boxes is the way you want to go.

If building the server(s) is an option, I'd use Chenbro cases, Zippy/Emacs or Etasys PSUs, Tyan or Iwill mobos, LSI SCSI controllers, Seagate or Fujitsu SCSI drives, etc.


.b.h.

 

[BadMrFrosty]

Originally posted by: V00DOO
I am put in charge to finding a server in the price range $10,000 for my company. The main purpose of the server are file storing, e-mail server, and wed server. Linux would be the OS of choice since it's free. So far I have only looked at Dell. What would you recommend.

I would suggest a Dell 1900 with 5150 or better processors. I believe at the moment you can put 8? SAS/Sata drives in them up to 500GB each for a 4TB raided array, also the great thing about dell is they have wonderful external storage arrays.

Andrew

 

[RebateMonger]

It's impossible to make a recommendation without knowning things like:

How many employees?
Email volume and message store size?
Total data file storage needed?
Do you already have backup systems in place, or do you need a backup system too?

Keep in mind that the cost of software and licenses is usually pretty small compared to the total cost of actually implementing a server. If you are going to use Linux, be sure you have somebody who can support it. Servers need to be cared for.

 

[FreshPrince]

PowerEdge 2900 Qty 1
Quad Core Intel® Xeon® X5355, 2x4MB Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB, Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES v4, 1YR Red Hat Network Subscription, EM64T Unit Price $10,548.00
$1000 OFF when priced $4,200 or above!
Special offer View Details
- $1,000.00

Catalog Number: 4 BECWDK1
Module Description Show Details
PowerEdge 2900 Quad Core Intel® Xeon® X5355, 2x4MB Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB
Operating System Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES v4, 1YR Red Hat Network Subscription, EM64T
Additional Processor Quad Core Intel® Xeon® X5355, 2x4MB Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB
Memory 16GB 533MHz (8x2GB), Dual Ranked DIMMs
Keyboard No Keyboard Option
TCP/IP Offload Engine Enablement Broadcom TCP/IP Offload Engine, Not Enabled, Linux OS Only
Primary Hard Drive 146GB, SAS, 3.5-inch, 15K RPM Hard Drive
Primary Controller FREE UPGRADE to PERC 5/i, Integrated Controller Card
Floppy Drive No Floppy Drive
Mouse No Mouse Option
Network Adapter Dual Embedded Broadcom® NetXtreme II 5708 Gigabit Ethernet NIC
CD/DVD Drive 16X DVD-ROM
Bezel Tower Bezel Included
Documentation Electronic Documentation and OpenManage CD Kit
2nd Hard Drive 146GB, SAS, 3.5-inch, 15K RPM Hard Drive
Hard Drive Configuration Integrated SAS RAID 5/1: Fault Tolerant Bkplane/Mirrored Flex Bay
Chassis Configuration Tower Chassis Orientation
Hardware Support Services 3Yr BASIC SUPPORT: 5x10 HW-Only, 5x10 NBD Onsite
Installation Support Services No Installation Assessment
Power Supply Redundant Power Supply with Dual Cords
3rd Hard Drive 146GB, SAS, 3.5-inch, 15K RPM Hard Drive
Flex Bay Hard Drive Cage 1x2 Flex Bay
Flex Bay Primary Hard Drive 36GB, SAS, 3.5-inch, 15K RPM Hard Drive for PowerEdge 2900 Flex Bay
Flex Bay Second Hard Drive 36GB, SAS, 3.5-inch, 15K RPM Hard Drive for PowerEdge 2900 Flex Bay

TOTAL:$9,548.00

 

[Steve]

http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/v40z/

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
It's impossible to make a recommendation without knowning things like:

How many employees?
Email volume and message store size?
Total data file storage needed?
Do you already have backup systems in place, or do you need a backup system too?

Exactly. Details on current web server load would be useful too.

My guess is you won't need half of that ten grand.

Keep in mind that the cost of software and licenses is usually pretty small compared to the total cost of actually implementing a server. If you are going to use Linux, be sure you have somebody who can support it. Servers need to be cared for.

You would need someone to support Windows too... I don't see this as a reason not to use Linux. Pretty much the only reason would be if you have some software which is only available on Windows. IMO.

Originally posted by: Zepper
The "Distributed Computing" section would probably be best for this topic.

I don't think he want a cluster...

 

[FreshPrince]

Apple Xserve Quad Xeon
Part Number: Z0DB
300GB SAS ADM @ 15,000-rpm
Dual 650W Power Supply
ATI Radeon X1300 64MB SDRAM with VGA Adapter
300GB SAS ADM @ 15,000-rpm
Two 3.0GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon woodcrest
300GB SAS ADM @ 15,000-rpm
Rack Mounting Kit - Square Hole Rack
Accessory kit
None (with PCI Express riser)
8x SuperDrive DL (DVD+R DL/DVD + RW/CD-RW)
None (with PCI Express riser)
8GB (4x2GB)
$10,572




Sun Fire X4200 Server

1 A87-FJZ22H4GCBA
Sun Fire X4200 M2 x64 Server, 2 AMD Opteron Model 2216 processor, 1 MB, 4 x 2 GB DDR2-667 memory, 2 x 73 GB 10000 rpm SAS disks, DVD-ROM/CD-RW, 2 PSU, 1 Service Processor, 4 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 4 x 8-lane PCI-E slots, 1 x 133 MHz PCI-X slot, no power cord, order Geo-specific x-option, RoHS Compliant
2 X311L
Power Cord Kit, North American/Asian, RoHS Compliant
1 X4225A-Z
2 GB (2 x 1 GB DIMMs) Registered ECC PC3200 DDR2-667 Memory Kit, RoHS-5 Compliant
2 XRA-SS2CD-146G10KZ
146 GB 10000 rpm SAS Disk Drive, RoHS-6 Compliant
1 RHEIL-37RCE9N9
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 AMD64, Update 7, ES Standard Support Edition for System with up to 2 CPUs (16 GB Main Maximum Memory), License, Software & Documentation, 1 Year Service Support Entitlement, by Red Hat
$9739

 

[ND40oz]

How much data in terms of file storage? Are we talking terabytes here or do you only need 500 gigs. Remember, data is only going to grow and you need to size appropriately. How long do you expect this to be in production, 3 years, 5 years, indefinitely?

 

[Varun]

Phone Dell, HP, and IBM for quotes and be sure to have the info they will need available such as number of clients, software you want, etc.

 

[V00DOO]

Thank you to all that responded. I guess I'll have to find out all the answers to the all the questions before deciding.

 

[DT4K]

Does it strike anyone else as completely backwards to decide on the budget first, then see what you can get, rather than deciding what you need, then finding out what it will cost?
I don't think I could handle working for a company that operated that way.

 

[Zepper]

I thought that was putting the cart before the horse so I didn't really make any specific recommendation to the OP.

Now if the assignment was worded more like this: "It looks like we'll have around $10,000 to use for upgrading/or expanding our IT infrastructure. Let's see if we can get what we need within that ballpark." That would have been a reasonable approach.

.bh.

 

[FreshPrince]

Originally posted by: DT4K
Does it strike anyone else as completely backwards to decide on the budget first, then see what you can get, rather than deciding what you need, then finding out what it will cost?
I don't think I could handle working for a company that operated that way.

most seasoned IT managers will already know how much that stuff will cost...so budgeting ahead of time is not uncommon. If they over budget then great, they look good. If they under budget, again, they will most like guess close enough so it's not like they will be $20K under, then they can just approve the difference on their own. This allows the quickest source and implementation.

some companies, if you take the time to find out what you need, then ask for money (committee, board), then buy, you might as well throw away a year's worth of time, because they's how long it takes to budget...

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
most seasoned IT managers will already know how much that stuff will cost...so budgeting ahead of time is not uncommon.

True, but THIS post didn't come from a company with "seasoned IT managers":

"I am put in charge to finding a server in the price range $10,000 for my company. The main purpose of the server are file storing, e-mail server, and wed server. Linux would be the OS of choice since it's free."

The post likely comes from a company that HAS no server and no IT experience. The functions mentioned would be what a company would want for a "first server". This is the type of question that would be asked by a company with ten to fifty employees with no IT employee or outside advisor.