SERVER VIRGIN - What's Best?

[sobrien42]

Our Server for our company is slowing down tremendously. It's running NT and serves a network of 10+ PCs. Main database run on server is doubling and tripling ea yr. We run On-Stream as a back-up system which is also a problem. On-Stream is supposedly out-of-business. The Server is about 5 yr old.

Questions: What's the best, long term server solution for a small but fast- growing company? I see lots of servers on EBay. We want to keep the cost as low as possible. The Server Software alone is over $1000.

What's the best back-up system for the Server?

Thanks for any advice. Sher

 

[mjuarez]

Originally posted by: sobrien42
Our Server for our company is slowing down tremendously. It's running NT and serves a network of 10+ PCs. Main database run on server is doubling and tripling ea yr. We run On-Stream as a back-up system which is also a problem. On-Stream is supposedly out-of-business. The Server is about 5 yr old.

Questions: What's the best, long term server solution for a small but fast- growing company? I see lots of servers on EBay. We want to keep the cost as low as possible. The Server Software alone is over $1000.

What's the best back-up system for the Server?

Thanks for any advice. Sher

Hmmm... the best long-term soluiton would be a new server with a warranty, even if it's extra $$$ today, it will definitely pay for itself in the long-run. Consider getting a RAID-5 hot-swap array configuration (at least 4 drives) to minimize the need for backups, and definitely keep one spare drive around when one of the drives in the array dies. Serial-ATA RAID should work good enough.

As for the On-Stream backup, simply forget about it. When you have the new server, just copy all files/configurations/etc, and test it out a couple of times. Then just schedule a daily backup of all important info to a section of your RAID, and copy this to CD (or to tape, whatever suits you) once a week. Preferably make two copies, leave one on-site (but in a secured place), and one off-site.

Then you could also plan for disaster recovery, etc, but I guess I'm getting a little over-extended here

Marcos

 

[InlineFive]

Originally posted by: mjuarez

Originally posted by: sobrien42
Our Server for our company is slowing down tremendously. It's running NT and serves a network of 10+ PCs. Main database run on server is doubling and tripling ea yr. We run On-Stream as a back-up system which is also a problem. On-Stream is supposedly out-of-business. The Server is about 5 yr old.

Questions: What's the best, long term server solution for a small but fast- growing company? I see lots of servers on EBay. We want to keep the cost as low as possible. The Server Software alone is over $1000.

What's the best back-up system for the Server?

Thanks for any advice. Sher

Hmmm... the best long-term soluiton would be a new server with a warranty, even if it's extra $$$ today, it will definitely pay for itself in the long-run. Consider getting a RAID-5 hot-swap array configuration (at least 4 drives) to minimize the need for backups, and definitely keep one spare drive around when one of the drives in the array dies. Serial-ATA RAID should work good enough.

As for the On-Stream backup, simply forget about it. When you have the new server, just copy all files/configurations/etc, and test it out a couple of times. Then just schedule a daily backup of all important info to a section of your RAID, and copy this to CD (or to tape, whatever suits you) once a week. Preferably make two copies, leave one on-site (but in a secured place), and one off-site.

Then you could also plan for disaster recovery, etc, but I guess I'm getting a little over-extended here

Marcos

Every little bit helps.

 

[sharkeeper]

RAID is NOT a substitute for backups! PEOPLE still delete files, viruses can cause problems. A RAID array will not protect you from this!

If you have a lot of data to back up consider the use of a firewire drive and Veritas Backup Exec. You can get by with using Backup from within Windows 2000 Server if money's tight.

If you're really paranoid, run your backups to a RAID1 mirror.

For brands, we have good luck with SuperMicro equipment both on servant and worksatan side...


Cheers!

 

[mjuarez]

RAID is NOT a substitute for backups! PEOPLE still delete files, viruses can cause problems. A RAID array will not protect you from this!

I didn't imply that. I still told her to backup once daily (full backup, usual tar/gz will do) with a scheduler to a separate part of her array. If the operating systems is a decent one, it will let her assign permissions to read/write only to the administrator, so that nobody can delete or otherwise mess up the files. That should just about fix any problem you mention. Of course, if you fear that the machine will die completely (even though it's a new server), you might want to do the CD-R routine daily. Don't forget the off-site backups!

I didn't mention it earlier, but it's considered a good idea to test old backups once in a while, just to see if they still work, and to verify that you know how to restore them. Far too many times, people have old backups they want to restore, but no idea how to correctly restore them. A humble txt file somewhere in the media (or even a printed page!) with a brief description of what is being stored, applications, directories, etc, and at least an idea on how to restore it should be included.

Marcos

 

[mcveigh]

call dell.

no sh!t, their servers are great for the money. they can help you with raid arrays, tape backups etc.
also Ive heard good things about win2003 small busines server, it's supposed to be very easy to maintain.

and i'm a linux guy saying that

 

[sobrien42]

It appears to us that the whole server / software purchase will run to about $5000 to $7000. Does this sound about right?

With newer servers, can you frequently free-up space?? Our current NT server seems to just keep stacking up info, every bit of data. No easy way to free up space. We also use automated UPS which is a HUGE database.

Sher

 

[mjuarez]

It appears to us that the whole server / software purchase will run to about $5000 to $7000. Does this sound about right?

Hmmm.... sounds a bit expensive to me, what is the configuration you quoted? I got $4.5K at gamepc.com for a single Opteron server with 1Gb RAM and a 5-drive SATA RAID array for 1-terabyte of useable disk space (that's approx. 1,000 gigabytes of hard disk space), enough for almost any small enterprise, I believe. The quote also includes a small CD burner for backups, but you might want a more expensive (not necessarily better) tape drive. I have no idea about the cost of the software, though, since you don't mention it.

With newer servers, can you frequently free-up space?? Our current NT server seems to just keep stacking up info, every bit of data. No easy way to free up space. We also use automated UPS which is a HUGE database.

Disk space should not be a problem (either now or for the 3 or 4 years) with the array I quoted above. What is automated UPS?

Marcos

 

[mcveigh]

first give us the specs of the current server. like how much ram and how big is the storage space, and how much is in use.

next tell us what applications you are going to run, what database? oracle, mssql??
That price does seem high. but is you want a terabyte os storage spacec it could easily hit $7000 or more.

if you don't need a lot of processing speed and storage sacess speed you might want to look into IDE raid storage just for the cost savings, if you need power and performance scsi is the way to go.

 

[dalfollo]

Do you have rack space?...maybe a CPQ/HP DL-360-G2, with a tape library for backups...sounds like a single tape should work......or to deal with the growth consider and ML-570...prices are ~$8K or ~$45 respectively...talk to an HP rep, or a dell rep and they will help you to understand what you need now and down the road in three years...listen to them

like in other endeavors i have, learn to get the very best equipment you can, and you will cry only once.

 

[sobrien42]

Originally posted by: mcveigh
first give us the specs of the current server. like how much ram and how big is the storage space, and how much is in use.

next tell us what applications you are going to run, what database? oracle, mssql??
That price does seem high. but is you want a terabyte os storage spacec it could easily hit $7000 or more.

if you don't need a lot of processing speed and storage sacess speed you might want to look into IDE raid storage just for the cost savings, if you need power and performance scsi is the way to go.

Specs of current: Dell Power Edge 2400 500mhz Pentium P3 processor 36gb Raid ) SCSI Hard Dives
Applications: OS Windows NT server; Main Database System--Peachtree Complete; Inventory Mgmt on customized Access sys; Word, Excel, COREL DRAW, Microsoft Frontpage (for webdesign.

If you go from 500mhz to 2.8ghs, would it make a significant difference is speed and storage capacity. Speed at the PCs has slowed down to a crawl. Sher