what is the difference betweena server and a desktop or workstation

[laserjet]

i just bought a dell dimension and want to know what i need to turn it into a small server

Dimension 9100
Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (3GHz, 800FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Qty: 1
Unit Price: $1,998.00
Processor Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (3GHz, 800FSB)
SX630B
[221-8751]

Memory 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2DIMMs
512M52
[311-5109]

Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
EK
[310-5234]

Monitors 24 inch UltraSharp? 2405FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
2405WFP
[320-4240]

Video Card 128MB PCI Express? x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory
X300SE
[320-4308]

Hard Drives 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?
160S
[341-1056]

Floppy Drive and Media Card Reader No Floppy Drive Included
NFD
[341-2457]

Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
WHXP
[420-4834]
[412-0688]
[412-0721]
[420-4927]
[463-2282]

Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse
SM
[310-6264]

Network Interface Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
IN
[430-1427]

Modem No Modem Requested
N
[313-3607]

Document Management Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
AAREAD
[412-0705]

CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
DVDCDR
[313-3391]
[420-5079]

Sound Card Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
IS
[313-2758]

Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
N
[313-2198]

Productivity Software Pre-Installed No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only
COREL
[412-0803]

Security Software Pre-Installed No Security Subscription
NSNOR
[412-0801]

Digital Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
MMBASE
[412-0741]

Digital Photography Photo Album? SE Basic
DPS
[412-0744]

Dell Service & Support Plans No Extended On-site Service, Support or Ltd Warranty
B111DNO
[981-9288]
[950-9797]
[960-2800]
[960-7440]
[412-0359]

Onsite System Setup No Onsite System Setup
NOINSTL
[900-9987]

Internet Access Service 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
AOLSMB
[412-0586]
[412-0670]

Mail-In Rebate $100 Mail In Rebate
MIR100
[464-2006]

Financial Software Pre-Installed No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial
QBSSP
[420-5136]

Purchase Intent Purchase is not intended for resale.
NOT4SEL


i know that i am going to new microsoft windows server software but what else do i need

 

[68falcon]

i believe-and dont bite my head off if im wrong cause im just getting into the networking thing-as long as you have a semi powerfull computer, server software and someway to get on the network it can be a server. you just have to set it up the way you want

 

[imported_Kensai]

A server is just a normal system optimized for serving..

 

[Gerbil333]

Originally posted by: laserjet
i just bought a dell dimension and want to know what i need to turn it into a small server
. . .
i know that i am going to new microsoft windows server software but what else do i need

What are you trying to "serve"? If this is going to be a simple file server, print server, or game server for home use, you don't need a different OS.

 

[Unkno]

you don't really need a whole different OS...as stated by gerbil, what is your server going to do

 

[laserjet]

it is for my father's company and i believe they will be hosting their own email so they do need the server software. there are about 4 computers that need to be connected.

i was wondering what the difference between Microsoft Windows Small Business Server Standard 2003 (5 Client)

and Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 1 and 5 Client Access Licenses

 

[Kernel32]

Small Business server comes packaged with Microsoft Exchange (for hosting email) This would probably be a good OS since your father has a "small shop" per say. I believe it is also cheaper than if you were to purchase Windows Server 2003 & Microsoft Exchange 2003 as separate products.

Also, because you be hosting email, Exchange requires a domain environment. A server OS is required to create a domain.

 

[JackMDS]

There are few differences but the major differences are that Windows 2003 SBS can be used only as a server for One Domain, and can deal with max. of 75 clients.

If you do not need more than one Domain and you are Not expecting more than 75 clients computers, Windows 2003 SBS is a very good deal.

:sun:

 

[Cerb]

Why does an email server need a big flat screen, or a 3GHz P4?
1GB or more RAM if you're going to use a hog like Exchange, and cut down the CPU as much as you can w/o getting a Celeron. Go for two HDDs, as well, for RAID 1.

 

[nweaver]

Depending on what you want to call it....

I feel that a "Server" uses enterprise level hardware, designed for long term uptime. A real server has (normally) no sound/onboard sound, cheap video(onboard), IO Subsystem of higher quality (SCSI, perhaps high end SATA, but I prefer SCSI). Multiple procs is nice, depending on task, and memory needs bumped. It's all been designed with the idea of never shutting off and providing long MTBF.

You can buy a true dell "server" for that price, why not? Also, the one place NOT to scrimp (esp. with dell) is warranty. Get them out there withing 24 hours of a problem and fixing it.

 

[laserjet]

okay i cancelled the order and i put up another post from a tech company that wants to install a server for 8000 dollars if you could respond to that topic i would really appreciate it

thanks everyone for your help and as for the 24 inch monitor i was going to take it for myself or sell it.